Last year I did a post about gratitude where I tried to think about all the awesome things and experiences that I’m so lucky to have in my life. Recently (or maybe a few months back now…), Maggie at Northern Expenditure did a post about making a “fill-the-bucket” list, instead of a tradition bucket list. Rather than concentrate on what you haven’t done and want to do, it’s a way to look back on all the awesome experiences that you’ve already had. My gratitude post and a “fill-the-bucket” list are both similar exercises, but I thought I’d try Maggie’s list too.
Now, me personally, I’ve never made a real “bucket list”, but I know that my bucket is already pretty full, I just need to dig a few things out of the ol’ memory banks to share… I noticed that a lot of the other posts on this topic are heavily weighted with travel based experiences… It shows that this community really values travel… And I’ve been lucky enough to do quite a bit of traveling so far in my lifetime. It’s hard to pick only a few to share… But I’ve limited my list to only 7 things…
1. Getting my University Degree
This may seem like a silly one to have here, but it has definitely helped fill my bucket. I made amazing friends at school, found something that challenged me and that I’m also pretty good at, and it has helped define me and my future.

2. Surfing in Portugal
I had an amazing opportunity to get a private surf guide while in Portugal over New Year’s when I was in my mid 20s. I am by no means a good surfer, but it was definitely one of the highlights of that trip.

3. The Classic Roomie Road Trip
My roommate and I decided to take a somewhat impromptu road trip to the Calgary Stampede for my birthday one year. It was one of those things that you can only do when you are young… Sleep in your car with a cheap Walmart blanket, then get up early (because you are freezing) and jump in a lake instead of finding a place to shower… Then insist on a free boot glass from a restaurant because it is your birthday… Yup, so many hilarious memories from that trip…

4. Somehow Snagging an Amazing Job
I may complain sometimes about my job, but really it is pretty awesome. I get to work on really cool projects, and travel to some really beautiful and remote locations that I probably would otherwise know nothing about.

5. Climbing an Active Volcano in Ecuador
With the recent earthquake in Ecuador, I feel especially fortunate to have visited that amazing country not too long ago. The place is amazing. Really amazing. I am sending good wishes for their people and hope that they can recover quickly from this disaster. We didn’t climb the whole thing, only to the base camp, but it was still an awesome experience. Oh, and then we jumped on some mountain bikes and biked down…

6. Getting Married to my Best Friend
My list wouldn’t be complete without including something about my husband. He has definitely helped to fill my bucket many times over. We’ve only been married 8 months, but it has been a great 8 months and I expect many, many more happy months in the future.

7. Every Part of our European Honeymoon Adventure
And finally, the most recent addition to my bucket, the experiences from our honeymoon. One highlight, getting upgraded to first class on the flight to Europe. If you’ve never done it, it is a totally different flying experience.

Another quick highlight was finding a cat at the pub… We did miss our cats while we were gone…

Thank you to Maggie at Northern Expenditure for the inspiration for this post! You should go check out her list and all the lists that she has inspired by her readers!
Do you have a fill-the-bucket list? What is one of the highlights of your list?
Awesome contribution to the series! That road trip sounds awesome! 🙂
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Thanks! And yes, that road trip was pretty fun!
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I love your list! And whoa… climbing that volcano sounds soooo awesome! And of course I’m totally curious about your job that takes you to those beautiful, remote places. What a great perk! 🙂
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Thanks! The climb that we did wasn’t really that long, but it was hard because of the elevation. We are used to living right at sea level here on the coast, so being that high was definitely a struggle.
As for my job, I’m still trying to be anonymous on here, so I won’t give away too much… but I’m an engineer and not every project takes us to places as remote and beautiful as the photo I shared here.
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That’s an awesome idea for a post and self-reflection. I may have to steal it! ^_^;
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You should totally do it. It’s a fun exercise to think of all the awesome experiences you’ve had and all the good things that have happened. If you have a chance, check out some of the others listed on Northern Expenditure’s site. It’s fun to read about all the good things that people have done.
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