Lists Don’t Matter. What You Do With Them Does.
How visiting every region in Western Europe reminded me what actually matters in travel
I’ve written before about travel lists and how they can act as cheat codes for discovering places you would never otherwise have considered.
The short version of that idea was simple. Lists should not be about bragging rights or ticking boxes. They are about inspiration. They push you toward places that were not on your radar, and more often than not, those are the places where some of the best experiences happen.
Over the past year or so, I have leaned into that idea hard. Regions, countries, obscure corners of maps that most people scroll right past. Now that I have finished every region in western continental Europe, I have been thinking less about the accomplishment itself and more about what the process actually taught me.
Not in a scoreboard sense, but in terms of how I travel and what I take away from it.
1) Lists are incredible idea generators. Full stop.
This one played out exactly as expected, but probably more strongly than I imagined.
There are dozens of places I visited this past year that I never would have gone to without a list pointing me in that direction. Small towns, overlooked regions, places that do not make anyone’s highlight reel but quietly deliver something much more interesting.
What I found is that once you show up, the label of the place matters a lot less than the experience you create there. The list simply gets you in the door. What happens after that is entirely up to you.
2) Ticking boxes is easy. Filling your story bucket is not.
This is where lists can either help you or completely miss the point.
Yes, you can move quickly and cover a lot of ground. You can check the box, take the photo, and move on. But if that is all you are doing, you are leaving almost everything on the table.
Every “box” is really just an entry point into something deeper. A conversation, a shared moment, an unexpected detour that ends up being the part you remember.
The difference is not how long you stay. It is how present you are while you are there. And yes, it’s pretty hard to have much of an experience if you just hop off the train and get right back on, but I’ve found that if you give a place a chance and at least stay the night…well, chances are much higher.
3) Running became my way of understanding a place
This was not something I set out to prove, nor was it something I saw coming, but it turned into one of the most valuable things I learned.
At some point, I built a lengthy running streak. Minimum 2 km every single day, no exceptions. What started as a simple “let’s see if I can do this for a year” turned into a completely different way of experiencing new places.
Landing somewhere, dropping your bags, and heading out for a run forces you into the real version of a city. Not the curated highlights and tourist hotspots, but the neighborhoods, the side streets, the everyday rhythm of how people actually live.
It strips away the layers quickly and gives you a sense of place in a way that very few other things do.
4) You will never see it all, and that is exactly the point
Finishing every region in western continental Europe does not feel like an ending. If anything, it makes it more obvious how much is still out there.
Even in places I have technically “done,” there is depth I have barely scratched. And when you zoom out further, it becomes almost absurd to think in terms of completion.
Those who know me know I have a giant underwater scene/octopus tattoo sleeve on my arm. I often get asked what the meaning is. Roughly 71 percent of the planet is covered by water. That alone puts everything into perspective. No matter that I’ve seen all 193 countries and hundreds of regions…71% of the planet still remains just below the surface.
The takeaway is not that you should try to see everything. It is that you cannot, and that is what makes the whole thing interesting. There is always another angle, another layer, another place that was not on your radar yesterday.
The Bottom Line
Lists are tools. They can open doors, create structure, and push you into new experiences. But they are only as valuable as what you do with them.
If you use them to chase completion, you will always feel like something is missing. If you use them as a starting point and stay curious once you arrive, they become something much more powerful.
The goal is not to complete the list. The goal is to make the experience count.
Over to You
Do you travel with a list, or do you let curiosity lead the way? And when you think back on your trips, what stands out more: the places you went, or the stories you came back with?