About Bucket List Guides:
Just a heads up: We use some affiliate links in our guides. If you book through some of our links, we might earn a small commission at no extra cost to you —it helps us a little to keep these DIY guides updated!
Real Advice from 20 Years on the Road.
Most travel guides are written by people who have never actually navigated a local bus in a foreign language or tried to find a clean, quiet hotel in a city they don’t know. They use travel-agent fluff and generic “top 10” lists found on every other site.
We’re Marc and Carmen, and we’re here to give you the “Insider’s Out.”
Bucket List Guides was born from a simple realization: the internet is full of “thin” travel advice that misses the tiny, stressful details that actually matter. Having lived and worked across the globe—from the UK, France, and Spain to China, Hong Kong, Australia, and our current home in Penang, Malaysia—we’ve learned that the best travel secrets aren’t found in a brochure; they’re found when you have “skin in the game.”
80 Countries. 20 Years. No Packages.
We’ve been traveling together for over two decades. We aren’t “country counters” looking for a passport stamp; we’re experience hunters. We’ve navigated the friction of moving to new countries, setting up lives in foreign cities, and finding the best street food in places most people just pass through.
- Our Style: We’re a healthy mix of 5-star comfort and budget-savvy reality. Living in Asia has taught us that the best meal of your life usually costs $3 and is served on a plastic stool.
- The Gear: We take real suitcases (no “carry-on only” gatekeeping here) and we look for bargains without ever sacrificing the experience.
Smoothing Out the “First-Time” Friction
Stepping off a cruise ship or out of an airport in a new country for the first time is overwhelming. We know that “first-day stress” better than anyone because we’ve lived it in nearly a dozen different cultures. We’ve spent years smoothing out those stresses for ourselves, and now we’re doing it for you.
- “No-Excursion” Port Guides: We’ll show you how to walk off the ship and see a city like a local for the price of a bus ticket.
- Independent Hotel & Land Travel: We look for what most miss: real walking distances, local staff helpfulness, and the quietness of the AC. Whether it’s walking the hard streets of Rome or finding a secret corner of a Greek Island, we focus on the logistics that actually make a trip work.
- First time Guides: Helping make the most of those first few hours and days in a new place to give you more of ah oliday and a less of an Amazing Race feel.
- Cruising: We are also ever increasing our cruise experience, and want to share the tips and tricks we have discovered alone the way as well.
Meet the Team
- Marc (The Planner): The logistics guy. Obsessed with maps, schedules, and cutting through the “crap” to find the most efficient way to see a city.
- Carmen (The Photographer): Capturing the real vibe of a place. No filters, no fake “influencer” shots—just the reality of the streets, the hotels, and the food.
Work With Us Like our “No-Fluff” style? We love partnering with brands, hotels, and tourism boards that value real-world logistics and independent travel. We don’t do travel-agent fluff—we do honest, boots-on-the-ground reviews for travelers who want the truth.
Our Promise: Real Experience Only
We don’t post for the sake of an algorithm, and we don’t use travel agent fluff.
Whether you’re stepping off a cruise ship, checking into a boutique hotel, or wandering out of an airport for the first time, our mission is simple: We want you to leave this site feeling like you can go out and plan it for yourself