16Dec 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#12 Lesson] Balance Between Planned and Unplanned Adventures

[#12 Lesson] Balance Between Planned and Unplanned Adventures

BUCKET LIST, LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #12 Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef. For the last 10 years, my bucket list has dictated my travel plans. I often tell people that it is my roadmap that I use for planning holidays each year, which means I often travel with a purpose. Many of my bucket list items require specific planning as some events can only be done one day of the year. Others may be completed any day throughout the year but will involve more logistics. The bucket list has forced me to be a diligent planner to ensure that my dreams come true. Looking back on it, that is exactly why I started the bucket list, to ensure I got the most out of life. However, sometimes…
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02Dec 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#12 Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef

#12 Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 20th April 2015 from Cairns, Australia. I had been living in New Zealand for almost two years when I planned this adventure. Everybody always asked me whether I had been to Australia yet, but the answer was always no. I decided it was time to stop neglecting this massive country floating off to the west of New Zealand. A 4-hour flight can land you anywhere on the east coast of Australia, so the options are endless. One weekend I pulled up a map, got out my bucket list and began planning. The first stop would be Cairns to tackle the Great Barrier Reef. I had looked into liveaboard cruises that take you out over the reef and you live on the boat for…
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21Oct 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#62 Lesson] Share Your Dreams With Others

[#62 Lesson] Share Your Dreams With Others

BUCKET LIST, LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #62 Fly in a Hot Air Balloon. When I told Tegan that the coolest gift she could get me would be to help me cross something off my bucket list, she got to work. She studied my list and found an activity that we could do together and was close to New Plymouth. It was definitely the best present she could have given me, and I was so happy that she did that for me. This taught me the importance of sharing your dreams with others. Since starting my bucket list, I have noticed the natural tendency of people to want to help out. Whenever I share my bucket list with people, it is very common for them to scan the list…
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07Oct 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#62 Fly in a Hot Air Balloon

#62 Fly in a Hot Air Balloon

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 7th February 2015 in Hamilton, New Zealand. It all started with, “What do you want for Christmas?”. I began dating Tegan at the start of 2014 and when Christmas time rolled around, she was nervous about what to get me. I’m not really that fussy with gifts and generally any type of adventure paraphernalia will make me happy. She persisted, but I am not that good at choosing my own gifts, on the spot. I ended up telling her that the coolest gift she could get me would be to help me cross something off my bucket list. She never asked me again, and I never really thought about it until we started exchanging gifts. Her present was simple, it was an envelope.…
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23Sep 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#84 Lesson] Sacrifices are Required to Achieve Dreams

[#84 Lesson] Sacrifices are Required to Achieve Dreams

BUCKET LIST, LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #84 Fly an Airplane. Anything truly worth doing in life, is worth sacrificing something else to make it happen. This is the most important lesson I have learned from my bucket list journeys. That 14-month period was one of the most challenging times in my life. There was simply not enough time in the day or energy in my body to complete all the things that I desired. As a result, something had to give. Sacrifices had to be made. I realised this within the first few months, around the time of my first solo. I had to look at my life and ask, what can wait? What don’t I need right now? As much as I loved to go out…
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09Sep 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#84 Fly an Airplane

#84 Fly an Airplane

BUCKET LIST
This bucket list item was completed on 9th November 2014 in Hawera, New Zealand. In July 2014, I had a lazy weekend with not much planned, so I called my Irish friend, John, to see if he had found any waves. He told me that he wasn’t out hunting for waves because he was actually doing some flying lessons. I was amazed! I interrogated him, “What? Are you serious? Where can you do that?” He happily gave me all the details. There is a small town called Hawera, located about one hour south of New Plymouth. Hawera has a very active aeroclub. The aerodrome land is leased out to a local farmer to grow crops, which subsidises the flying rates, making them very cheap. When John told me the details,…
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26Aug 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#41 Lesson] Sometimes You Need Help

[#41 Lesson] Sometimes You Need Help

BUCKET LIST, LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #41 Go on a Blob. There are some similarities with this lesson and [#21 Lesson] Ask for Help. In that blog I talked about never being too proud to admit when you could use some help. The key is to realise this and act on it by asking others for help. Your friends and family will always be there to help, as long as you ask. This adventure taught me that sometimes you NEED help. This is not just a matter of getting over your independence and asking for a helping hand. Sometimes there will be physical limitations keeping you from doing something by yourself. In my case it was going on a blob. In the middle summer, the adventure park…
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12Aug 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#41 Go on a Blob

#41 Go on a Blob

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 21st September 2014 in Tauranga, New Zealand. This post follows on from my previous post, #65 Go Whitewater Rafting, which describes the start of my travels with my brother during his trip to New Zealand. After leaving Rotorua we kept moving north and drove straight to the Coromandel Peninsula, stopping at a hostel near Hahei. We stayed at the hostel for two nights and used it as our home base while we explored the surrounding area. Cathedral Cove One morning, after breakfast, we took off to discover Hot Water Beach. The beach gets its name from a natural underground hot spring located directly below the sand. Hot water, up to 65 °C, bubbles up through the sand that is exposed during the two…
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15Jul 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#65 Lesson] Variety in Adventure

[#65 Lesson] Variety in Adventure

BUCKET LIST, LESSON
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #65 Go Whitewater Rafting. When I crossed #65 off my list, it was the first time I had ever been whitewater rafting. The only other time was last year, with my mum, along the Grand Canyon. Both were whitewater rafting tours, but they were vastly different. The Kaituna River experience was short, only 50 minutes long, but it was packed with Grade 5 rapids and a huge 7 metre waterfall. The Grand Canyon was a 4‑day adventure with up to 8 hours on the river each day. We only tackled Grade 3 & 4 rapids on this trip and the scenery was the total opposite of the New Zealand bush along the Kaituna. Kaituna River The thing is, both were amazing…
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01Jul 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#65 Go Whitewater Rafting

#65 Go Whitewater Rafting

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 17th September 2014 in Rotorua, New Zealand. I had been living in New Zealand for about a year when my brother, Galen, sent me an email saying that he had some money saved up and wanted to come and visit me. Galen and I love adventure activities and after hearing about all the exciting experiences I had been having in New Zealand, he wanted to come and experience some of them for himself. After exchanging a few emails, we had sorted out a good time for him to visit and he booked his flights. He would be coming for five weeks and wanted to experience as much of New Zealand as possible. We came up with an awesome adventure itinerary of New Zealand…
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