Travel Tip #16 - Start Working on your Bucket List

     If you've seen the movie The Bucket List, you know that a bucket list is a list of things you'd like to accomplish before you "kick the bucket." In the movie, two older gentlemen (Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) are diagnosed with terminal illnesses. Rather than sit around waiting to die, they go on a trip around the world checking items off their bucket lists.
     You don't have to be retired to start working on your bucket list. In fact, if you wait too long, you probably won't get very far. Once you are retired, you might be too old or lack the health for certain activities. Some people spend their whole lives working - even when they are supposedly on vacation. Rather than "be that guy," get out and live. Do something that you've always wanted to do.
     I've been a baseball fan ever since I started playing Little League. Growing up in California, I followed both the Angels and the Dodgers. I attended dozens of games at the stadiums, and watched or listened to hundreds more on TV or the radio. Ever since I saw the Green Monster in Fenway Park, I've felt a strong desire to attend a game there. Unfortunately, on my only previous visit to Boston, we pulled into town after the game had already started. So instead of going to the game as planned, the adults decided to go out and eat lobster, and put me and my sister in charge of watching our younger siblings and cousins in the hotel room.
     This time, I made sure we went to a game. While planning our trip, I checked the Red Sox's schedule to find out when they would be in town before setting the dates for our trip. Fortunately, we discovered that the Dodgers would be in town on one of our possible dates. Unfortunately, since it was a game between two of the most storied clubs in the Majors, the game was already sold out. Fortunately, I found some tickets on Stub Hub. Unfortunately, they were about twice the regular price. Since it was on my Bucket List, and I didn't know when or if I'd ever be back in Boston, I decided that it was worth it. Still, we were on a budget, so only my dad and I went - since we were the ones who were the most interested in going. I can't remember what the others did instead, but I will always remember sitting inside the crown jewel of MLB ballparks with my dad, enjoying the game.

     A few other items I crossed off my Bucket List on that trip were: going to the top of the Empire State Building, watching a play on Broadway, riding the Cyclone on Coney Island, walking the Freedom Trail, and taking the Maid of the Mist under Niagara Falls. It was a fabulous trip - one I'll remember for the rest of my life.
     So next time you plan a trip, make sure it includes at least one thing from your bucket list.