We were climbing up Diamond Head this morning and I overheard someone talk about how this hike was on their “Bucket List”. Â That statement got Jasmine, Shawn Reece and I talking about “bucket lists”. Â For those that don’t know, a bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die.
During our conversation, I had a realization. Â A lot of the things I dreamed of doing as a kid have now been checked off of my imaginary list. Â Growing up I daydreamed often about attending the Olympics, walking on the Great Wall, climbing up the Eiffel Tower and visiting the amazing ruins of Angkor Wat. Â I also remember seeing exotic places on television like Bangkok and Hong Kong and telling myself that I would, “Visit there” some day.
As I grew older more items found their way on my bucket list. Â For example, as my love of roller coasters and theme parks grew, I dreamed of some day going to Disney World, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. Â While this may sound silly, the day I visited each of those parks was a huge realization of a dream. Â Recently I visited Universal Studios Singapore which I had lusted over ever since seeing the construction of the park in 2007.
Every person has these obsessions and dreams. Â The best part is that they are all different. Â We all know how fantastic and wonderful it is to be doing that “thing” that we have always wanted to do. Â For me, most of them are related to travel, but that does not have to be the case. Â A bucket list should be full of anything and everything YOU want to do.
The real point of this article/rant is to say that the world is a better and happier place when people check items off of their lists. Â One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from The Shawshank Redemption. Â As Red said in that movie, “Get busy living or get busy dying.” Â The truth is I don’t often think of my “bucket list”. Â I simply think of the things that I want to do and do them. Â When that person mentioned their bucket list this morning, I realized that seeing Diamond Head was on my bucket list as well. Â WIN!
Now I am not perfect and neither is my life. Â Over the years I have learned that in comparison to others, I do some things better and some things worse. Â I have also learned that when I set out to do something that inspires me, it tends to get done. Â For example, five days ago I decided that a last minute trip to Honolulu would be fun and yesterday we landed here. Â Learning about “travel hacking” not only allowed me to take this trip for next to nothing, but it allowed me to continue to check things off of my bucket list. Â For that I am grateful.
Please tell me about your bucket list in the comments!
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