Bucket List: 2020 & 2021 Reviews and 2022 Hopes

I skipped my annual Bucket List review for 2020 last year because an international leisure travel lockdown means there were no bucket list travel achievements to review. Even though 2021 had been another no-go year for leisure travel, I decided to write about my travel plans and hopes for the coming new year in 2022.

My last trip before the pandemic-triggered leisure travel lockdown was to Kuala Lumpur in January 2020. Since then, I had not travel out of my home city for the past 23 months and counting. With the doors to leisure travel being opened slowly but cautiously by the Authorities in my part of Asia, I decided to book a trip for March 2022. This will be my first overseas trip in 25 months, if no hiccups crop up to scuttle it. But this is no leisure trip. Instead, this trip to Kuala Lumpur is to reconnect with family and friends since we last met in the first month of 2020. Can this trip be considered a Bucket Travel List item? I would say "no" in normal times but "yes" as I write this blog post.

Why is a short trip to a city that I had visited many times over the years considered a Bucket Travel List  item? The reasons are many.

First and foremost, it will be my first overseas foray in 25 months!

Secondly, this will be my first time attempting to experience the new-norm of international travel where repeated testings for COVID will be required along with having to navigate the new cumbersome processes involving  a mountain of rules and paperwork.

Third, it will be my first time flying from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. I only travelled between the two cities by bus or car previously but 2022 will likely to still not be a "normal" year for international travel. Thus, flight is the only viable option currently available to me to skip the mandatory on-arrival quarantine requirements. Why? Because these are the rules set by the Authorities of both countries and here in Asia, we accept all rules in good faith.

Fourth, it will be my first time travelling between Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh by train. While the train journey itself will certainly not be a trans-Siberian railway experience or the likes of it, but a "first" is still that, a "first". 

While I hope that my upcoming trip will proceed smoothly, I am also mindful that hurdles will be encountered, especially the bureaucratic kinds. But what is travel without the experiences, both the good and not-so-good kinds? 😁

This city will be the destination to mark the return of my overseas travels after 25 months, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2020)