Bucket List Travel
Bucket list travel: a heli-hiking trip to Canada’s Bugaboo Mountains (www.CanadianMountainHolidays.com).
Recently, a close friend boarded a flight from San Diego to New York en route to a meeting in Milan. Shortly into the flight, this very fit guy with no major health issues passed out and collapsed in the aisle. Because American Airlines’ planes are equipped with a remarkable amount of emergency medical equipment and a U.S. Marine MD was sitting a few rows away, this story has a happy ending. Our friend spent a few days in an Albuquerque hospital being checked six ways from Sunday, was deemed healthy, and returned home to his grateful family.
Milan can wait, but some things can’t. Our friend’s experience reminded my husband and me of The Bucket List, the movie in which Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman — both terminally ill — make a list of things they’ve always wanted to do. Unlike Nicholson’s character, we don’t have a desire to sky dive — but we both have numerous travel experiences on our to-do lists.
Apparently we aren’t unique in this respect. In 2003, Patricia Schultz had a hard time finding a publisher for 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. All of them — except one — said the book wouldn’t make any money. Before long it was a bestseller, and it has since spawned spin-off books, calendars, puzzles, games, a TV series, and a Web site — all aimed at providing fodder for “travel life lists.”
So what’s on your bucket list? And how much longer are you going to wait before you turn those dreams into realities?
Travel with teens on your bucket list? A walking safari in Zambia with Norman Carr Safaris would be ideal (www.NormanCarrSafaris.com).
Most of us plan trips with certain fellow travelers in mind — and the hard truth is that your parents, your spouse, or whomever you most want to see the world with won’t be around forever. And even if they are around, they might not want to travel with you. Most parents I know recommend traveling with children while they are still young enough to be willing to be seen in public with you.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s great wonders. Go now.
Also, our environment is not likely to give us do-overs, and the effects of global warming are going to impact our options. If outdoorsy dreams are your priority — move them to the top of your list. In the years when I was writing Frommers Australia, I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef whenever I had a chance, and it saddens me to know that now the reef is in decline.
So please don’t wait. Locate your bucket list and start making plans – today.
Cheers,
What’s in their buckets?
Category: Alberta, Bucket List Travel, Zambia
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Elizabeth, I’m so glad to hear your friend is okay. What an inspirational post and great reminder to not put off following our dreams and travel bucket list plans.