Almost everyone has heard of a ‘bucket list’, but have you ever actually put one together? We did. About 20 years ago we sat on our big living room sectional and made a list of about 120 things we wanted to do.
I was surprised that we could come up with that many experiences. We were just a few years from 40 years old at that point and I recall thinking that we better be getting after 3-4 things a year, or we wouldn’t really be living the life we said we aspired too.
There was a lot of travel in our list, even though we had rarely traveled outside the US. From the Eiffel Tower, to the Great Wall of China, to Ancient Rome, to Electric Tokyo – there was a lot we wanted to see. These were very ambitious ideas for a couple that didn’t even have a passport!
Still, over the years we’ve been blessed to see all of those places and so many more. We’ve also gone to Old Town Jerusalem, hiked around the Pyramids of Giza, explored the canals of Venice, drank whisky in the Scottish Highlands, toured Russian palaces in St Petersburg, rode burrows to the top of Ancient Petra, and partied in Munich for Oktoberfest. No doubt our travels were kicked into high-gear by early retirement in 2016, despite the pandemic.
We still have about 30 of our original bucket list ideas to cover off, including many in the USA. We’re on a road-trip right now and this summer we will check-off Frank Lloyd Wright’s works in Oak Park IL, stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, scale the Gateway Arch in St Louis, and reach my 30th MLB Ballpark.
The list still has a lot of interesting adventures for us in the future. We’ll still be looking forward to going to the Olympic Games (LA28?), going on an African safari, visiting Australia/New Zealand, relaxing in the Greek Islands, and hopefully reaching icy Antarctica. The world is a BIG place, but we are still living on a few more years of ‘borrowed time’ from the careers we early retired from 6 years ago.
Do you have a bucket list? How are you doing with it? What’s up in 2022?
Image Credit: Pixabay
MrFireStation 
We did a 6 and a half week baseball tour of the Midwest this spring and visited each of the iconic stops that you mentioned. We were in 6 states and visited 6 stadiums, Thankfully, no rainouts. We have a Spanish and Eastern Med cruise, a cruise in the Greek islands, and a 4 week Asia cruise on tap over the next 2 years. Waiting for the 2923 baseball schedule to come out so I can plan on knocking off 2 or 3 more stadiums and a couple of new states next year. We are woefully behind youn(only 15 stadiums so far). Hoping our health (and world health/geopolitical factors) allow us to travel.
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Those two big cruises sound fun. We think that is a great way to travel to far off places. Just unpack once! Where does your Asia cruise take you?
St Louis will be my 30th ballpark. Old Busch Stadium was my first in 1978. Go Cardinals!
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Asia cruise leaves from Singapore and ends in Tokyo. 28 days on Holland America. We’ll probably bookend a week in Singapore and a week in Japan. It is in January of 2024. We were supposed to do the same itinerary in January of 2021, but it was canceled for obvious reasons.
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Wow – that sounds terrific. I would love to go to Singapore. Looks like the most modern smart city in the world. Tokyo is fantastic. Amazing people & culture.
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We did Istanbul to Venice on Viking in May and in September we will do Quebec City to Boston including three stops in Newfoundland (true bucket list stops) on Holland America. April 2023 it is Jerusalem, Nile Cruise and Jordan
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Those sound like great travels. It sounds like you are going full-stop for post COVID. Three big trips in 12 months!
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As I get older I think some of the items I have on my bucket list are becoming out of reach. For example I have a few items which require top physical performance, my body seems to be falling apart as I age. My eye sight, reflexes and stamina are declining. Free base jumping and superbike racing will have to be replaced with less extreme options.
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Not sure if you’ve made it to Oak Park yet, but in addition to touring the Frank Lloyd Wright house/studio and some of his other local works, just go to the morning service at Unity Temple if you’re in town on a Sunday. I think it’s the best way to experience the building!
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Yes – we stopped by there, but it was closed. Their services were on Sunday morning, but we didn’t get there until the afternoon. Next time for sure!
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