Bucket List/Schmucket List

I’ve never had a bucket list. I still don’t.

A bucket list would limit me.

How do you know you want to something if you have never heard about it? Or if you are too afraid?

I never thought about taking a helicopter ride into the Grand Canyon and landing. It sounded too risky—I had heard too many stories and didn’t know how qualified the pilots were – until I knew one of the pilots and felt safe. Emily, a helicopter pilot I flew with in Seattle, moved to Las Vegas to fly the tours. It was unbelievably fun.

I always wanted to swim with Flipper, but never dreamed of swimming with dolphins because I didn’t know you could. When an opportunity presented itself, I did it. What an incredible feeling!

Risky? Maybe. Not really. I don’t over-think things too much or I wouldn’t do them.

Swimming with sharks. Flying a glider/plane with no engine. Being on a crab boat from “Deadliest Catch” show. Being the captain on a whale (747). I’ve done them all.

Looking back, my new motto is:

Be open… Never say never

Pretty short list, eh? Part of the reason I have never had a bucket list is that I wouldn’t know where to start. I just wake up and go for it. So my “real” bucket list is:

 

Keep learning and growing

Keep loving people

Keep embracing other cultures

Keep traveling everywhere

Keep living my life to the fullest

I never know how much fun something is until I do it.

             A REVERSE BUCKET LIST        

I have changed so much in my life that a bucket list would be worthless.

How would I have known how much I would love living in the middle of nowhere?

You couldn’t have convinced me, as a twenty-year-old, that having kids would be the best part of my life, but it is. Having kids kept me “senior” enough at work to have some of the best trips on the airline. And thanks to my kids, I had long layovers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Saipan, Manila, and Seoul.

You couldn’t have convinced me, as a twenty-year-old, that having kids would be the best part of my life, but it is. Having kids kept me “senior” enough at work to have some of the best trips on the airline. And thanks to my kids, I had long layovers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Saipan, Manila, and Seoul.

I can’t believe the places my life has taken me. The end result is a reverse “bucket list” bigger than my wildest dreams:

Niagara Falls, Canada

Photographing Venice, Italy

Burano, Italy and the colored houses

Staying at Camogli, Italy on the Riviera

  Exploring the Dolomites in the Italian Alps

Albatross in New Zealand and South America

Digging my own hot pool on the Coromandel Peninsula, NZ

Piha Beach, NZ with its magnetic black sand, squid air bladders

       Seeing gannets nesting in New Zealand

Swimming and snorkeling in Florida’s springs

Jumping waves for hours at Crescent Beach, FL

Shelling at Sanibel Island, FL

Tubing the Ichetucknee River, FL

Straining shark’s teeth from the surf, Venice, FL

Exploring Tahiti’s beaches and mountains

Singapore zoo day & night!

Cooking class At Sunrice in Fort Canning Park, Singapore

Corriquidor, Manila, Philippines

DMZ and tunnels in Korea

Disney cruises around the Caribbean

Swimming with sea turtles in Hawaii

Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon in winter

Watching penguins up close and personal in Antarctica and Chilé

Seeing the Big Island, Maui & Oahu

Helicopter over the volcano on the Big Island

Flying over the South China Sea at sunrise

Seeing monkeys in the trees in Indonesia

Petting a llama in South America

Backstage at rock concerts

Skiing in Colorado and New Mexico and Oregon

Floatplane from Quadra Island, Canada to British Columbia

Hiking the Olympics and Vancouver Island

Walking on railroad tracks to get to a waterfall, CA

Alhambra, Spain and the amazing fortress

Ronda, Spain with olive trees and our hotel on the cliff

Swimming everywhere!

Lounging by a pool with a swim-up bar

Staying on an island in northern Ontario, Canada

Hiking Lake Louise, British Columbia, Canada

Snorkeling in the Keys, South Pacific, Hawaii & Marianas

Horseback riding in the Puerto Rican rain forest

Swimming with sharks in Tahiti

Four wheeling around Tahiti

Four wheeling at the Oregon Coast

Water skiing on a deserted river of glass

Four wheeling on the Oregon Coast

Whitewater rafting in Oregon and Washington

Holding wild animals in Bandon

Seeing Crater Lake

Hiking around the northwest

Jetboats on the Rogue River and Niagara – spins!!

Hawaii, Hawaii, Hawaii

Cuttle fish and soccer balls in England

Exploring castles in Europe

Dutch windmills – walking country roads

Tower Bridge, London, England – clocks and longitude

Glowworm caves, NZ

Watching grizzly bears, otters, and whales in Alaska

Seeing Rio, Brazil – Sugarloaf, Christ statue

Watching grizzlies  eat sedge grass

Doing the tango in Buenos Aires

 

              

 

 

4^th of July in Washington D.C. fireworks at Lincoln Memorial

New Year’s in Times Square – never again!

Swimming with the dolphins

Whale watching

Rafting with dolphins and turtles

Drinking Limoncella in Italy

Limousine rides in Singapore

Portage Glacier cabbing in Alaska

Raising a litter of puppies

Feeding baby animals (calf, jack rabbit)

Seeing a porcupine at the dunes

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of my life.

I used to be such a planner. Planning is overrated. It takes away from just being in the moment. Now my expectations are lower and I am happier. Going with the flow works for me.

My reverse bucket list is all my memories. And, some of the most mundane and ordinary moments make the best memories:

A Halloween party in our basement.

Fishing for Bluegill in Indiana at Grandma and Grandpa’s

Catching fireflies.

Playing croquet on a hill with a river at the bottom.

Reading in a live oak tree over a pond with Spanish moss dripping all around me.

Playing Legos with the kids.

Picnics in the canyon.

Jumping on the trampoline.

Sitting in the Jacuzzi listening to coyotes howl.

Honestly, if I died today there is no way I could complain about my life and the wonders and joys I experienced.

For photos of my travels go to: http://kathymccullough.photodeck.com