I have been to special places and local places. Been camping with kids for about 10 years.
While I still strive to make it to special places, I also try to reduce my driving time.
For instance Boston is a special place but NYC is a bit closer to me. I have started to gravitate to the closer location in order to maximize my time at the destination and reduce my time behind the wheel.
It is a balancing act between:schedules,budget,vacation time available and distance.
Nothing wrong with bucket list destinations, however if you take a closer look at the map there are lots of alternative destinations that are less known than the more famous bucket list places but are a little closer to home.
Early on I would drive 10-12 hour days / 500-600 miles to reach my bucket list place. Now I try to limit my drives to 300-400 miles per day and choose places that are easier to get to vs.a more premier bucket list place.
In the end I have found that bucket list places are great, off the beaten path places are also great. The memories made are the same. Time spent together is really more important than the destination. You don't need to drive 1000 miles to make memories. There are lots of great memories 500 miles away.
