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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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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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…
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29Aug 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Shark Cage Diving Stewart Island, NZ

Shark Cage Diving Stewart Island, NZ

BUCKET LIST, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
This particular bucket list adventure was not from my list, it was actually from my girlfriend’s list. When Lexi told me she wanted to go shark cage diving, I made sure to invite myself along. This was not an adventure I was going to miss out on. It was getting late in the season when we decided to book it but we managed to get on the second last trip of the season, on 2nd June. We flew down to Invercargill the day before, where we had booked accommodation. It was a beautiful day across the whole country when we flew down to the tip of the South Island. As we were flying between Christchurch and Invercargill we were in awe of the incredible views of the Southern Alps and…
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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…
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01Aug 2018 by Monika Giacca Millar No Comments
How to See Iceland for FREE: Planning a Stopover

How to See Iceland for FREE: Planning a Stopover

GENERAL, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
Iceland is known as The Land of Fire and Ice … and the best place to relive your Game of Thrones fantasies as a lot of their “North of the Wall” scenes were shot there! The appeal of Iceland is its vast untamed beauty, and arctic delights like the Northern Lights, glaciers, and hot springs. It straddles the Atlantic tectonic plates of North America and Europe, meaning it also has active volcanoes and hundreds of hot springs to explore. When flying between North America and Europe, adding in a stopover in Iceland is an absolute must for those who love adventure, culture, and food. The national airline, Iceland Air, and their local budget airline, WOW Air (both based in the capital city Reykjavik), operate multiple daily flights to the East…
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20Jun 2018 by Dave Macleod 1 Comment
BucketLaunch is Growing!

BucketLaunch is Growing!

GENERAL, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
For the last eight months, I have been slaving away behind my computer to deliver my bucket list stories and life lessons to you. I have received some great feedback from my readers and this has helped me to refine some of the content that I will be posting. I have travelled many places and have a lot of experience to share with the world. However, I am only one man and my knowledge is finite. That is why BucketLaunch will be taking on a guest writer. Allow me to introduce Monika Giacca Millar! Monika comes to BucketLaunch with a unique perspective from inside the travel industry. Monika has been working in the travel industry for the last 10 years. Her career began with running student tours across Canada and…
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25Apr 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Credit Card Travel Benefits: The Basics

Credit Card Travel Benefits: The Basics

GENERAL, INFORMATION, TRAVEL
The age of majority in Nova Scotia is 19, which is the age you can obtain a credit card without a co-sign from your parents. I received my first credit card when I was 16 years old. My parents had opened an additional card on their account in my name and I was instructed to use it for emergencies only. For three years, I only used the card a few times for emergency car repairs or when my parents wanted me to purchase something on their behalf. During that time, I never saw the credit card bills and was unaware of exactly how credit cards worked. Leading up to my 19th birthday I was excited to be able to get my own credit card and begin building my credit. However,…
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14Feb 2018 by Dave Macleod 2 Comments
The Value of Seasonal Bucket Lists

The Value of Seasonal Bucket Lists

BUCKET LIST, GENERAL, INFORMATION
A bucket list is collection of goals, which you aspire to complete before you kick the bucket. For that reason, these lists tend to have several items with varying degrees of difficulty. Some items may even take years to complete. A bucket list is designed to take a lifetime to complete, but does it have to take that long? I was recently discussing life goals with a friend and he mentioned that his mind changed often enough that he was reluctant to create a bucket list for the rest of his life. I thought about his comment for a moment and then recommended that he make a summer bucket list. I suggested that he make something short (5 items) that he will attempt to complete before the end of summer.…
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01Jan 2018 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Get Started on Your Bucket List in 2018

Get Started on Your Bucket List in 2018

BUCKET LIST, GENERAL, INFORMATION
Well, 2017 is behind us and we are into 2018! As always, time flies and New Year’s rolls around faster than we expect it to. I started my bucket list eight years ago with #86 Go for a Polar Bear Swim and have been working away at it ever since. New Year’s is a time that we associate with new beginnings. For some it is a diet, a work out plan or a new hobby. For me it was my bucket list, which continually reminds me to never stop searching for the next adventure. In 2018, I’m sure a lot of you will challenge yourself to a new beginning such as the examples I have listed above. For some of us, simply managing to write “2018” instead of “2017” on…
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