24Aug 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#48 Drink from Das Boot

#48 Drink from Das Boot

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 24th September 2019 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. After my mum and I completed our whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon, we left Las Vegas and flew north, to Calgary. I have friends and family that live in the Calgary area and I had not visited them since 2012, so I figured I was due to show my face. My brother flew in from Halifax to meet us and then we spent the next week travelling around to catch up with everyone. Most of the time was spent visiting people but my brother and I had a few days in Calgary to have fun together. On our first free day, we went to the Canadian Olympic Park to try to ride mountain bikes.…
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27Jul 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#37 Go More Than 200 km/h on Land

#37 Go More Than 200 km/h on Land

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 13th September 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. This story follows on from my recent blog, #70 See the Hollywood Stars on the Sidewalk. I had a layover in LA but Las Vegas was my final destination, which is where I met up with my mum to whitewater raft the Grand Canyon. I arrived into Las Vegas late on Thursday and we didn’t have much planned for the next day. This was my mum’s first time in Las Vegas so after we had some breakfast, we set off on foot to explore the strip. Las Vegas is such a cool city because there are little pockets of other places around the world, such as New York and Paris. Brooklyn Bridge Statue of Liberty…
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13Jul 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#70 Lesson] Make the Most of Long Layovers

[#70 Lesson] Make the Most of Long Layovers

LESSON, TRAVEL
This life lesson relates to my previous blog post #70 See the Hollywood Stars on the Sidewalk. Sometimes when people are booking their flights, they hate to see long layovers in their itinerary. Around 2-3 hours is ideal because it gives you a chance to stretch your legs and get some food, but beyond that is surplus to the requirements. I’ll admit that I hate a 4-6 hour layover but anything above 7 hours can be great. This gives you enough time to get from the airport to the city, see some sites and do some fun stuff, before heading back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Two layovers come to mind for me. In 2016, I was flying back to Halifax for a wedding and had…
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29Jun 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#70 See the Hollywood Stars on the Sidewalk

#70 See the Hollywood Stars on the Sidewalk

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 12th September 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA. I actually managed to complete this one during a 10-hour layover that I had in LA, while I was flying to Las Vegas. The reason I was flying to Las Vegas, was to help my mum cross something off her bucket list: Whitewater Rafting the Grand Canyon. This story is worth a read, I suggest you check it out! I landed in LA around mid-day and wanted to make the most of it, so I sorted out my bags and grabbed an Uber to Hollywood Boulevard. This was not a quick process at all, the traffic in LA is crazy. It took us an hour to go 20 km. The number of stars on Hollywood…
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01Jun 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#32 Drink Sake in Japan

#32 Drink Sake in Japan

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 4th February 2019 in Tokyo Japan. This story picks up where my last blog #31 Eat Blowfish left off. On our way to the restaurant we found the popular alleyway with tiny bars, called Shinjuku Omoide Yokocho. We kept the location in mind for later. When we left the restaurant we had been on our feet for 12 hours, solid. Remembering the alleyway I suggested that we go check out one of the bars to relax and get some sake. Tiny bars with big taste The bars are very popular with tourist and locals and it’s hard to find one with open seats, especially when you have a group of four. We walked up and down the alley once before we found a…
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20Apr 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#31 Eat Blowfish

#31 Eat Blowfish

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 4th February 2019 in Tokyo Japan. For the last two years my best mate, Jesse, has made a pilgrimage to Japan to go skiing for his birthday. He wanted me to come both times but unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it. Well, this time it was for his 30th birthday so he told me I was obligated to come. As soon as I booked my flights I knew that I would be able to cross a couple items off my list. Jesse, Emma, Toby and Maria had already flown to Japan a week before me so when I arrived we coordinated a meet up in Tokyo. I met Toby and Maria there, as well as Maria’s sister, Claire, who came over from…
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23Mar 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#72 Walk on a Glacier: Part 2

#72 Walk on a Glacier: Part 2

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 2nd January 2018 in Franz Josef, New Zealand. In my previous post, #72 Walk on a Glacier: Part 1, I told the stories of the two attempts that preceded my third, and final, attempt at walking on a glacier. This item took me nearly four and a half years to complete it but, on 2nd January 2018, I was successful. Attempt #3 In December 2017, my mum came to visit me in New Zealand and I wanted to take her to the West Coast. She and my dad had travelled the South Island in 2015 but skipped the West Coast due to bad weather. I thought this was a good chance to get her to the West Coast and, with any luck, perhaps…
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09Mar 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#72 Walk on a Glacier: Part 1

#72 Walk on a Glacier: Part 1

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This particular item seemed to be quite elusive to me and took me three attempts, which spanned nearly four and a half years. Some bucket list items are easy to achieve. It is just a matter of planning to go do it and then following through. However, walking on a glacier proved to be much different. I will recap the first two attempts in this post and then the story of how it was finally completed will be told in my next post. Attempt #1 While travelling through New Zealand in 2013, my friend Kyle and I found ourselves in Queenstown, then Wanaka and then heading up the West Coast. The West Coast of New Zealand is a rugged place as it cops the brunt of the weather systems that…
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12Jan 2022 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#61 Watch the Tour de France Live

#61 Watch the Tour de France Live

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 22nd July 2017 in Marseille, France. Ever since I was a kid I have always marvelled at the endurance of the athletes in the Tour de France. I have never been into road cycling and have never actually rode a proper road cycle but the Tour de France was always an event I could not ignore when it was on TV. I just had so much respect for the athletes who were going flat out, stage after stage, for a month straight. And not just over flat ground... They would go up and down mountain passes and through small villages as they toured around the country. It was my admiration of the athletes that compelled me to put this one on the list.…
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15Dec 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#27 Watch a Bullfight

#27 Watch a Bullfight

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 8th July 2017 in Pamplona, Spain. This post continues on from the story in #54 Run with the Bulls in Spain: Part 2. As a forewarning, I will describe what I witnessed at the bullfights. For those of you who don’t know, the bulls are killed in the ring during the fights and it can be gruesome. As I sat on the bus on my way back to camp, all I could think about was finally getting some sleep. I began chatting with the girl next to me and explained what had happened to me in the ring. I told her about the doctor and all the checks he performed on me. She mentioned that it would be a good idea to assume…
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