Throw a Dart at the Map? Six Ways to Pick Your Next Getaway

Feeling overwhelmed by endless travel possibilities? You're not alone. Every wanderluster faces the delightful dilemma of where to go next. Drawing from years of solo travel experience, I reveal six distinct approaches to selecting your next destination – some spontaneous, others deeply intentional.

You could explore trend-based travel, where popular destinations like Paris or Amsterdam beckon with their timeless appeal. I candidly share how social media discoveries have sparked unexpected adventures while cautioning about the carefully curated perfection of travel influencers' posts. For those seeking structure, I discuss how bucket list approaches like visiting all Seven Wonders create purposeful travel itineraries, sharing my personal experience visiting Machu Picchu with my son.

A few playful and truly spontaneous methods – from literally throwing darts at maps to rolling dice for destination selection. Budget-conscious travelers will appreciate practical tips on leveraging flight deals and subscription services that alert you to fare bargains. But the heart of this episode lies in my final approach: creating deeply meaningful travel experiences aligned with your current emotional landscape. I vulnerably share how following this method led me to the solitude of Saguaro National Park after a traumatic period, resulting in a profoundly healing encounter with a horse named Rebel in the desert solitude.

Whether you're seeking adventure, healing, or simply your next great story, these six approaches offer a framework for making travel decisions that truly resonate with your personal journey. And for those drawn to wellness travel, I extend a special invitation to join my European river cruise in 2026, where I'll blend my passions for Pilates and exploration in an intimate setting. Ready to discover where your next journey might take you?

Chapters

• 0:00 How to Choose Travel Destinations
• 1:11 Trendy Destinations and Social Media Inspiration
• 3:50 Random Selection Methods and Cheap Flights
• 10:30 Creating Meaningful Travel Experiences
• 17:25 European River Cruise Wellness Invitation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

With so many beautiful and wonderful places to see in the world, how do you decide where to go? Well, in today's episode, I will discuss how I choose where to travel and some tricks that I've used, some different methods as well, that you could try. Welcome to Solo Travel Adventures. I'm Cheryl Esch, your host. I'm Cheryl Esch, your host. Well, there are many ways that I have chosen destinations, and there is one particular way that I feel has produced the most meaningful and purposeful travel in my experience. Yes, I've had disappointing trips and I've had some incredible experiences, and if I look back on how I actually chose that destination or planned for it, the last example that I will give you, the last way of choosing where to go, I find is the best way. However, let's get into some of the fun ways. So if you're willing to explore some just fun, different ways to choose where to travel, then you might want to try some of these ideas. Now, the first way that some people choose to travel their destination they pick a trendy destination. For example and I've done this I've gone to Paris, which is very trendy. I actually went to Amsterdam intentionally to see the tulips in April. So there are times when I have traveled to sort of fulfill that, that desire or that spark of hey, this is a trending place right now and I want to experience it and see if it's it lives up to the hype, right? Well, I've also created and I do create these lists every year. You know popular places to travel as a solo traveler. Every year I create a list, kind of based on what research has shown and what is trending, and there are some trends. You can look back at some of my past episodes that kind of explain why people are drawn to certain trendy spots. So that could be a way. Maybe that is what entices you to get out there and travel. It's not wrong, I've done it. So that's one way you can choose where to go. Kind of, look at what's trending, what's popular out there, but keep in mind what might be trendy for certain demographics might not fit what you are looking for. So keep that in mind. What I mean by that is solo travelers and for women right, we want to keep that in mind is solo travelers and for women, right? We want to keep that in mind.

Speaker 1: 2:48

Number two you may choose where to travel based on what you've seen on social media. Now there are some beautiful Instagram reels I've seen out there from travel content traveler curating them and making everything look so lovely and it is enticing and it is a great way to actually spark some ideas and maybe even introduce you to some places you would never have thought of. It's even done that for me. The only thing I would say about that is they do make it so beautiful. They've whether they've taken people out of the photo to make it look like oh, this is gorgeous, you know, not realizing actually there was a crowd there, because with photography we can do that now. And then I would suggest say you get introduced to a new place that you had never dreamed of going. Just do your research, as always, and make sure it is a place that truly satisfies you or really intrigues you. So that would be number two.

Speaker 1: 3:51

Number three the wonders of the world. Maybe you decide where to go based on hey, I want to hit all the wonders of the world. There are a couple different. There's, of course, the ancient wonders of the world. There are a couple different. There's, of course, the ancient wonders of the world, there's the natural wonders of the world and there's what they call now the new seven wonders of the world. So there's a couple different lists out there that you could pull different destinations from. Now I will have to admit we did this. My first international trip with my son is we did that. We kind of looked at, we wanted to hit one of the wonders of the world and so we made a list of some of them that were interesting to us, and that's how we came about deciding on the Machu Picchu. So you can utilize lists like that to spark interest and see if any of those places are on your list. You've got to get to see. Maybe it's the Great Wall of China. There are so many on those different lists that you'll have to decide which one is most enticing to you. Or do you want to make it a bucket list in which you finish all the new seven wonders of the world right In a certain timeframe? Certainly can do that. That would definitely dictate sort of where your destinations will be for the next few years.

Speaker 1: 5:18

Number four I have used random ways to choose where to pick, and I've heard other people use even more random ways, such as maybe hiring a company to randomly pick your destination. I have heard people put a map on the wall and they like throw a dart at it and that's where they're going to go. Throw a dart at it and that's where they're going to go. So there's many ways where you can make it fun, as long as you are open to uh, you know, being available to go where it says to go and just having that spontaneous or free spirit to do that. Now, if that does not feel fun to you, then don't pick your destination just randomly like that.

Speaker 1: 6:06

One thing I did kind of in a random way. An example of this random picking also was based on well, I'll give you the whole scenario. So right after COVID obviously didn't go anywhere in 2020, but in 2021 was itching to go somewhere and I was going with my son. So I did have someone else's input. So I had to consider that as well. But we did make some parameters on our random picking. Our random picking, we did decide we didn't want to go very far, meaning like no more than maybe a five hour flight. I think is what we set. We only were going to be gone six days instead of maybe 10 like we normally do, and in the price too. So we kind of had a couple parameters with our random picking. We also had to in that in this case because it was early 2021, we, it was narrowed down by what countries were open, right, and allowing travelers to come. So that was one way we kind of picked. We were able to narrow it down and picked Belize based on all those parameters.

Speaker 1: 7:27

But in the past, uh, we have, also prior to COVID, my son and I have also done a little random kind of fun thing where, since I was traveling with somebody else, they picked a couple of places and I picked a couple places. Some ways we've done this is we've picked one or two destinations in each continent, right, and then we came together and we saw what kind of was the same and kind of went from there. So there's some really fun ways that you could just randomly pick a destination based on some of these fun things. Maybe you just want to, uh, you roll a dice, maybe, and you have what is it? There's, um, you know, six numbers I don't even know, I can't remember what's on the dice or even two. You can do two and determine okay, if it, if I roll a one, it's this place. If I roll a two, it's this place. You get the idea. So that would just be a nice fun way of let's roll the die and see where we end up going. So just some fun. I think making travel destinations and making it fun also kind of gets you excited. I think, at least for me. Maybe this is not who you are and the random idea it just makes you more anxious than don't do that.

Speaker 1: 8:57

Number five, how I've chosen where to travel, also was based on the cheapest flights. So sometimes, and just recently, I have booked a really cheap flight to Greece for next year. And why did I pick Greece? Well, a, it was cheap and it is a destination that is on my list, so it was not necessarily random. But when I saw the deal, that's how I chose to decide to go there next year, and that definitely has you know, even when I did Iceland, that was. Another reason why I chose Iceland is because I also got a relatively cheap flight and also it was during the timeframe I wanted to go, so even more of a bonus, right. So that would be another way you could kind of if that's something you're looking at, I love to just if you haven't tried this trick, you know I do subscribe to, uh, cheap flights, um, which used to well going, which used to be Scott's cheap flights, and they send me notices, like every day, of cheap flights.

Speaker 1: 10:11

So it's very tempting to just book them all. But, um, you know, you having in either writing it down or in your head, some specific places that you've always wanted to go to might be helpful so that when a cheap flight comes around, you will jump on it. And another little trick if you just want to explore out of your own airport to, of course, most people know this trick uh, go to Google flights, put in your, uh, your, airport for leaving from, and then, with the going to, just put anywhere and sometimes you can, you know, just do a certain timeframe maybe, and you can kind of see where are the cheap flights from my airport during maybe this, this month, right, certain month, and it will give you some examples that might even open up some places you hadn't even thought of. And then the final way that I have chosen destinations and where to travel. I have chosen destinations and where to travel. These ideas are what I have found create the most meaningful and purposeful experiences I've had in travel is creating going back. As you know, last episode talked about different seasons of your life and the different hiking terrains. That metaphor I used in last week's episode could be a good jumping point for you to determine what type of travel would be best for you. And so, looking at how you're feeling energy wise mentally, energy wise mentally emotionally what do you need right now? Um, in realm of travel, um, how are you feeling? And so that will determine the types of places you may even consider going. Um, I want to give an example of how I, in a sense, used a random way and cheap flight ways and the final way to create a meaningful and purposeful experience.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Back in, I had a traumatic event happen in 2023. And I'll just say it was a legal issue. And so come January of 2024, it was finally kind of coming to a close and it had really zapped me emotionally. I was struggling with some depression and just other emotional issues and I knew I needed to go somewhere and I knew I wanted to go in January. It was kind of like I got sort of kind of it got finalized, sort of in January of 2024.

Speaker 1: 13:12

And I also wanted to go somewhere warm. So I had some parameters wanted to go somewhere warm, I wanted to go somewhere warm and I needed to be in January we do get, even though I live in Texas we do get some icy weather. It seems, you know, late January, maybe early February sometimes, and I knew I just needed to get out of my city and experience nature too. So these were some of the parameters I put on, and I was looking for a cheap flight, and so I started doing some searching. The other parameter I put on is that I do like nature, so sometimes I gravitate towards national parks, knowing that that's going to be the environment. It doesn't have to be. It could be state parks, it could just be some hiking trails or whatever, or just being in nature somewhere.

Speaker 1: 14:12

It definitely was a must-have during this, creating this purposeful travel experience for me, and I also knew I needed some quiet, some solitude, so I wanted a place that would allow that. That wasn't busy, right, it wasn't, and so I looked at some cheap flights and, lo and behold, I found a really inexpensive flight to Tucson, arizona, in January. I know the weather is always still really good in January in Arizona Perfect time, actually, I think, to go to Arizona. And even though I flew into Tucson, I could drive down to the Saguaro National Park and spend some time in the desert which sort of matched how I was feeling, and it was so quiet, so peaceful. There was hardly anybody around. Matter of fact, one of my hikes, really out in the desert, surrounded by these huge cacti, I was alone almost the whole time until I came across a horse. It was a black horse. There was a rider, of course, and the horse just came over to me and the lady even remarked that he doesn't usually do that and his name was Rebel. There's some significance to all that, and I knew that it was like God intended for me to meet this, this horse as well, and I've been gravitating to our horses lately as well, and just up until that point I was alone in the desert, walking, so it was just very significant for me. It was a perfect trip.

Speaker 1: 16:03

I used some of these ideas the little bit of randomness, the cheap flights but I also put parameters on where was, how was I feeling in that season right then, and it definitely fulfilled that. It was an incredible trip. I definitely needed it, and so I think that final way, number six, the way you create meaningful, purposeful experiences is by reflecting on that stuff. You could still, as I did, utilize some of the other tools to create that. But I would start there. I would start with where are you, how are you feeling? What does your body need as far as the type of environment or travel that would support you in this season? And that's truly important to have such a transformative experience in your travels. So it's not just going to check off a box on a list that you have and that could be a reason, and that could be a season that you're in and that's perfectly fine. I've done them all right. So these are just some ideas. People often ask me well, how do you decide? I use some of these tips, but lately more so. I am utilizing that last example as a way to really create, not just for myself, but even to help others create that for themselves, and that that is what I do in my one-on-one coaching, my travel coaching, healing through travel. Go to my website if you want to know more about that. That's CherylBeckEschcom and it will outline the program.

Speaker 1: 17:53

But if you are needing a little wellness kind of getaway, I am going to be a wellness host on a European river cruise. I'm so excited about this because it brings together two of my passions I am a Pilates professional and, of course, I love to travel, so I am going to be having the opportunity to teach some Pilates or stretching classes on the ship during that time, and it is wellness focused because it's got great food. There's some activities involved that you can or don't have to participate in, and I'm inviting you to join me. There is a discount right now If you even just get your $400 US dollar deposit in by the end of September. They may extend it, I haven't heard yet, but that will hold the price of saving you $1,250 on this.

Speaker 1: 18:49

All excursions are included in the pricing, guys. That's incredible, and you don't have to buy a drink package like you do on normal cruises. That's all included as well, so, and your gratuities even included in that price. So it's a just one price. You know you don't have to worry about all these extras that typically um, which I'm finding out as I'm going on a cruise in November, but I encourage you to.

Speaker 1: 19:18

If you need more information, please email me at hello at Cheryl Beckashcom. I will send you the brochure, I will hook you up with my travel agent and let's fill up this really intimate ship. It's only 156 people that will be on the ship and it will be an incredible time. It is August 22nd through 29th of 2026. Now is the time to start booking your 2026 travel folks, so I hope you will look into that and email me if you have any questions. But folks consider using some of these tools If you are not sure where to go next time. You got some ideas now on how to pick your next destination or next travel destination, and I'm excited for you. Let's get out there, sisters, and have those adventures.