The Bucket List

Years ago I hoped to travel to all 50 states and collected a magnet in the shape of each state I visited to complete my Magnetic Collectables, LTD map. When my fiancé, now my husband, saw my map, he said we have to complete the map. I quickly revised my wish list. “Only the states we visited together would be represented on the map.” During the recent fall foliage season, we traveled by car to the New England states (Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut) as well as New York. Now we have only 19 states to go.
We recently saw a great movie, “The Bucket List,” with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. A bucket list is a list of all the things a person wants to do “before you kick the bucket.” Completing the U. S. map was part of our informal bucket list which keeps growing with other things we want to do, to see, to learn.
How many times in your life have you said, “I’ll do that when I have the time”? Now is the time. Don’t put off the things you wish to do. Yesterday I wrote, “You are limited only by your imagination and your attitude.” Someone reminded me that you are also limited by your finances. Taking that into consideration shouldn’t stop you from doing things you enjoy.
Make a bucket list with suggestions on how you will successfully complete each item. Can you travel with a group which may be less expensive? (For suggestions on where to travel, read 1,000 Places To See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List by Patricia Schultz.) Find out about group tours, senior discounts and other budgeting plans.
Are there books you haven’t had time to read or movies you missed? Try the library or a used book store.
Do you want to learn to play an instrument? Rent an instrument and find a teacher willing to work with adults. Do you wish to finally learn to swim, speak another language, research your genealogy or surf the internet? Check out recreation centers, YMCAs or YWCAs, or local colleges for classes.
Make your bucket list now and start enjoying your retirement.