An Unexpected Travel Legacy
Bucket-Less by Becki Kern
July 29, 2026, 8 Min Read
No, the title is not a typo! It’s more like a declaration of a serial traveler who has never had a Bucket List!
July 29, 2026, 8 Min Read
No, the title is not a typo! It’s more like a declaration of a serial traveler who has never had a Bucket List!
I was sitting at the computer with a jillion thoughts flying in untamed fashion through my mind. I knew myself to be an avid, efficient, and dare I say joyful list maker. Being a lifelong multitasker in my head and heart, my appreciation for lists is legendary (mostly in my own mind, of course).
For many years, I kept separate To-Do lists for different events, occasions, and areas I wanted to focus on. In what I imagined to be a “natural progression” with stage of life changes, I eventually began to keep one To-Do list with a multitude of sublists included. That has now become my favorite modus operandi. I’ve never wanted the list itself, nor the making of it, to supersede my ability to fully enjoy each of the myriad of items represented on it.
At any given time, included somewhere on my list, there are usually a couple of trips highlighted. I love last-minute getaways and can be ready to go at the drop of the proverbial hat. However, I also do quite a bit of long-range planning for upcoming travel. It’s important to me that I include the details that are necessary for each pending trip. I don’t want to get so busy with work and life that I miss something crucial.
I am not a hiker, diver, skier, jumper, climber, or spelunker. However, I do love long ocean cruises; adore riverboat cruises; enjoy land trips; relish road trips; and can’t wait to do a long-distance train excursion someday.
When one knows these two facts about me – my ardent appreciation for lists and my passion for travel – it seems only natural to assume I would have an incredible Bucket List going at all times. Quite the opposite is actually true. I have never had a list, neither electronic, on paper, nor in my head, of places I wanted to make sure I got to see.
It’s quite possible true list aficionados would scoff at my lack of having the ultimate documentation of my heart's desires – places I want to visit before I’m called to leave this earth. They may not even let me call myself a real list maker or allow me into the exclusive club of such esteemed folks.
In Psalms 37:4, King David encourages the reader to “delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.“ I can truly say that the Lord knows travel to be one of the desires of my heart. He has granted me the opportunities to experience special destinations and meet incredible people in places I would have never thought to put on a Bucket List of any kind.
I would never have listed New York, Paris, Israel, or St. Petersburg, Russia on the list of places to go. In fact, these would specifically have come closer to being on the “I don’t care to go there” list, but I don’t even have one of those! It seems strange then that those four spots alone have provided such remarkable memories in my mind.
It was beyond anything I could dream to get to see 13 Broadway shows, ON Broadway!, in nine days! No, we didn’t take husbands… just a girls' week! For a musical stage show junkie, it filled my heart to overflowing!
Why, you ask, would someone who loves both lists and travel allow herself to remain ‘Bucket-Less’? It’s really very simple: I would never have thought to put on said list the amazing places I have been privileged to visit! Had I named specific locations, I could have become so focused on trying to get there that I would have missed, or not appreciated, the fantastic sites I have seen.
A few years later, riding a coach through the blooming canola fields from La Havre to Paris, with a two-hour coach tour of the city, with it pouring down rain while we were safe and dry inside, was such a gift. Then lunch in a glass-top boat on the Seine, floating by the Tower, with strolling minstrels and Sinatra-style singers. I would have never known to put that on any kind of list. What a very special treat that I can go back there in my mind at any time and relive the experience again and again.
Over the years, I turned down multiple requests to take folks to the Holy Land. I never had the desire to go. I wasn’t afraid; I just didn’t care to make the trip. Then, in 2010, I led a group of 42 people on a 16-day trip - half of the time was in the Holy Land area and half in the regions of Germany, Austria, and Italy. Never, never would I have known to add that trip to any kind of list. However, in 2022 I was happy to lead two different groups of travelers on that very same itinerary. Amazing!
When we got to St. Petersburg, via ship, we really didn’t have the extra funds for much of an excursion. But my husband wanted me to get to go to a Russian Tea Room. It was a double blessing for me, because that particular excursion also included a trip to the matryoshka doll factory. This lifelong doll collector’s heart was blessed beyond words. We found out just before we arrived in St. Petersburg that we were going to be great-grandparents for the first time. I got a 5-doll stack to commemorate the 5 generations!
Even I could not have prepared the scripting for these very special non-Bucket List trips that were handed to me!
If I had a list, I wouldn’t have known to put some other very special spots on it. I would be sad to know I had missed what is perhaps my favorite hamlet of the Bavarian region of southern Germany - Oberammergau. I would have never known to put that on a list of places I wanted to see. It’s definitely one of my favorite European villages. I love it in spring, and I love it in fall, with snow or without. I can’t even get enough of the famous luftlmalerei (loof-ta-mal’-or-eye), which are the elaborate paintings on the sides of the buildings; the amazing shops; the local wood carvings; and the Passion Play Theater.
So, you see…I think everyone should have a Bucket List who wants one. I want them to get to see the places that are near and dear to their hearts. But, apparently some of us do better being Bucket-Less, just going where we get the opportunity to go; seeing the amazing sights along the way; and meeting wonderful people all over the planet.
Whether you are a Bucket-Lister or a Bucket-Lesser, I truly hope you get to see, do, and receive the desires of your heart. What a special and definitely personal gift from our Father!
I have known Becki from afar for more years than I can count. Because of our common interest in train travel, tablescaping, and faith, we have recently tumbled into a comfortable digital friendship. Fun Facts: We recently learned that Becki and her husband were married by the same pastor in the same church as my husband and me—even though we didn't know each other then. She and I are also connected because we are both rare morning glories!
The author’s encouragement to “do, see, and receive the desires of your heart” is in lieu of the “practical tip” for this writing.
Becki snapped most of the pictures for this blog from her travels, but a few are stock photos. My favorite of hers is the last one on the blog, of her incredible cruise near Antarctica. Her favorite is the one she took in Germany of the Cologne Cathedral reaching up toward the heavens.
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