Monday, June 24, 2013

The bucket list

You know, the things you'd like to do before you finally kick the bucket.

My own bucket list is rather small and modest: in fact, there's very little on it that's even remotely life-threatening (hiking Death Valley is the only thing that comes to mind). Some people, however, really go all out.

No matter how adventurous you're feeling in your old age, you should take to heart Dr. Stanton's advice: "If you’re going to build a bucket list don’t fill it with 18 different versions of Russian Roulette".

No doubt you commenters are a much friskier lot than I am, so it might be interesting to discover what you all are planning to notch on your belt before you hand in your dinner pail.

(H/T: Hot Air)

Update: I think I'll add hiking around the falls of Havasu Canyon to my wish list. Check out this beautiful photo essay.

9 comments:

rinardman said...

You may consider me lame, but I can think of only one thing for a bucket list. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but it's one of those high risk adventures. What is it?

Spend a week on the beaches of Tahiti.



RebeccaH said...

I crossed an item off my bucket list a few years ago when I bought a kayak and used it to paddle around Caesar Creek Lake. I could get into little inlets and coves that motorboats couldn't get into, and discovered a whole new world of nature in there. I saw a kingfisher dive into the water after a fish, and a buzzard sitting on the shore not four feet from me, guarding a dead fish. Blue herons and fish everywhere, and deer and wild roses in the woods, and even watched a snake slithering over some rocks.

I had to sell it eventually because I can't do it anymore, and that just about broke my heart.

So another item on my bucket list was to adopt my dog Daisy from a rescue organization, and she makes me get up and walk every day.

RebeccaH said...

I'll never get to Havasupai Falls but Lord, I do miss that country.

mojo said...

Death Valley, huh?

Been there, done that. It was hot. Hot and dry. REALLY hot and dry.

But there is a good hotel at Furnace Creek, with a bar in a cave, where it's nice and cool.

BTW: it got the name "Death Valley" not from the Lord's Prayer, but from a nasty little problem: A Conestoga wagon pulled by four horses could get down into the valley on the east side, no problem. But getting back out... The slopes were just a tad too steep.

Anonymous said...

30 Day Hawaii, Tahiti & Marquesas Island cruise out of San Diego. I've put 236,000 miles on old my van exploring North America from Prudhoe to Nova Scotia, to Key West to San Ysidro. I'd like to try driving it to Tierra del Fuego but I suspect even that beat up old van (with Texas plates) might draw some unwanted attention in a few countries I'd have to pass through.

Paco said...

Anon: That's the life! Sometimes Mrs. Paco and I fantasize about retiring and swapping out the house for an RV and just cruising around the country.

Anonymous said...

No RV, just a 2000 Dodge Caravan with the back seats out, an army cot and an Annual National Parks Pass. I only wander for 30, or 40 days a year now because of fuel costs. It has been fun and I wish my wife could have shared it. I have an 03 TDI Golf waiting in the wings for the day the Dodge gives up the ghost. If I lose the passenger seat I think a cot can be made to fit.

Robert Jesionowski said...

I lived in AZ, I loved it. Especially the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. One of my buck list items is to hike the north rim. That and the Appalachian Trail. Lets see what happens.

bruce said...

Was gong to say The Camino, but then I read this:

http://francistapon.com/Travels/Spain-Trails/10-Reasons-Why-El-Camino-Santiago-Sucks

The movie with Martin Sheen (The Way) is good anyhoo.