My Bucket List

That's my bucket list.  In all it's glory.

You see, I've always been one to dream big.  Since I was in my late teens, I've had lists scrawled in the back of my journals of all the things I wanted to accomplish.  So one day, when I was desperately trying to make it on my own - single, paying for my first apartment and all it's bills without a roommate, and making less than $1,000 a month - I typed out this list on my laptop.

It was dreaming big, that's for sure.  By the time I paid my bills each month and bought the cheapest, most frugal groceries I could find, I didn't have any extra in my checking account.  If I was hit with unexpected maintenance on my truck, I knew I would founder.

Having goals helped, though.  That first year, despite constantly being broke, I managed to check off two small things on the list.  My sister took me to the drive-in theater in her college town, and when I was coming back from a road trip with friends, I took a train back.  (It was actually cheaper than any other mode of transportation for that destination!)

The list was on my refrigerator in that tiny apartment for a year before I set off on the first real adventure on my bucket list - numbers three and four - which read:

• "Travel across the United States.  Stop and visit all my friends as I go across the States."
• "Visit the East Coast and see the historical places: Plymouth Rock, Philadelphia, Williamsburg, Washington, D.C., etc."

I closed up the little apartment and let go of the lease, packed my clothes, toiletries, and a few good books in my car, put the rest of my stuff in storage, and set off across the United States for eight months.  That trip has a whole blog to itself, and it will also show up later in this thirty day challenge as the best trip of my life.

When I got back from that trip, I finally got my dream job as an inner city high school English teacher, and I got to check one more thing off my list.  While that enabled me to have a regular salary that paid a little more, it also took up more of my time.  Therefore, I've still only managed to accomplish one or two things on my list each year.

I've told you about the first things I accomplished on that list; let me tell you about the last thing I accomplished on that list and about the current things I am working towards.

I actually accomplished two things, almost at the same time, last summer.  The first was to take my mother to Australia.  Going to Australia is not cheap, but it was worth it!  We had two wonderful weeks of mother/daughter time while road-tripping up and down part of the east coast of Australia and exploring the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney.  Right before we left on that trip, I had put an offer on a house.  I came back to finish paperwork and close on the house two weeks later.  I will detail more on the house in my blog post on my proudest moment, but buying my own house is the very latest thing I have accomplished on that bucket list.

Currently?  Well, currently I am working on training for a sprint triathalon which is one of the steps towards my long-term goal of competing in an Ironman.  The other two goals that I plan to work on soon is a book to be published and starting up TaeKwonDo classes again.  

There are people who say bucket lists are cliche, and I am actually inclined to agree.  If you know me personally, you know I will refuse to do something because it is popular.  I will argue, though, on the bucket list.  First, I don't believe it was popular when I first made mine.  If it was, I did not know it was.  Secondly, it does help keep me focused.  I am a person who thrives on challenges and goals, so whenever I get bored, I go back to the bucket list and choose a new goal to work towards.  Every year, I've managed to accomplish one or two things on that list.

The list also charts my journey as a person.  You can see there are items crossed off and items added on.  As I've grown and matured, my values and goals change.  The list reflects this.  

Maybe one day, when I am a gray old lady, I can show off a tattered list with a date and a check mark beside each item.  But maybe (and this is what I'd prefer), I'll be a gray haired lady going sky-diving and driving an old John Deere tractor.