What does a “Trip of a Lifetime” mean to you?
January 29th, 2010 Posted in Places to See, surveys
That’s a question we posed to you for the beginning of this year. And why not? The start of a year (new decade no less! ) seems like a good time to reflect on how we want to shape the coming months. I mean, it was my own ’trip of a lifetime’ experience just a few New Years ago that inspired me to even be here writing about this right now. :p
In total, 2311 of you responded, sharing your stories of what it was like (for those of you who’ve gone), and revealing your aspirations for what’s to come if you’re still planning your trip. You had so many great stories to share that it was pretty difficult to chose stories to feature. Below is just a SMALL selection but I’m hoping to share more of them in the coming months.
So what did you guys say?
- 66% of you have already gone on a once in a lifetime trip.
- Your top destinations were:
- Although you expected the trip to cost an average of $5400, in reality the average trip cost $4300, which is over $1k less!
- 70% of you went on a trip that was 1 month or less, with 2-4 weeks being the most frequent amount of time
- 44% of you travelled with your partner or spouse, 40% with friends, and 30% by yourselves (there’s some overlap as you could choose more than one option)
- You don’t wait for a special occasion. 79% of you didn’t organize your trip around any milestone.
What does a trip of a lifetime mean to you?
“Crossing boundaries, widening horizons, freedom, reevaluating what’s important in life.”
“An experience that cannot be repeated and that changes how you view the world.”
“It means reaching a milestone; it means traveling to learn and expose myself to the
wonders of the world, both people and places. It means I am alive.”“Taking me out of my physical and emotional comfort zone, and opening new doors”
“To me it means seeing things/places I would not normally have the opportunity to
experience. An experience that is enriching for the mind, body and soul. it would be
mindblowing and breath-taking.”“My husband died a year ago…points out how very fragile life is, and that ‘tomorrow’
doesn’t always come.”“The kind of trip that makes you a different person when you get back home.”
Stories from those of you who’ve already gone
“Spent 3 weeks serving among the Ugandan people. Helped in a church retreat, built a school in rural Uganda, rafted the Nile River, went on a 2 day safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and served others with the hopes of being a witness for Christ. Serving other + experiences of a lifetime (safari and rafting the Nile) + staying with and among locals make the best experience possible.”
“Teaching in buddhist orphanage school and living local family. Very little spasmodic electricity. Just living with deprived children who so desperately want an education is amazing. Challenging myself first solo trip hiring jeeps myself for last part of the journey.”
“Rewarding, educational a true “experience” definitely travelled outside my comfort zone, local buses with people and livestock on board, zig zag railway, staying at Machu Piccu and exploring the ruins imagining how this race lived, meeting like minded travellers, experiencing foods that I selected from a menu that I could not read, the exilarating beauty of Iguaza Falls an finally the mystery and wonderment of the Museum in Lima!!
“My trip was to the glaciers in Argentina (El Calafate). It was indescribably stunning to see the rich colours of white and blue amalgamated in the icebergs and glaciers. Each moment there is a slight change, which meant by returning the sight would be totally different. climate change is making a difference and this cared me, so I headed off to see glaciers before the it was too late and they had melted.”
“Travelling to Australia was thrilling, inspiring, life-changing! I spent three weeks beginning in Sydney and ending in Sydney. It was definitely a “planes, trains and automobiles” kind of holiday along with every other mode of transportation in between. Camels through the Todd River in Alice Springs; Bus to Uluru and the Olgas; Four wheeling in Arnhemland; Walking in blazing heat and humidity in Darwin; Helicopter return from the Great Barrier Reef to mainland Cairns; Rental Car out of Cairns (quite
the experience for a non-Aussie to drive on the wrong…err, I mean other side of the road) to Mission Beach; The Ghan north to Alice and witnessing the pitch black Southern Cross sky and the list goes on and on! An incredible journey!”“We started at Queen Elizabeth Park in Uganda, we stayed there for 3 nights, hiked the Kyarumba gorge looking for Chimpanzees (didn’t find) as well as a boat ride on the Kazinga Channel (stunning) and the normal game drives. Our first morning drive we saw a Hippo out of the water, then less than 5 minutes later we came across a beautiful Leopard. He was laying down and just watching us. We saw tree climbing lions on our way to Bwindi Impenetrable forest. We stayed at 3 different Volcanoes Safaris Lodges, Bwindi Lodge, Mgahinga and Virunga in Rwanda, all were spectacular, the lodge, the views, the people, the animals. I can’t explain it all here, but life changing, epic.
Many thanks to our friends at iExplore and Alexia at Lasso Communications, with whom we ran this survey in conjunction with. : ) To see the full report, go to www.geckogo.com/research/
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