Have you seen the 2007 movie “The Bucket List” with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson? http://thebucketlist.warnerbros.com/
The plot is summarized on http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825232/ as “two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.” Attention grabbing. Inspiring. Nothing like the hangmans’s noose to focus the mind, right?
The movie, of course, got me, and millions like me, thinking about how I want to spend my time. It made me realize I was already kinda living a “bucket list” life… I take my motivation from that Hugh Mulligan quote: “What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.” Every day I spend brings me closer to the day I kick the bucket, so I have to invest wisely.
When I had my children late in life, I re-evaluated how I wanted to spend my time, and whom I wanted to spend it wth. I chose to move away from a career in financial services, and focus on travel. I chose to stop counting dead people (as an actuary), and start helping people live (with travel). I chose a world of magical places, wow experiences, and adventure; over a world that had been mired in life expectancies, liability matching, and present values.
You could say I’m still focussed on death, and the “bucket list”… but now it really is about the journey, rather than the destination. And travel is very important to my “bucket list” life. I want to see the world, and have fun helping others see it too.
But I haven’t abandoned the actuarial mind completely. I did actually create a “bucket list” – a list of magical places to see, wow experiences to have, and adventures to try.
Participating in an online tweetup today with other folks who love to travel helped focus the mind again. The weekly chat is held every Thursday at 3:30 est, and is called #tni – or “traveller’s night in.” It is run by the folks at http://www.zipsetgo.com/travelers-night , and each week there is a different topicl You have to answer 10 questions in 10 minutes – you post your responses, and then engage in dialogue with others, get inspired, and learn.
This week’s topic was “bucket lists!”
I already know my answers to the quesions posed today. What would your answers be?
1. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?
2. What is the most disappointing item you’ve already scratched off your bucket list?
3. What is the bucket list item have you scratched that you’d love to repeat?
4. Who is the one person you’d take to experience your bucket list with?
5. What is the one thing you can’t wait to eat from a bucket list destination?
6. How has your bucket list changed since you’ve started travelling?
7. What natural wonders have you seen? Would like to see?
8. What is the most adventurous / extreme thing on your bucket list?
9. What is the most unique to-do on your bucket list?
10. If you had 1 week to live, where would you go?
Makes you think, right?
Join the #tni online tweetup… travel folks will get you making lists, but will also help you focus on a “bucket list” kinda life! And remember the quote: “What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.”
What’s on your bucket list?