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Many travellers face this dilemma — so many places to visit, so little time and not enough money. We read travel articles with stunning photographs, we trawl websites with enticing deals, we make elaborate plans with friends to visit places far and near…

And then, we go nowhere. Life, in its myriad draining ways, chains us to the here and now.

I’ve reconciled myself to the fact that, rooted as I am in Bengauru. I won’t be able to go to all the places I’d like to visit. Help is at hand. Say hello to Travlist Manifesto (with a huge hat-tip to Dr Atul Gawande’s ‘Checklist Manifesto’). And in peak Bengaluru moment, await the app.

This is how it works.

Travlist, a portmanteau word comprising travel and checklist, has its origin in the power of putting down with pen & paper things to do. We’ve all used checklists in some form or the other, from formal plans for the next big start-up sitting in files on laptops to hastily scribbled items for grocery and vegetable shopping.

I’ve made three travlists… places I’ll never be able to go to, places I may just be able to go to and places I must absolutely visit before slowly heading to that one place we all must eventually go.

In the first category falls Antarctica, and the like. While there are several cruises with creature comforts to the Cold Continent, all inevitably require investments in time and financial resources that are quite demanding. One trip to Antarctica will perhaps put us back by several months and leave bank accounts bereft of a few zeroes. So, Antarctica and Greenland are out.

Now, the list gets narrowed down a bit, but not by much — places we may be able to go. Just as we strike things off our shopping list, I slide many places into the second list. A checklist forces you to break down any large task into manageable bits and pieces and then figure out a work flow to finish them. The travlist forces you to be crystal clear about places you’d like to visit. This will be a long and daunting exercise but worth making.

Then, there’s the must-go, must-see list of places which are non-negotiable and highly doable. In my case, it starts with, alphabetically too, Agumbe, also known as the Cherrapunji (or Mawsynram now) of South India. Ideally, the visit should have been during the monsoon to get the full force of incessant rain. But trav-beggars can’t be choosers, so anytime will do. Places within striking distance close to you, in my case Bengaluru, and not too demanding on the wallet are good places to start.

The trick is to keep the list short so that the conversion rate from grand plan to actual visit is high.

The broad principle of the Travlist Manifesto is to systematically check places in the third category off the list and that opens up immense possibilities. Perhaps, some from the second category can move into the third.

Time, money, health and enthusiasm permitting, who knows, some day you could well be buying a ticket to Antarctica.

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