How to Pick a Vacation Destination: 5 Creative Ways to Choose

With so many places to explore in the world and only one lifetime to see them all, choosing a travel destination can be a challenge. If you’re wondering how in the world to choose where in the world to go next, look no further! Here are five unique, fun and creative ways to choose a destination for travel.

1. Explore the Roots of Your Heroes

Instead of choosing a destination, choose a hero! Then pay a visit to their hometown or another place that shaped them.

Not all heroes wear capes, and they don’t have to be famous either - we believe that a hero is anyone who inspires you. This could be one of your ancestors, a favorite professor, an activist fighting for a cause you support, or even that Instagram poet you like.

Visit the country where your great-great-grandmother was born or the city where your friend the nurse once studied abroad. There’s no shortage of inspirational women in the world to choose from.

Of course, you could look to the greater-known heroes, too. Head to Stockholm where Greta Thunberg’s sustainable activism started, discover where Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees in Tanzania, or walk the streets where Frida Kahlo drew inspiration in her formative years outside Mexico City. 

If celebrities are your thing, we got you covered! Did the Barbie movie recently change your life? Check out Margot Robbie’s hometown in Queensland, Australia. For a hero in the "super" category, you could travel to Israel, home of Wonder Woman actor Gal Gadot.

 

2. Attend an Event

Instead of focusing on the destination, find an event that interests you, then travel to where it’s happening. There is a world of events out there that span from serious to silly.

Festivals around the world are a great way to see and celebrate other cultures. Join the party of the year in February at Carnaval in Rio, or enjoy the Tulip Festival in Holland each spring.

Another idea is to travel to witness a natural event, like the spring cherry blossom season in Japan, the wildebeest migration each November in Tanzania, or use NASA’s website to chase down a future solar eclipse.

 

Sporting events are another thing to consider traveling for. Loyal fans can follow their favorite athletes abroad to experience the Olympics or the World Cup. If traditional sports aren't for you, there are plenty of unusual sporting events that guarantee a good time, like the annual Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake in England.

3. Throw a Dart

Tape a map over a dart board and let fate decide where you go! If you don't have a dart board at home, this one may require spending an evening with friends at your local sports bar.

Throwing a dart to determine your destination sure sounds fun, but what happens when that dart lands in the middle of nowhere, do you have to follow through? It’s okay if you don’t want the fate of your vacation to be determined by a single throw.

Here are some rules we suggest that help to balance out choice and chance:

1. Throw eight darts at the map.
2. It’s statistically improbable that all your darts end up on land masses (let’s not forget that seventy percent of the earth’s surface is water). Remove darts that landed in the middle of the ocean. This is also the time to remove darts that may have landed in areas of the world that aren’t feasible to travel to.
3. Sometimes it’s easier to eliminate a destination than to choose one. If you’re traveling solo, veto one of the destinations from the remaining darts. If you’re traveling with a friend, allow them a veto too.
4. Hopefully, your list has narrowed to only a few places. Wait twenty-four hours for the potential destinations to settle in your mind. If one is naturally popping out, it sounds like that’s where you’re meant to go!
5. If you still can’t pick, let it be decided at random. Flip a coin, draw out of a hat, or use an official randomizer to choose where you’re headed.
6. Book that ticket and pack your Sherpani suitcase!

4. Let Us Pick

We randomized some of our favorite destinations and put them on this chart that tells you where to travel next, according to your birthday! Your birth month will determine who you’re traveling with, and the day of the month will tell you where you should go. Hopefully, it will plant the seed for a life-changing adventure! (At the very least, we hope it makes you giggle.)

Where are you heading, and with whom, according to our chart? 

5. Let a Friend Pick

Honestly, we aren’t sure which is harder: choosing a travel destination or choosing a friend you trust enough to pick one for you. But if you have one of those besties who always knows best, you might as well put your travel fate in her hands!

This can get as crazy as you are comfortable with. The most extreme case would include having your friend actually book your ticket before filling you in on the destination (just don’t forget to give her some idea as to your budget). We’ve even heard of travelers not knowing where they’re headed until arriving at the airport - that thrill sounds almost as fun as the travel itself!

Have we gotten you thinking about where you want to travel next? Which of these ways to choose is your favorite? Leave a comment to let us know where you’re going and how you decided on your destination! We’re confident that wherever your travel itch takes you, you’ll make memories there that will last a lifetime.

 

By women for women, the Sherpani Travel Blog talks about all things travel (& all things Sherpani!). Explore topics like solo travel, destination guides, women's travel safety, personal essays, and much more! This is a space to amplify female voices and celebrate our belief that travel restores the human spirit.