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13Feb 2019 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Credit Card Travel Benefits: Cash vs Credit Cards

Credit Card Travel Benefits: Cash vs Credit Cards

GENERAL, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
This blog post is the third of my Credit Card Travel Benefits Series and continues on from Credit Card Travel Benefits: Frequent Flyer Points. I never leave home without at least one credit card in my wallet, especially when travelling. In this blog post I will describe how I use cash and credit cards when travelling overseas. I will also look at the pros and cons of each. After almost a decade of travelling the world with credit cards at my disposal, I have developed a system that works quite well for me. Canada is pretty good for the percentage of merchants that accept credit cards but, since living in New Zealand, I have realised that the percentage is even higher here. Credit cards are so widely accepted in New…
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30Jan 2019 by Monika Giacca Millar No Comments
Travelling With a Baby: Our Experience

Travelling With a Baby: Our Experience

GENERAL, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
I’m sure that a lot of readers of this blog aren’t even thinking about having kids at this time. But there are a lot of millennials following as well, and one by one you’re each getting plucked off the singles list, getting married, and inevitably having kids (or likely skipping getting married and putting that money toward a house or trip!). When you have kids, there’s no need to ditch your travelling habits or shelve your bucket list for when the kids grow up – it’s just time to restructure and reorganize it. Are there trips on your list that are more baby friendly than others? Perhaps, there are some great places you would like to go that would be great for when your little one is 4-6 years old,…
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16Jan 2019 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#26 Lesson] Gambling is Called Gambling for a Reason

[#26 Lesson] Gambling is Called Gambling for a Reason

BUCKET LIST, LESSON, TRAVEL
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #26 Gamble in Las Vegas. The word gambling is defined as the activity or practice of playing at a game of chance for money or other stakes. What is the most important word in this sentence? Chance. The word chance is defined as a possibility or probability of anything happening. Possibility cannot be quantified but probability can. The probability of an event happening in a casino (The House) is called the House Edge. In simple terms, the House Edge is the mathematical advantage that a game has over an individual, over a long term. The higher the House Edge, the higher the probability that the House will take your money over a long period of play. In short, gambling involves using your…
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02Jan 2019 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Bucket Listing in the New Year

Bucket Listing in the New Year

GENERAL
What’s on for 2019? Have you made a list of what you want to do this year? My goals from year to year are always chopping and changing but the one thing that remains the same is my bucket list. It forms the central theme of my life goals and makes it easier for me to plan what I want to accomplish each year. This year I will be heading to Japan for a skiing trip and I should be able to cross at least two items off my list. I’m sure there will also be many other life experiences I will take in while I am there. This New Year’s Day marks nine years of bucket listing for me and I have experienced many positive benefits over this time.…
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12Dec 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#26 Gamble in Las Vegas

#26 Gamble in Las Vegas

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 31st December 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. After I started working on my bucket list, my friend Kyle was inspired and began working on his own bucket list. I described the process that I followed, which was enough to get him started. He began his research and started adding items to his list. One of the items he had on his list was to compete in the World Series of Beer Pong (WSOBP), which is held in Las Vegas each year. The 2013 tournament was scheduled for three days beginning on 2nd January. One night in March of 2012, Kyle and I were having some drinks with our friends and began talking about the WSOBP. One thing led to another and we…
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05Dec 2018 by Dave Macleod 1 Comment
Summer Bucket List 2019

Summer Bucket List 2019

GENERAL
Well, it’s that time of the year again, when the southern half of this world gets to enjoy summer. I have had a long and busy winter and am looking forward to some fine weather reaching New Zealand. Summer officially kicked off this week so we are into it. As always, I have come up with five items that I want to complete this summer. Take my mum and Lexi black water rafting in the Waitomo Caves Jump at Skydive Bay of Islands Complete the Old Ghost Road mountain bike trail Spear a kingfish Surf more Black water rafting is probably one of the highlights of New Zealand adventure activities. Neither my mum nor Lexi have gone before so I thought we should cross it off their lists this summer.…
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21Nov 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#38 Lesson] Cherish Adventures with Your Close Friends

[#38 Lesson] Cherish Adventures with Your Close Friends

BUCKET LIST, LESSON, TRAVEL
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #38 Eat at a White Castle Restaurant. During this adventure I flew to Florida with two of my closest friends, Dave and Branden. The purpose of the trip was to buy a BMW and drive it back to Canada. On paper, the task sounded easy but we had to overcome multiple challenges and worked together to make it happen. A combination of time pressure and a Category 3 hurricane made our trip even more exciting. I have known Dave and Branden since I was five years old and grew up on the same street as them. We have always been close friends but it seems like every time we go on an adventure, we become closer. This was not our first adventure…
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07Nov 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Happy Birthday BucketLaunch!

Happy Birthday BucketLaunch!

GENERAL
This month, BucketLaunch is turning one year old! Running BucketLaunch, posting content and helping others plan and achieve their bucket list dreams has kept me very busy over the past year. And guess what? I have loved every minute of it!!! I am thankful for all of the fans who subscribe and follow my BucketLaunch pages. It is all of you that make this worthwhile when I see the shares, comments and likes on social media. Making an impact on the world is not an easy thing to do by yourself but all of you are helping me to achieve this goal. Here are a few stats, from the past year, that I want to share with you: 178 followers on the BucketLaunch Facebook page 800+ followers on the BucketLaunch Instagram page…
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24Oct 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#38 Eat at a White Castle Restaurant

#38 Eat at a White Castle Restaurant

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 26th August 2011 in Green Brook Township, New Jersey, USA. The idea for this bucket list item came directly from the 2004 movie, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. For those of you who are not familiar with this movie, I will elaborate. The movie follows the epic journey of two party animals who spend their night in search of their next fix, White Castle hamburgers. White Castle is known for being open late and their $1 sliders. The movie is filled with humour and life lessons and has become a bit of a cult classic for my generation. When I added this item to the list I thought it would be a funny achievement to eat at a White Castle restaurant…
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10Oct 2018 by Monika Giacca Millar No Comments
Travel Insurance… Yes, You Do Need It!

Travel Insurance… Yes, You Do Need It!

GENERAL, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
As a Travel Consultant I get to send my clients off on amazing trips all around the world. They send back photos, postcards … hey, sometimes even a souvenir. That is my favourite part of the job, and it’s why I love doing it. My least favourite part of my job is working with my clients who have had a crisis before or during their trip. I’m here to help, and I’ll always do the best I can … but when my clients opt out of travel insurance and something goes wrong, the consequences can be devastating. I’m not here to be a downer, but I want to tell you all about travel insurance, what you should look for, and how to avoid paying massive unexpected fees on your journey.…
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