Putting Classics on the List

We creative people have a problem. Actually – all people have a problem. Sometimes we get so focused on what we’re supposed to contribute to the world that we forget to take in the things that have already been contributed.

I’m a writer, for instance, with huge gaps in the library of books every aspiring writer should have read. I’m a movie lover who gets stuck watching the same recent flicks again and again instead of catching up on some of the wonderful films created and highly-acclaimed before I was even born.

Then, someday we realize we’re behind, and it becomes completely overwhelming to try and catch up. One of those recent films I enjoy is The Holiday, and in it a man gives a girl a list of all those classic films she should have seen by now and hasn’t. So you know what she does? She rents them, one at a time, and works her way through the list.

We do this with travel too. The Miss Universe pageant was on last night, and I had to admit some of the countries I hadn’t even heard of. And besides that, through facebook and twitter, every day I’m greeted with the trip-of-a-lifetime photos from people who’ve been to the destinations of their dreams, and I end up adding yet another location to my own list of Somedays. Sometimes we think that if we’ve seen enough pictures or heard about the moving experience of visiting a place enough, then it’s basically like we’ve been there. Don’t make that mistake. Put the well-traveled destinations on your list as well as the trendy ones. You don’t want to take someone else’s word for it when it comes to experiences like those.

Like anything in life, we have to be deliberate about the places we want to go. I realize it’s hardly a list of movies, but make a list anyway. And then do the only thing you can: Start at the beginning and work your way through. If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll feel an amazing sense of accomplishment just visiting the first place on your list – especially if it’s everything you hoped it would be, if it becomes a part of you, and after leaving, you can’t wait to go again.

Our travel company builds opportunity like this every day, especially for students. If you’re lucky enough to be under an administrator who values educational student tours, embrace it. Your list is about to be one destination shorter, and trust me, it will make all the difference in the world.

Related posts:

1. Making the List: Times Square
2. Disney on the List