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MY BUCKET LIST

My Bucket List

 

My Bucket List

An interesting perspective on bucket lists is that if you don’t write ideas down, they never get accomplished. As people grow older, they tend to find that their lives have been wrapped up in a family, work, and obligations. Is it really a life worth living if you don’t know how to live it? So right here, and right now get out a piece of paper and pen or smartphone, tablet, etc., and start your bucket list today.

I have heard a bit of controversy about whether or not a bucket list is something that travelers should make. Many don’t like it because it implies ticking things off just for the sake of a tick. Others because the term implies death (“to kick the bucket”). Still, others argue that it is not appropriate to associate it with death and should be more like a Dream List or a  Wish List of Things to do.

My Bucket ListI was wondering where the term Bucket List originated? Surely the term did not come from the Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman film from 2007? This film is a story of two older gentlemen- Carter Chambers and Edward Cole who live in the same hospital room for terminal lung cancer. Carter is a blue-collar mechanic who is actually quite knowledgeable. Edward is a healthcare billionaire who is lonely. In the beginning, Edward was very reluctant to live in the same room with Carter. But they became friends during treatment. By accident, Edward found Carter’s bucket list, or “things to do before he kicked the bucket”. He encouraged Carter to realize his dreams by financing the trip for both of them.

With a bit of Google search, I found out that the context in which we use bucket list in 2015 was first mentioned in 2004, in a book: Unfair & Unbalanced: The Lunatic Magniloquence of Henry E. Panky, by Patrick M. Carlisle. It includes these sentences:


“Who doesn’t want to go gently into that black, black night? He wants to cut loose, dance on the razor’s edge, pry the lid off his bucket list!”


Which is exactly what I want to do!  So without further adieu, I present: My Bucket List

  1. Go on a tour with Abercrombie & Kent
  2. Go on an African Safari
  3. Dive Galapagos (Dive Wolf and Darwin, in the Galapagos Islands)
  4. Visit Easter Island, Chile (got closer)
  5. Visit San Miguel de Allende AGAIN, but stay for a month or a week!
  6. Go to Antarctica
  7. Visit Iceland
  8. Explore Wyoming! (scheduled May 2020 canceled due to COVID-19)
  9. Go to Alaska (scheduled June 2020 canceled due to COVID-19)
  10. Ride a luxury train across India!
  11. Cuba! I still have NOT been
  12. Visit a castle in Scotland
  13. Go Back to the Greek Islands!
  14. Go to Guadalajara, Mexico
  15. Polynesian Crossing Cruise
  16. Go on a Crystal Cruises and do a 16-day trip on the Rhine, Main, and Daube Rivers!
  17. Visit Isla Holbox, Mexico
  18. Visit the Amazon: Went to Guyana!
  19. Visit Ukraine
  20. Go Back to the Maldives!
  21. Go Back to Bali, Indonesia! 
  22. Go Back to Croatia! This time: Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar, Vis, Brac, and the Blue Cave
  23. Go Back to Nizuc in Cancun!
  24. Go Back to India
  25. See a tiger in the wilds of India
  26. Visit St. Lucia in the Caribbean
  27. Finally visit Sayulita, Mexico: San Pancho was better!
  28. Visit the British Virgin Islands
  29. Visit Turks and Caicos
  30. Tahiti
  31. Go to Porto, Portugal
  32. Snorkel with jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake, Palau
  33. Photograph the Wave and Antelope Canyon, Arizona
  34. Dive Bonaire
  35. Seek out a luxury wellness spa for a week of relaxing and stillness
  36. Attend a cultural event in Spain – TARRAGONA – IBIZA
  37. Float in the Dead Sea, Jordan
  38. Go to Savannah and Charleston
  39. Visit the Great Wall of China
  40. Cuernavaca, Mexico
  41. Puebla, Mexico (so close)
  42. Oaxaca, Mexico
  43. Eat local food in the oldest city in the Americas – Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
  44. Dive in Wakatobi, Indonesia (close enough: Raja Ampat?)
  45. Listen to Blues in New Orleans, USA
  46. Go to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
  47. Live in Santiago, Chile
  48. Visit Provence, France (coming up Sept 2015!)
  49. Go to the Maldives (dive, swim, relax) and stay in an over the water bungalow
  50. Find the hidden Tiki Bar in New Orleans, LA (I found it! Nov 2015)
  51. Take a ride on the London Underground
  52. Go to St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy
  53. Go skiing or dog sledding in Montana
  54. Go to Israel, and walk the streets of Jerusalem 
  55. Visit the island of Sicily, Italy
  56. Snorkel with Beluga Whales in Manitoba, Canada
  57. Do a night dive in Kona, HI with the giant manta rays
  58. Swim with whale sharks in Mexico (attempt #1:  failed, bad weather)
  59. Go to Castaway Island, Fiji
  60. Go to the Viking Ship Museum, Oslo
  61. Take a train ride across Canada. (YAY Rocky Mountaineer!)
  62. Go to the Stats Opera in Vienna
  63. Visit the jewelry making town of Chordeleg, Ecuador
  64. See Mont Blanc
  65. Attend a European soccer game
  66. See a Musical in New York, London, Paris, and Vienna
  67. Visit Yellowstone National Park (Scheduled Feb 2017)
  68. Visit Japan
  69. Go on a luxury ocean cruise in the Caribbean 
  70. Go on a Crystal Cruise River Cruise in Europe
  71. Dive the Blue Hole in the Red Sea -Dahab, Egypt
  72. Go see Moulin Rouge in Paris
  73. See Positano, Italy
  74. Go to Monaco
  75. Chasing the Northern Lights in either Iceland or Norway or Canada
  76. Visit Santa Fe, New Mexico again! (Dec 2016!)
  77. Visit the Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico
  78. Walk the Las Vegas Strip, Nevada
  79. Take a river cruise down the Rhine River for the Christmas Markets (Yay, Viking River Cruise)
  80. Visit Auschwitz, Poland
  81. Visit Istanbul, Turkey
  82. Visit Santorini and Mykonos islands in Greece
  83. Visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel
  84. Photograph and experience Dia Day Los Muertos (Coming October 2015!)
  85. Visit the Colonia towns of Quito, Cuenca, Antigua
  86. Galapagos, need I say more?
  87. Go sea kayaking in Western Finland
  88. Go see Petra, Jordan (Did this twice!)
  89. Buy a Burberry trench coat at the Burberry flagship store in London.
  90. Visit the Hermitage museum in St, Petersburg, Russia
  91. Visit Red Square in Moscow, Russia
  92. Visit the Forbidden City in Beijing, China
  93. Roadtrip across the USA  (Montanan is planned for May 2020 – Cancelled COVID 19)
  94. Ride in a rickshaw in China
  95. Go to Krakow, Poland and visit Auschwitz
  96. Go to Sri Lanka
  97. Ride on the Rocky Mountaineer
  98. Go to Angkor Wat, Cambodia
  99. Go to Octoberfest in Munich (went to Munich, but not in October!)
  100. Go to Carnival in Germany
  101. See Kaleo perform in concert
  102. See Foreigner Live in Austria
  103. See a concert by Marc Anthony in Spain or any Latin American Country
  104. Do the same with Enrique Iglesias
  105. Take a road trip around Ireland.
  106. Go to St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, Ireland or just Dublin anytime
  107. Go to Carnival in Rio, Brazil
  108. Visit the fjords in Norway
  109. Visit the Atacaman Desert in Chile
  110. Visit Merida and Oaxaca,  Mexico
  111. Go to Madagascar (brother-in-law born there), the Seychelles, Zanzibar, and Mauritius
  112. Swim in the blue grotto in Capri, Italy
  113. Dive in Turks & Caicos
  114. Visit  Aqaba, Jordan and Dive the Red Sea 
  115. Float in the Dead Sea
  116. Visit San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
  117. Go see the Taj Mahal in India
  118. Go see the Pyramids in Egypt
  119. Great Wall of China
  120. Beijing
  121. Hong Kong
  122. Thailand beaches
  123. Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef
  124. The Bay of Islands, New Zealand
  125. New Zealand’s Milford Sound
  126. Fiji Islands
  127. Stay in an overwater bungalow in South Pacific
  128. Machu Picchu, Peru
  129. Float the Dead Sea
  130. Jerusalem, Israel
  131. Visit Montreal and Quebec City, Canada
  132. Newfoundland, Canada
  133. Mexico City, Mexico
  134. Costa Rica
  135. Visit the Panama Canal
  136. Chile wine region
  137. Machu Picchu, Peru
  138. Visit Southeast Asia
  139. Visit Thailand beaches and go to James Bond Island
  140. Sleep in a castle
  141. Attend a World Cup Soccer Match with my son Diego
  142. Attend an Indian wedding in India
  143. Get my Advanced Open Water Diving Certificate
  144. Go on a Yoga Retreat in Bali or Costa Rica
  145. Dive the Blue Hole in Belize (1st attempt, bad weather, 2nd attempt: no go)
  146. Take an around the world (RTW) trip
  147. Fly on a private jet
  148. Celebrate New Year’s Eve on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro
  149. Have a photograph published in a travel magazine or Huff Po
  150. Get paid for my photography
  151. Dive the British Virgin Islands by private yacht
  152. Go to Lake Como, Italy, and see George Clooney’s house
  153. Stay in a Tuscan Villa in Siena – (YAY! Montestigliano!)
  154. See Pink Floyd’s THE WALL concert
  155. Watch a cricket game in India
  156. Go to the jungles of Malaysia
  157. Dive the Great Barrier Reef
  158. Become a travel writer
  159. Get hired as a travel photographer!
  160. Go on a luxury cruise through Galapagos
  161. Go to Machu Picchu, Peru
  162. Take my Mom to Australia
  163. Dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
  164. Send my parents to Canada on a train trip for their 50th Wedding Anniversary
  165. Go on a writer’s retreat in Italy
  166. Visit Barcelona and Costa Brava, Spain 
  167. Go to see the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain (my kids did in 08/16)
  168. Go to the Palio and explore the contrade system of Siena, Italy
  169. Go to a bullfight in Spain, Mexico, and Portugal
  170. Visit Iguazu Falls, Argentina
  171. Visit Uruguay, taking the ferry across from Buenos Aires
  172. Take a hike up to the Hollywood Sign, USA
  173. Visit Palawan, Philippines
  174. Dive in a cenote in Mexico
  175. Dive the underwater museum in Cancun, Mexico
  176. Go wreck diving (Cayman Islands, Aqaba Jordan)
  177. Buy a piece of vintage Louis Vuitton luggage
  178. Ski-in Portillo, Chile in our summer (their winter)
  179. Ride a camel in the desert
  180. My Bucket List Continued

  181. Take my son Christian to Italy
  182. Take my son Diego to Morocco (he went without me!)
  183. Take my children (Diego and Christian) to Africa
  184. Take my son Christian to Japan (He went on his own – June 2019!)
  185. Hang out with Beluga whales in Vancouver, Canada
  186. Hang out with stingrays at the Stingray sandbar and stingray city in the Cayman Islands
  187. Stay at the Four Seasons in Sharm el-Sheikh and then go diving!
  188. Go to Berlin (and see where the wall used to be and Checkpoint Charlie)
  189. Walk among the giant Redwoods of California
  190. Visiting the tip of the continent of the USA in Key West, FL
  191. Visit Dry Tortuga on a day trip
  192. Stay at the Four Seasons in my own hometown of Scottsdale, AZ
  193. Stepping into the Rome Coliseum
  194. Take my Dad to Hershey, PA for the car show
  195. Walk down Royal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana
  196. Seeing Sydney harbor and the opera house
  197. Be on the “Amazing  Race” with my son Diego
  198. See the Windmills in Holland
  199. Visit the Frida Kahlo House in Mexico City, Mexico
  200. Visit Hotel California in Baja, Mexico
  201. Go to Myanmar (Burma)
  202. Go to Zihuatenejo, Mexico
  203. See Gaudi’s Familia Sagrada in Barcelona, Spain
  204. Visit New Zealand
  205. Go to New Orleans (Trip #3 coming up November 2015)
  206. Standing in Tienanmen Square
  207. Riding a longtail boat to James Bond Island, Thailand
  208. Rappel down a 100-foot waterfall in Costa Rica (not)
  209. Take in the city lights of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong 
  210. Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
  211. Go sail fishing in Guatemala 
  212. Visit the markets of Chichicastenango, Guatemala
  213. Drive Route 66
  214. See the Kinderdijak Windmills in the Netherlands
  215. Visit Four Corners 
  216. Helicopter into the Grand Canyon
  217. Walk the Hollywood Walk of Fame
  218. Drive the Road to Hana, Hawaii
  219. Climb the Big Buddha in Hong Kong
  220. Visit all 7 continents:
    North America
    South America
    Africa
    Asia
    Australia
    Antarctica
  221. Oceania
  222. See a glacier
  223. Stay at an Ice Hotel or go to an Ice Bar
  224. Fly Premium First Class on Lufthansa, ThaiAirways, AirFrance, Emirates, Qatar, Noweigian
  225. Bali, Indonesia
  226. Experience the beauty of Santorini, Greece (again please!)
  227. Ski in Portillo, Chile
  228. Tango in Argentina
  229. Spa in Monte Carlo, Monaco
  230. Ride an airboat in the Everglades
  231. To be continued…

For the ultimate in Bucket Lists, go on over to Bucket List Journey, where she has compiled over 1000 ideas for your Bucket List…

How many things on my bucket list are on yours?

 

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Fishing4Deals

Sunday 16th of June 2013

This is an impressive list especially seeing how many of the adventures you have achieved. Trips to Japan and Paris are at the top of my list but they'll have to wait until the kids are grown. In the meantime, we manage to have fun and see new things whenever we travel domestically for business or personal reasons.

Cacinda Maloney

Sunday 16th of June 2013

I still have many places to go before I sleep!

bradleyjai

Wednesday 3rd of April 2013

This is awesome! I need to make one of my own. Let's work on the Spanish at #TBEX

Cacinda Maloney

Wednesday 3rd of April 2013

Yes, I need to get my Spanish up to par! I will need help! Tu hablo Espanol? See you in #TBEX.

Cacinda Maloney

Friday 21st of December 2012

Come go with us! It would be an amazing trip!!

Luydmila Krylova

Monday 24th of September 2012

world soccer championship in Brazil in 2014 - it is a real dream!

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