I don't think I have ever actually made a bucket list, but I have definitely dreamt of things I want to do in my life. Where I want to go. What I want to experience. Like many, I want to travel more. I feel fortunate that I have traveled as much as I have, but here I am about to turn 43 and I realize I haven't traveled to nearly as many places in the world as I had expected to by this time of my life. Some people spend their entire lives working hard, saving and planning their dream trips. They retire and finally they have the time to go on those fabulous trips, but they spent so long working hard and neglecting their health that all the sudden they have these huge obstacles like diabetes, or stroke or heart attack, broken hip, arthritis, chronic pain, or any number of comorbidities that interfere with traveling the world. As a medical professional I see it all the time. I have worked with the young and the old in hospitals, nursing homes and home health. Everyone has at least one dreamy bucket list vacation they want to take. But reality sinks in, and the obstacles get bigger and bigger. Over the years I have had many hopes, fears, dreams and wishes. They have changed and morphed as my life has not taken the direct path that I imagined it would when I was a young girl. So what now? How do you work and take care of your responsibilities, plan for the future and also check off those bucket list items before its too late?
Things I want to do before I kick the bucket...
- Have a baby or adopt a child ... maybe
- Lots of hiking. I want to hike in as many National Parks as I can. I have this little passport book for the National Parks. I want to get a stamp for all the National Parks in the US in my little passport book!
- While we are checking out the National Parks, lets hit as many State parks as we can too! I would like to make it my goal to check into at least 90% of the State parks in Texas and as many State parks in every state that I visit from now on.
- Build a tiny house (or container home or a small cabin) and/or a Schoolie with my husband.
- Find and purchase that perfect piece of land, in the mountains or the desert. Maybe on the Pacific coast or along the banks of a river or stream. Build our dream house on a foundation and park our schoolie in the back, sit on the porch and enjoy the peace and quiet of our little piece of heaven.
- Visit the Holy Land. I would truly like to visit the holy land and walk the same places that Jesus walked.
- Travel to Australia and visit my friend G and maybe catch up with a few other old classmates who have somehow found their way to living in Australia.
- If your going to go all the way to Australia, you may as well stop over in New Zealand, too.
- Go on an African Safari.
- Volunteer in a mission trip anywhere in the world where I am called to.
- Ski down a black slope at least once without getting injured, so that I can officially say that I have mastered skiing.
- Go fly fishing in the mountains of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana where my parents took us when we were kids.
- I want to own and run a little boutique shop somewhere in a little tourist town. Sell yarn or crafts and goods from local artists. Maybe a shop that sells sustainable soaps, essential oils, body care. I don't really care what I sell. I just want to have a little shop in a cute little town like Manatou Springs, or Terlingua, or Forks. Someplace off the beaten path, but a place that is so majestic and peaceful it attracts visitors from all over the world to relax and enjoy the beauty of that little treasure of a town.
- Walk to the top of Pike's Peak
- Invest in real estate (gotta have something to support me in my old age)
- Float in the Dead Sea
- I would love to spend a week in Tibet, meditating with the Tibetan Monks in the mountains.
- I would love to ride a horse across Mongolia, just like The Horse Boy!
- Take photography classes, especially old fashioned black and white film photography.
- I would like to take a graphic design class as well, so I can design my own labels, clothing, projects, designs to incorporate with my crochet and sewing.
- Learn to weave, just like my mom. She has tried to get me interested in weaving since I was a child. I never had the patience or attention span for it. But now that I am older and I have become more interested in my crocheting and sewing, I have realized I am a textile artist. So I am ready now.
- Travel the US in the Schoolie that my hubby and I hope to build someday. Hopefully that Schoolie will help us check off many of my bucket list items.
- I want to visit every hot spring I can find in every state and every country I visit!
- Collect textiles like handwoven blankets or crocheted items from every country I visit.
- I would like to hunt for moose or caribou in Alaska
- Catch a king salmon while fly fishing
- Someday, WHEN I Win a huge lottery jackpot, so that I can build a low income senior apartment (with assisted living and skilled nursing as well), with low income college student housing that allows seniors and college students to be room mates. College students get a break on cost of living by committing to spend time with their senior room mates and volunteering with other activities in the community. Other features will be a comprehensive early childhood program in the community where children can attend preschool and seniors can volunteer in the classes. With an animal rescue group/shelter/adoption center that also allows seniors to help care for puppies and kittens and other animals needing a little TLC before being adopted. My guess, is this would require at least 10-50 acres of land, and around 15-25 million to make it happen. A large jackpot could make it happen!
That is all I can think of for now. Maybe I will add to this list as I dream a little more.
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