Filling our Bucket – List
Maggie from Northern Expenditure put out a post about a “Filling your Bucket” List a little while back, and I’ve compiled some things that have “Filled my Bucket” so far. The thought is that instead of obsessing about ticking off things on a Bucket List, you’ve probably already done some pretty cool things in your life, so take a moment to reflect on all those things that have already “Filled your Bucket”. Below are some things I’ve done that have been really fun and Filled my Bucket. Enjoy the pics, I tried to put in more than usual!
Mr. SSC: Hike most of the Appalachian Trail – While trying to figure out what I wanted to do in college or if I even wanted to remain in college, I decided hiking would be the best way to figure that out. So, I researched, planned, and then hiked from Maine down to Lower VA which was about 1700 miles. The hike worked and I figured out that I wanted to study Environmental Science which ultimately led me to my career in Geology.
Mr. SSC: I got to go hiking in a jungle in Belize. We hiked in for a few miles and then we got on tubes and floated back down a creek, and we went through a bunch of limestone caves. It was pretty awesome floating in darkness through a cave, and then you see the light and come back out in a jungle!
Mr. SSC: Sky dive! I was writing an article for a magazine in Denver – a sort of advertorial but it was a paying free-lance writing gig and I covered reviews for mountain biking trails, white water rafting, etc… Sky diving was one topic I was supposed to cover, and when interviewing one of the schools, he asked, “How can you write about it if you’ve never done it?” I told him I didn’t know, so he asked if I could be there at 7am the next day. I went and got my first jump in by stepping out onto the wing strut of a small Cessna! It was awesome!
Mr. SSC: I’ve gotten to throw beads from the Royal Sonesta balcony on Bourbon Street during Mardis Gras. If you live in or near New Orleans, Mardis Gras is a weeks’ long event culminating into revelry on Bourbon St. when Mardis Gras finally gets here. Most of the balconies on Bourbon St. are booked years in advance, and are not necessarily open to the public. You need passes and they even have security at the doors checking invites. BUT, I was able to get passes one year and it was a pretty awesome vantage point! No parades come down Bourbon St., but the people watching was some of the best I’ve ever seen.
Mr. SSC: Visit the “Goonies” house in Astoria, OR! Yep, the first real vacation Mrs. SSC and I took together we decided we’d visit the Portland, OR area. She asked, “What do you want to do around there?” I said, “OH!! We’re only a few hrs from the house where they filmed Goonies!! We could go see that!” And so we did, and I never got much more input on vacation itineraries after that, lol. I’ve seen that movie over 300 times easily and so it was really cool getting to see “the house”, even though I didn’t get to do the Truffle Shuffle on the stump.
Mr. SSC: Ride on a Mardis Gras Float – While we lived in LA I got a chance to join a Krewe and ride on a float. I did this for 3 years, and it was pretty awesome, but word of warning, it’s also expensive! You have to pay to join the Krewe, which covers float maintenance and all the costs associated with putting one of these things on. Plus, you buy everything you throw, so in essence, you are literally throwing money away. The first year was the worst, but following years, I stocked up on a lot of it through yard sales, where local kids would repackage beads and animals and trinkets caught, for $1/bag or less.
Mr. SSC: Climb 23 Colorado 14’ers, which are peaks at or over 14,000′ high. To be honest most of these were glorified hikes. Well, long hikes with some tough sections but still, I loved it! There were a few where we took some radical routes (like below) and probably should have had ropes, but it all ended well thank goodness!
Mrs. SSC: I’ve been to all of the contiguous 48 states so far in my life. I want to eventually visit them all, and so far, I’ve gotten to all of them except for Hawaii and Alaska.
Mr. SSC: Being a father. This might be cheesy, but there was a time when I was younger I didn’t want kids or see me ever having kids. As tiring, trying, challenging, and frustrating as they can be at times, there isn’t anything I’d do differently or trade to not spend time with them.
Mr. SSC: Go to France! I’ve always had a fascination with France, even studying French for 5 years from middle school to high school. I didn’t get to go on that class trip, but I did get to go on my grad school field trip to Le Mont St. Michel. I got to see some rare silicilastic reefs (most are carbonate), the Eiffel Tower, and even visit Normandy Beach, along with the memorials and cemeteries associated with that invasion. That was the saddest, and most inspiring part of that whole trip.
Those are some of the things I’ve gotten to do that have filled my bucket. Thanks again to Maggie for putting that out there, this was fun getting to relive a lot of these memories!
Maggie @ Northern Expenditure
February 10, 2016YES! I love it. And OBVIOUSLY, it’s time to come on up to Alaska. You’re officially invited to a salmon dinner when you arrive. 🙂 Thanks for participating!
Mr SSC
February 11, 2016Awesome, we’ll let you know when we’re headed up there! It was really fun putting that together, thanks for the challenge and idea!
Tawcan
February 10, 2016Very cool, this has inspired me for a post as well. Looks like hiking is a big thing for you guys, very neat.
I’m pretty close to visiting all US states, lucky for me I’ve already been to Alaska and Hawaii. 🙂
Mr SSC
February 11, 2016That’s pretty awesome, and quite an accomplishment. Those 2 seem to be the toughest because they’re so disconnected and you can’t necessarily just drive there – or at least to Hawaii anyway, lol.
Yeah hiking is a pretty big part of our lives, and we still plan vacations around getting to areas where we can go hike in a terrain that has topographic changes. We hike around here, but it’s a lot of marshland vistas. 🙂
amber tree
February 10, 2016Nice filled bucket already. This is actually a nice way to make a summary of this done you loved. Looks like a good excuse to dig up some CDs with pictures from past travel. Good inspiration.
Mr SSC
February 11, 2016Yeah, it was really fun trying to hunt down pictures from each item, and a great way to relive old memories. Of course, I had to browse through ALL the pictures and collections of pictures once I found them, because it was cool getting to remember all of that.
ThePersonalEconomisf
February 10, 2016Love this list. Sky diving is really brave. Thanks for the inspiration.
Mr SSC
February 11, 2016Thanks! Sky diving was fun and except for having to step out onto the wing strut, it was way less scary than I was expecting. The most scared I was, was when we had pulled our chute and were hanging there drifting down, and the instructor adjusted the straps and I dropped about 12″ unexpectedly… That was the scariest part of the whole experience, lol
ThePersonalEconomist
February 16, 2016Ok I’ve got around to doing my list now – it should come up as the first blog on the front page, thanks for the inspiration.
Mr SSC
February 17, 2016Awesome, I’ll have to go check it out!
Brian @ debt discipline
February 10, 2016Love bucket list post. I’ve compiled a normal bucket list and a financial one, but they were of things I wanted to do, not completed already. i need to do this! Goonies house, very cool. Great photos of the kids.
Mr SSC
February 11, 2016Yeah Goonies! 🙂 Those 2 pics of the kids are ones I also keep in my office. They’re older than that now, but those are great reminders of them at that age and their goofiness and wonder with everything.
Fill your bucket list is a great review of stuff you’ve already done, and a great idea from Maggie.
Elephant Eater
February 11, 2016Cool list. We talk often about forgetting about many of the cool things we’ve done as they’ve faded from memory. One of the benefits of the blog is going through old pics that help tell a story or make a point and reliving the memories in the process. Looks like we have a weekend project putting together our list!
The one that got me a little jealous….The Goonie house. Best movie ever! Now if you figure out where the water slide down to the cave with the pirate ship is, please share and I’m there!
Mr SSC
February 12, 2016Once a Goonie, Always a Goonie! Hahahaha
If I can find that slide into the cave, I’ll definitely let you know. 🙂
As I mentioned previously, even just going through the albums of pics was great in itself, because it brought up all kinds of cool memories from things I’d done and that we’ve done together.
I like that aspect of blogging too, finding a tie-in with a story from before, and then trying to get a good picture to fit. It’s been great with memories from that standpoint too
Fervent Finance
February 13, 2016Wow! I’ve heard how tough the Appalachian Trail is – very impressive. Great job of filling up your bucket lists.
Mr SSC
February 15, 2016Thanks, it was tough, but I was younger and had more energy then. 🙂 I do plan on completing that last section, and I really want to plan to do it thru hike and do the whole thing this time, even though I’ll be much older, creakier, and will probably have way more “pain” issues to deal with. I’m game though!
Our Next Life
February 13, 2016Cool list, you guys! And I love seeing your faces, Mr. SSC and the kids, even if those photos are a bit dated. 🙂 I think you’ve climbed (I know, it’s really “hiked”) more 14ers than we have! But our goal is to catch up very soon! Look forward to hearing what else you add to the bucket in the coming years!
Mr SSC
February 15, 2016Thanks! They’re really fun, and rewarding once you get to the views from on top. There were only a couple I wanted ropes, and had exposed rock scrambling, but man, if you slipped… yipes! we also took some unorthodox ways up a couple of them for more “fun”,like that ridge route pic. There were some hairy spots on that one… When I was in Denver, I tried to maximize my outdoor time, knowing I probably wasn’t going to be lucky enough to be there forever, and especially when I was single out there, it was really easy to get up at 4am, drive 2-3 hrs, and bang out a 14’er. Ahhh, CO life. 🙂
That hiking pic with Grandad is one of my faves. We would do 2 week backpacking trips during summers when I was that age (middle school, early high school) or 3-5 day trips on long weekends. We would go hiking on regular weekends as well, and it was great getting to spend that time with him and hear some of his stories of life and everything you could imagine.
Alyssa @ GenerationYRA
February 13, 2016This is an incredible list – all of which are items I’ve always wished to do! Very cool that you chose Portland, OR (and Astoria for the Goonies House!) as one of your first trips together since that’s where I’m from. 🙂 The pictures of your children are absolutely gorgeous! Do you think either one of you/the family will take on parts of the Pacific Crest Trail?
Mr SSC
February 15, 2016Thanks! Portland and that area have always appealed to us so we visited and had a blast. Besides Astoria, we also got to hike around Mt. Hood, since we made our “base” near there and got to tour lots of wineries and breweries. MMM, beer… We even visited the sakery just east of Portland. Fun trip indeed! I have looked into the PCT, but with time being the limiting factor, it hasn’t been serious. However, now that life plans have changed I think doing some sections of it could be an awesome way to spend the summer or even a few weeks. Especially if the kids get into hiking or backpacking later on.
Stockbeard
February 15, 2016Glad you enjoyed France! I’m from Brittany, which is very close to Normandy, we tend to both claim Le Mont St Michel belongs to our respective regions 🙂
Mr SSC
February 16, 2016Yeah I had a blast that whole time. Besides getting to see the tidal range of the bay at Le Monet St Michel, it was awesome getting to tour some apple orchards and get to see how they make Calvados. Delish!
The whole countryside in that region reminded me of where I grew up in south central Kentucky. It was awesome, and I definitely want to go back some day with the family.
Abigail @ipickuppennies
February 16, 2016That’s quite a list. I feel really boring because I don’t really have a bucket list. I’d like to go back to England and to take my husband to DC. Beyond that, I don’t have a lot of big goals other than financial security.
Mr SSC
February 17, 2016Thanks, and to be fair I don’t really have a “bucket list”. These are just things I have done that could fit into someone’s bucket list, lol.
I bet you’ve done more than you think. Mrs. SSC said the same thing until I started pointing out things she has done that I knew about. My dad never left KY except for repairing phone lines after Hurricane Andrew. For him going to all lower 48 states would be a big deal. I guess it’s all perspective. Traveling abroad is quite an accomplishment in itself. If it hadn’t been for my school trip and me not worrying about not really being able to afford it, I still wouldn’t have traveled abroad.
Investment Hunting
March 7, 2016Great read. Thanks for sharing. I stumbles across one of these posts on Tawcan’s blog today. Since then I been going down the rabbit hole. It’s so fun to see the cool things we’ve all done in our lives. My fill-the-bucket post is coming soon.
Mr SSC
March 7, 2016Yeah his fill the bucket list is pretty awesome too! Can’t wait to read about yours. There have been a lot of cool ones out there. If you go to Northern Expenditure, I think January update you can find links to more, and I think she included some links to more in her February update as well.
Mrs. FI
March 14, 2016Wow, that’s quite the list you have compiled! Mrs. SSC’s FTB list is definitely more my speed. Mr. FI and I hope to visit some pretty cool caves next year (that will then be added to our FTB List, of course) and I hope to see more of our own country (I’ve yet to visit the East Coast, so that’s on the top of my list). Mr. SSC and his impressive yet “hardcore” list would not bode well with my hate of falling (skydiving) and serious lack of muscle (climbing 23 14’ers is a tad bit daunting for a string-bean novice like me). I will note, however, that France is the bees knees and visiting the Goonie’s house would be downright awesome. 😉 Thanks for sharing your list, it was a fun read!
Mr SSC
March 16, 2016Caves are always a good time! 🙂 The East Coast is nice, and I want to get back there to see more of it as well. If you’re ever out in CO, there are a few 14’ers you can drive to the top of like Mt. Evans or Pikes Peak if you’re closer to Colorado Springs. Just a thought since they have beautiful views too.
Getting to France and the Goonie’s house are still in my fave’s too – Goonies never say die!
Glad you enjoyed the read. 🙂