19May 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
[#90 Lesson] Explored History

[#90 Lesson] Explored History

BUCKET LIST, LESSON, TRAVEL
This life lesson relates to my previous blog #90 Go to Pompeii. What class did I hate the most when I was a kid? History. What is one of my favourite aspects of travel, today? History. Did I just grow up and begin to like history? Definitely not! I don’t think there is any risk of me growing up any time soon. What changed was the way I learned the material. Instead of being told about it by my teacher or reading about it from a book, I was experiencing it firsthand. I call this explored history. I find explored history more interesting as you can form a connection with the material that you are learning. Explored history excites more of our senses, which helps to make more of an…
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05May 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#90 Go to Pompeii

#90 Go to Pompeii

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 3rd July 2016 in Pompeii, Italy. I started skydiving at the beginning of 2015, and by this point, I think it is safe to say that it was consuming my life (in a good way). I had just enjoyed an amazing summer of jumping, but winter was setting in and I wanted to keep jumping. That is when I found out about Grand Turismo. Grand Turismo is run by Fiona from Skydive Auckland and is branded as the ultimate skydiving holiday. Each July, Fiona takes a bunch of beginner/intermediate jumpers over to Fano, Italy to jump. The conditions are always good, and the wine is always flowing. It really is the ultimate skydiving holiday. I paid my registration fee and then began to…
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24Mar 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
Interview with Matt Woodman – CTV News

Interview with Matt Woodman – CTV News

BUCKET LIST, GENERAL, TRAVEL
After completing #36 Run a Half Marathon, Jesse and I grabbed my truck and hit the road. We had already checked out of the hotel, so I just had to sit through the four-hour drive, coated in a thick layer of sweat. At this time, BucketLaunch didn’t exist. Instead, I just uploaded a photo of each completed item to a Facebook album. As Jesse drove home, I uploaded the photo that Jesse had taken of me, hanging over the handrail and gasping for dear life. It was definitely not my best photo, but it portrayed the physical exertion that I went through to complete this item. And that is why I love this photo. Before reaching home, I received a message from a friend, Matt Woodman, via Facebook. Matt was…
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24Feb 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#39 Join the Mile High Club

#39 Join the Mile High Club

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was complete on 20th June 2015 en route to Fiji. A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell. This one seems a bit too personal for an elaborate story to be posted on the internet so here is what you need to know: Yes – I actually did it. Yes – It was on a commercial flight. No – We did not get caught. No – There is not a lot of room in there. The lesson learned here is that you do not have to own your own airline to pull this one off. In your face Richard Branson! Want to be notified when new blog posts are uploaded? Subscribe below.
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27Jan 2021 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#11 Go Surfing in Australia

#11 Go Surfing in Australia

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 29th April 2015 in Collangatta, Australia. This blog post picks up where #66 Hug a Koala Bear left off. After Spending most of the day at Australia Zoo, we were back on the road to keep making progress towards Sydney. We only had two nights left at this point and we were still north of Brisbane. The Gold Coast was on the way and I had heard a lot about it from my kiwi friends, so we made a pit stop in there for some dinner. We checked out one of the burger restaurants along the main strip and then walked through the Ripley’s Museum to get our fix of tourist activity. The Gold Coast seemed like a cool place and reminded me…
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30Dec 2020 by Dave Macleod No Comments
#66 Hug a Koala Bear

#66 Hug a Koala Bear

BUCKET LIST, TRAVEL
This bucket list item was completed on 28th April 2015 at Australia Zoo, Beerwah, Australia. This blog post picks up where #12 Scuba Dive the Great Barrier Reef left off. After doing the Reef, we did a 3-day tour on Fraser Island, which meant we had very little time to get all the way down to Sydney. Another bucket list item that I had planned for this trip was to hug a koala bear. Australia Zoo was started by Steve Irwin and his wife Terri 50 years ago and is praised for being one of the best zoos in the world. I did my homework before leaving on this trip and knew that this would be a good place to do a koala encounter. Australia Zoo is conveniently located an…
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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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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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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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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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