27Feb 2019 by Dave Macleod 1 Comment
Old Ghost Road Mountain Bike Trek

Old Ghost Road Mountain Bike Trek

GENERAL, TRAVEL
The Old Ghost Road is one of New Zealand’s top multi-day mountain bike rides and one of the adventures in New Zealand all together. At 85 km, it is the longest single track mountain bike ride in New Zealand. It goes up over mountains, meanders along rivers and traverses steep cliffs. I have done many adventure activities in New Zealand and a few other multi-day activities but this is one I will remember forever. If this has not been on your radar up until now… it should be. My friends and I began planning for our trek along the OGR nine months in advance to ensure we could get bunks in the cabins before they sold out. We were aiming to start 16th December, which is in the high season.…
Read More
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…
Read More
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,…
Read More
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.…
Read More
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.…
Read More
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…
Read More
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.…
Read More
26Sep 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Credit Card Travel Benefits: Frequent Flyer Points

Credit Card Travel Benefits: Frequent Flyer Points

GENERAL, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
This blog post is the second of my Credit Card Travel Benefits Series and continues on from Credit Card Travel Benefits: The Basics. Frequent flyer points are a great reward for anyone who loves travelling and they build up quickly when using your credit card for every purchase. However, when I received my first credit card, I did the math and realised that it would take me about 2-3 years of spending to earn enough frequent flyer points for a short haul flight across Canada. This wasn’t good enough for so I began to play “The Credit Card Game”. The Credit Card Game is something I invented to help me maximise my frequent flyer point’s earnings. The game is played by me, against the major credit card companies (although they…
Read More
12Sep 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
2010 Roundup

2010 Roundup

BUCKET LIST, GENERAL, LESSON
Over the past several weeks I have been posting the stories and lessons that I have learned from my bucket list adventures in 2010. In the inaugural year, I managed to complete six items from my bucket list and each one taught me a valuable lesson. My bucket list progress from year-to-year can be tracked using the graph I have created. In case you have missed any of the stories or lessons from my bucket list adventures, here is a roundup. #86 Go for a Polar Bear Swim Completed on 1st January in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. [#86 Lesson] Just Start!   #9 Give Blood Completed on 28th January in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. [#9 Lesson] It Feels Good to Help Others   #97 Become Vegetarian for a Week Completed…
Read More
15Aug 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Land, Sea and Sky Birthday Extravaganza

Land, Sea and Sky Birthday Extravaganza

GENERAL, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
After 21, there are not many birthdays to get too excited about until you turn 30. I am still a couple years away from that milestone but this year I wanted to do something awesome for my birthday. One day I came up with the idea of the Land, Sea and Sky Birthday Extravaganza. For those of you who don’t know, New Zealand is the outdoor capital of the world! And with that kind of reputation, I intend to take full advantage of it. I told my mate, Jesse, my idea for the LSSBE, which involved going away for the weekend and doing three different adventure activities to conquer these three environments. The destination… Taupo! I have a group of friends, here in New Zealand, that share my addiction for…
Read More