Don’t you just love that title?! Kind of grabs your attention and captures the imagination, huh?! Well that’s the latest travel journey I picked up from Border’s (for 6.3 Omani rials or a little over $16 US) as I was looking around for travel books for our dream vacation coming soon. (More on that later!)
As a person who likes to bring a travel journal whenever I go somewhere new, let me tell you, this journal is AWESOME! It’s got great quotes on traveling and related topics. At the bottom of the page, every 3 to 5 pages, there is a cool quote (a total of 49 throughout the book) such as “Those who wander are not necessarily lost.” (JRR Tolkien). It has intriguing and fascinating lists (every 10 to 15 pages) of different types of places from Patricia Schultz’s book of the same title. Here are the cool lists with great facts and descriptions: 10 Experiences Guaranteed to Give You the Shivers, 6 Ephemeral Masterworks of Nature, 8 Things to Hear Before You Die, 7 Places where Time Seems to Stand Still, 8 Trips where the Journy is the Destination, 8 Ways to Travel Abroad Without Leaving Home, 8 Places to Find the Most Beautiful Females in the World (witty title…not what you think!), 7 Tasty Reasons to Overindulge, 8 Activities that will Definitely Raise Your Heart Rate, 7 Places that Awaken Your Inner Child, 8 Over-the-Top Celebrations You’ll Never Forget and 8 Places where Rock is the Star. 
Of course there is plenty of room to write down your experiences and thoughts which is essential to any traveler’s journal. The highlight of the book is the “1000 places to see before you die list” at the back of the book. It’s great to check off where you’ve been and see what the author thinks are the “must sees”. People like to refer to this as a “bucket list“. The term “Bucket list” comes from the expression “kick the bucket“, meaning to die. It’s a list of things you want to see/do/accomplish before dying. Speaking of “Bucket List”, the movie was pretty good, don’t you think? 🙂 If “bucket list” is a new concept to you or you haven’t seen the movie, check out the movie trailer here. Of course I didn’t like the NewAge philosophy on “how one is admitted into heaven” nonsense they promote with “the 2 Questions“. I think I’ll stick with God’s Word on what is required to get one to heaven, thank you very much! 🙂
I’ve been to 36 of the 1000 places listed in Patricia Schultz’s list, making only 3.6% of the recommended list. 15 of the 36 places I’ve been to on the list are in the Middle East! Interesting. I’ll list them when I get the book back in my greedy little hands. Of course there are places on the list which I have absolutely no interest in visiting and I think such lists are based on ones philosophy, beliefs and worldview. There are 60 places that I would love to visit if I had the opportunity and I’ll list them later as well.
How about you? What are your “dream destinations”, dear reader? Do you have a bucket list?
Andy in Oman 