11Aug 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#77 Lesson] Sometimes Life Isn’t Like the Movies

[#77 Lesson] Sometimes Life Isn’t Like the Movies

BUCKET LIST, LESSON, TRAVEL
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #77 Get a Picture with a Buckingham Palace Guard. I am embarrassed to admit that I honestly thought that I was going to be able to make faces at a Buckingham Palace guard. I am abundantly aware that Hollywood dramatises almost everything, but I thought this one was different. I had seen it in so many movies that I thought it was actually possible to achieve. While you can get close to the guards, you cannot get close enough to make faces at them. And if you do make faces at them, chances are it will end up with you in the hospital. I was glad that I had Jackie to tell me that this was unrealistic. At least that prepared me…
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28Jul 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#77 Get a Picture with a Buckingham Palace Guard

#77 Get a Picture with a Buckingham Palace Guard

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 4th October 2016 in London, England, UK. This story continues from where #78 Make a Call form a London Phone Booth left off. Over a few pints, Jackie shared with me the harsh truth, that I was not going to get a photo of me making faces at a Buckingham Palace guard. I heeded Jackie’s advice and made my way to the Tower of London instead. Jackie claimed that the same guards were positioned at the Tower of London and I would probably have more luck getting a photo. I arrived outside the Tower of London at 8:30 am. This gave me time to grab some breakfast and take some photos of the surrounding area in the beautiful morning light. Tower of London…
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14Jul 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#78 Lesson] Stay in Touch

[#78 Lesson] Stay in Touch

BUCKET LIST, LESSON, TRAVEL
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #78 Make a Call form a London Phone Booth. This was a pretty simple bucket list item to achieve, it was just a phone call to my parents. As I have said before though, there is a life lesson in all of these. No matter whether they are easy or hard. This one taught me how easy it is to stay in touch. And also, the importance of staying in touch. My dad was excited to receive the call and it was good to update him on the next leg of my journey. As I grew up, and began to start travelling on my own, my parents and I developed a rule – No News is Good News. Back then, the only…
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30Jun 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#78 Make a Call from a London Phone Booth

#78 Make a Call from a London Phone Booth

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 3rd October 2016 in London, England, UK. In early 2016, my best mate, Kyle, told me he was getting married. The wedding was scheduled for the end of September and he told me that I was socially obligated to attend. I still had not been home since 2013, so I felt that he was right. It was time to go home. Like many of my adventures, I decided to tie in some bucket list items along the way. The plan for this holiday was to go home for two weeks to attend the wedding, catch up with friends and see my family. After that, I had two weeks planned over in the UK, where I had four bucket list items lined up. This…
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16Jun 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#23 Lesson] Keep Your Wits about Yourself When Travelling

[#23 Lesson] Keep Your Wits about Yourself When Travelling

BUCKET LIST, LESSON, TRAVEL
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #23 Ride in a Gondola Boat in Venice. In my travels throughout the years I have experienced, and have been told about, many schemes where locals will try to hustle unsuspecting tourists. The sad truth is that you never know when it is going to happen until it is already in the process, or worse, it has already happen and you have been deceived. It doesn’t matter whether you have been travelling your whole life or whether you are on your first overseas adventure, everyone is susceptible to being hustled while travelling. One time when I was travelling in Cuba with my family we were on a tour and walked past a beggar. The beggar first asked where we were from…
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02Jun 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#23 Ride in a Gondola Boat in Venice

#23 Ride in a Gondola Boat in Venice

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was complete on 15th July 2016 in Venice, Italy. During the same skydiving holiday in Italy to Grand Turismo, mentioned in my previous post #90 Go to Pompeii, I had this bucket list item in my back pocket. My main purpose for the holiday was to jump out of airplanes as much as possible and I was successful at this by completing 104 jumps in three and a half weeks. The weather in Fano was ideal for jumping and consistent almost every day, which is how I was able to complete so many jumps. However, I had hung out around enough dropzones and knew enough about weather patterns to know it could not last forever. Or at least one side of me was hoping that would…
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19May 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#90 Lesson] Explored History

[#90 Lesson] Explored History

BUCKET LIST, LESSON, TRAVEL
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #90 Go to Pompeii. What class did I hate the most when I was a kid? History. What is one of my favourite aspects of travel, today? History. Did I just grow up and begin to like history? Definitely not! I don’t think there is any risk of me growing up any time soon. What changed was the way I learned the material. Instead of being told about it by my teacher or reading about it from a book, I was experiencing it firsthand. I call this explored history. I find explored history more interesting as you can form a connection with the material that you are learning. Explored history excites more of our senses, which helps to make more of an…
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05May 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#90 Go to Pompeii

#90 Go to Pompeii

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 3rd July 2016 in Pompeii, Italy. I started skydiving at the beginning of 2015, and by this point, I think it is safe to say that it was consuming my life (in a good way). I had just enjoyed an amazing summer of jumping, but winter was setting in and I wanted to keep jumping. That is when I found out about Grand Turismo. Grand Turismo is run by Fiona from Skydive Auckland and is branded as the ultimate skydiving holiday. Each July, Fiona takes a bunch of beginner/intermediate jumpers over to Fano, Italy to jump. The conditions are always good, and the wine is always flowing. It really is the ultimate skydiving holiday. I paid my registration fee and then began to…
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21Apr 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
2015 Roundup

2015 Roundup

GENERAL
The good times kept rolling in 2015! I managed to complete another five items from my bucket list. Three of these were completed, with my two best mates, while on our road trip through Australia. In case you have missed any of the stories or lessons from my bucket list adventures in 2015, here is a roundup. #62 Fly in a Hot Air Balloon Completed on 7th February in Hamilton, New Zealand [#62 Lesson] Share Your Dreams With Others #12 Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYrhATBiSgY Completed on 20th April from Cairns, Australia [#12 Lesson] Balance Between Planned and Unplanned Adventures #66 Hug a Koala Bear Completed on 28th April at Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Australia [#66 Lesson] Relaaaax #11 Go Surfing in Australia Completed on 29th April in…
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07Apr 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#36 Lesson] Accomplishing Life Goals Takes Commitment

[#36 Lesson] Accomplishing Life Goals Takes Commitment

BUCKET LIST, LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #36 Run a Half Marathon. As I said previously, this wasn’t the first time that I was stopped from achieving something from my bucket list and it certainly was not the last. This is only one of at least six times that I have nearly achieved a goal, only for it to be taken away from me. Sometimes it has been because of personal injury, while other times it has been the weather or circumstances beyond my control that have not worked out in my favour. Regardless of the obstacles that have stopped me previously, I am still passionate about these goals and they remain on my list. When I decided that I was going to run a half marathon, I found…
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