Chasing the Bucket List

Ever since I turned 30 I have had an obsession with making and checking things off my bucket list. Why 30? Well I think we all grow up with an idea of how our lives will turn out. I certainly thought that by the time I turned 30 I would be married with kids on the horizon. Instead, I felt like I was watching all of my friends living out that dream. My best friends that I thought I would share these things with were instead doing it with their other married and mommy friends. There were so many things I wanted to do and see in the world and for a long time I had imagined that I would be doing those things with someone special. Then I turned 30 and was very, very single. It was after having several cocktails celebrating on a beach with my bestest friends that I decided that I was tired for waiting for someone to come along and spark an adventure. I realized that I did not need someone else to show me the world – it was there, waiting for me to find it on my own.

The first thing on my list was to get a passport. Yes, I know, I was late to the international travel party. But once I got that first passport stamp in Germany, I was hooked! For the last five years I have been chasing my dreams. I have learned that each new adventure leads to another. Getting my MBA was high on the bucket list. If I had not pursued that dream I do not think I would have yet achieved some of my other bucket list items. Going back to school allowed me to take some time off from working and I was able to do some world traveling on either end of school. In the last five years I have spent two months surfing and climbing volcanos in Costa Rica, swimming with majestic manta rays in Hawaii, crossing the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu, scuba the Great Barrier Reef and bungee jumping off a perfectly good platform in New Zealand [I promise, more posts to come on all those travels!]. All of these adventures I did by myself. Sure, it would have been great to have a travel buddy but there were a lot of pluses too. I learned a lot about myself; that I am more resilient than I thought. I don’t always have to be prissy and girly (like not getting to take a shower for 5 days in Peru). That when forced, I will eat weird food. That I don’t always have to be shy – I can pretend to be outgoing and brave even when I am not. That I can navigate a country where I do not know the language except for asking where the bathroom is and how to order a beer [very important things to know, by the way!].

The best part about chasing your bucket list is that just as you are crossing off one item you inevitably are adding at least two more! In my travels I have met so many different people from places all over the world. Not only is my list of places to visit much longer, I now have friends to visit!

This leads me to what is likely to be one of my greatest attempts for chasing a bucket list item… Mt. Kilimanjaro! This has been on, off and back on my list over the years. But now I have an amazing opportunity to seize the ultimate. This is going to be the master test of physical fitness and sheer mental strength. I will be doing something that less than 1% of the population has done or even attempted. I am leaving in less than 3 months for Africa and I cannot describe how excited and nervous I am. There is much to do to prepare and there will likely be many more posts related to this topic.

So that’s the latest in what’s going on in my little world… what’s on your bucket list?!