David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers Unite! discussion

What are some of the things you've managed to cross off your bucket list?

I've crossed off:
Learn to scuba dive.
Bungee jump.
Parachute from a plane.
Visit Antartica.

I had tons and tons of stuff on my list. I'll share more later. :)

I only recently created a bucket list, but I always have had some kind of bucket list in my head and starting my own tour organizing company was one of the items on it, so far that's the only thing I managed to cross of my bucket list.

That's a huge item, Lola!! :)

I'll say, good going, Lola.

Karen wrote: "I've crossed off:
Learn to scuba dive.
Bungee jump.
Parachute from a plane.
Visit Antartica.

I had tons and tons of stuff on my list. I'll share more later. :)"

I see you're a bit of an adrenaline junky, Karen. I'd like to scuba dive, not so sure about jumping from high places though.

I still think it's so cool you visited Antartica karen. I love penguins, it must be awesome to see them in the wild.
All those other things you crossed off your list, sound frightening.

A couple were VERY frightening and I didn't do them again, Lola!

And yup, I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie in my 30's. I used to rock climb and rapell too. ;) And taught scuba!

As I got older, my fears overcame the adrenaline parts. Hahahah! And my body parts don't work like they used to. Ears won't let me dive anymore. :( But I've been to 162 feet (deep dives were my favorite!)

I have trouble ears and I can't even dive in the swimming pool anymore. I used to love swimming udner water, but ever since my ears started bothering me I can't do that anymore. They start hurting a lot when I go under water now.

I always have been afraid of many things, so I can't imagine doing things like bungee jumping or parachuting froma plane. Sounds terrifying.

Here are some of the things I've done (in no particular order):

Done ballet as a performer on stage.
Participated in a poetry recital outside school.
Won a couple of writing contests.
Won a rosette in a horse riding competition.
Ridden an elephant.
Ridden a camel.
Won a medal in a judo competition (I didn't get very far in my martial arts training, but I know a few basic defence moves).
Done online streaming (for those who don't know, that made me a sort of online radio DJ).
Been camping (both in a caravan and a tent; with family and with Girl Guides).
Gone rock climbing and absailing.
Played in a band (wind instruments while still at school; I wasn't very good, but I played both the recorder and the cornet).
Bottle fed farm animals (lambs, goats and calves).
Milked a cow.
Got a tattoo (two, actually).
Visited Cyprus.
Visited part of France.
Visited Canada (lived there for a few months and want to go back).
Had some of my writing published.
Raised money for charity.
Walked on a beach by moonlight.
Gone swimming in the rain (and in a thunder storm).
Learned first aid (only basic, but basic knowledge is better than nothing).
Been a guest on the radio (interviewed as an author, plus a participant on a radio talkshow).
Done archery.


And I'm sure there are a few things I'm missing...

A few things that I've always wanted to do that I've done:

Been a volunteer firefighter.
Walked with camels approximately 500km.
Been to Disneyland.
Learnt to ski. (Followed a couple of years later by having an ACL reconstruction - was not on my list)
Became a vertical rescuer.
Had a book published.
Swam at Ningaloo and snorkelled over the coral.
Saw the Ord River Dam.

Ohmygosh, I love these lists and need to add some more to my bucket list now!

Some more for me.

Been to a tiger sanctuary and looked for tigers while riding an elephant.
Gave a baby elephant a bath. (Fun!)
Took karate lessons (13 years)
Guest appearance on a radio show.
Got a tattoo.
Went to the Taj Mahal and various other places in India.
Hot air balloon ride.
Helicopter tour.

WOW! Everyone's done a lot of great stuff!

Leonie, what's a vertical rescuer?

Someone who rescues people using ropes and harness :) Was living in a remote area at the time, and was part of a the local State Emergency Service Unit - we commonly rescued injured people from inaccessible places in gorges.

That's so very cool!

It took a lot of hard work and training, but it was a great thing to do, and my husband and I loved that part of our lives.

Leonie wrote: "Someone who rescues people using ropes and harness :) Was living in a remote area at the time, and was part of a the local State Emergency Service Unit - we commonly rescued injured people from ina..."

I thought it might have been something like that... Very impressive!

It is impressive, unlike a horizontal rescuer, which is pretty much just walking and picking someone up. No need for ropes or anything :~)

David wrote: "It is impressive, unlike a horizontal rescuer, which is pretty much just walking and picking someone up. No need for ropes or anything :~)"

Possibly depends on why they need rescuing David!

All of that finished about twelve years ago, sadly, when we moved to a different state, but it was something that we'll never forget. One of the best things about living in a remote area is that you can do all kinds of stuff that you never imagined might be possible.

I got to see that kind of rescue in a canyon I was hiking in. It was amazing to watch the organization of trying to pull a teen out who had fallen. I'm so impressed, Leonie!

Karen wrote: "I got to see that kind of rescue in a canyon I was hiking in. It was amazing to watch the organization of trying to pull a teen out who had fallen. I'm so impressed, Leonie!"

We were all just very normal people with good training. There are still many volunteers all over the world doing similar things. It's hard work, and somewhat stressful, but I'm grateful that we had the opportunity to make a difference in the world.

Victoria wrote: "Here are some of the things I've done (in no particular order):

Done ballet as a performer on stage.
Participated in a poetry recital outside school.
Won a couple of writing contests.
Won a rosett..."

This is amazing Victoria!

Thanks, Jenny! :)

Okay, my stuff isn't nearly as exciting as your guys stuff, but my expectations were always lower. I'm honestly kind of blanking and can't remember anything...

I rode a horse down a mountain

One time when we were in Colorado, we went on this "Jeep Tour" it was a HUGE backroad vehicle bus type thing that took us as far into the wilderness there as you could probably go. There was no road, we were driving up boulders. We stopped and saw an aspen grove (BEAUTIFUL!) and when we got to the top we did an outdoor cookout meal "cowboy style" and watched the sun set. That was a really awesome day! I'm not exactly sure what you'd call that to cross off your bucket list.

My main goal in life has always been to have a wonderful family, so all other things really fall second for me. Maybe when they are all grown, I can focus more on me and Darryl and big adventures.

Oh, I saw the "Ghost and the Darkness"--the actual lions in the museum in Chicago. And went to the top of the Sears Tower, which was really cool!

Oh, one other thing--have twins. That was seriously on my bucket list, I always wanted twins. :) And I got them! Wonderful wonderful boys :)

Incredible lists!
Hmm..
I don't have many accomplishments, as I'm only 15 and live a pretty boring life.
I've been to Malaysia and fed monkeys from our lodge window.
My dog has taken a pee at the Harvard, Yale, and MIT campuses.
I've won some cello competitions.
I got into a highly regarded private school in Toronto.
On Monday I'll be golfing at one of the top 100 golf courses in Canada.
That's all I remember right now. (underwhelming, I know.)

Oh, and I also petted a stingray at an aquarium. LOL!

I like your dog's goals, that's pretty funny!!!

I did win some piano awards when I was in high school :) And drama awards. Thanks for jogging my memory a little, Daniel!

I also have next to none awesome accomplishments since I'm only a sophmore.

My basketball team got 3rd place in the biggest tournament in our region.
I got a scholarship to high school.
A sniper on top of the White House gave me a nod. I'm not even kidding.
I view this as an accomplishment in a twisted sense. In 7th grade my english teacher accused me of plagiarism on a project because my vocabulary was not that of a 7th grader. I didn't plagiarise, but the fact that my vocab wad too advanced pleased me. XD
Oh, I killed a centipede with just a wimpy tissue inbetween my hand and the bug. Took some serious guts.

Making that list made me feel really unaccomplished XD

Natalie, I can barely kill bugs with a fly swatter, so killing a centipede like you did would be on my list too!!

You and Daniel have started your lists early and already have some great items!! I would love to have some of them on my list.

Jenny, I would have given anything to have had twins! I love that item the most. :)

Karen wrote: "Natalie, I can barely kill bugs with a fly swatter, so killing a centipede like you did would be on my list too!!

You and Daniel have started your lists early and already have some great items!!..."

I like the twins one too!

Daniel and Natalie,

Those are some impressive lists considering you're still young. Still plenty of time to add to them! :)

Jenny,

Your list is pretty cool too!

I'd have loved to have twins, and think it's totally brilliant that you actually had that on your bucket list, and incredibly amazing that you got them!

Funny story about the twins--I got pregnant again right after our first child, our daughter Alison. We had really wanted a girl for our first (which we got), but for the second, I didn't really care. I thought a boy would be nice, one of each, but I would have been happy either way. Darryl REALLY wanted a boy! He kept saying that, I could tell it was a big deal! And then we ended up with identical twin boys!! I always tease Darryl and say he wished too hard, he got, not one, but two boys! LOL

And they are the best boys on the planet. I'm not kidding, they are AMAZING kids! It might sound hokey, but if that's all that I get crossed off my bucket list, my wonderful family, I'm definitely okay with that!

That's great, Jenny!

Oh I thought of a few!

Slept overnight in a zoo. With Gorillas! Not in their enclosure, but in the visitors building with their exhibit. It was a girl scout overnight with my daughter, Tessa. We woke up in the morning to see a mommy gorilla playing with her baby gorilla! Like, 2 feet from us on the other side of the window! SO cool!

I once held a python. That snake was HUGE and so heavy, but it was really cool! The zookeeper was right next to me, so I wasn't worried.

And I've held a Madagascar cockroach. Those things are BIG, but kind of fascinating.

I met (you young ones may not know who this is) "The Fridge"--William Perry, the Bears player when I was little. Our family is BIG Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs fans. In the late spring/ early summer, the Bears used to do their spring training in Wisconsin, not far from Madison. A few years, we spent the weekend up there to watch them practice. At one of them, my mom got him to come over to us and sign us an autograph! I was not very old (maybe 6?) and remember being VERY SCARED LOL! That guy was HUGE! Its a fun memory though.

Okay here's my bucket list. I spent my entire teenage years up to no good, so my list is not very extensive since I always had "something better to do" and I'm only 20 years old right now.

Rode an elephant.
Climbed 3 mountains.
I hiked 14 miles with a tent on my back, camped out only eating freeze dried food that we made with water and then hiked 7 miles the next day.
Hiked nearly every waterfall in NYS.
Caught a 36 inch tiger muskie.
Been in a car that killed a porcupine, a kitten, a squirrel and a bird. (That wasn't really on my list. I've also been in 5 car accidents, two of them the cars were totaled afterwards. This is why I don't know how to drive.)
I've seen the 4th of July fireworks in NYC. (I'd like to be there for New Years)
I have also pet a stingray, that was pretty cool.

Spending the night at the zoo just got added to my bucket list! So did - see the July 4th fireworks in NYC!

Awesome lists, guys! :)

Jenny wrote: "Oh I thought of a few!

Slept overnight in a zoo. With Gorillas! Not in their enclosure, but in the visitors building with their exhibit. It was a girl scout overnight with my daughter, Tessa. We w..."

So cool!

I've held a snake, but I'm not sure what kind it was; I honestly don't remember. I've also held a beetle my Dad caught for me to hold when we were out on a nature walk, and held a minoe in some water in my cupped hands when we were investigating rock pools at the beach. Oh, and I've had fish swim between and nibble on my toes too.

Amanda wrote: "Okay here's my bucket list. I spent my entire teenage years up to no good, so my list is not very extensive since I always had "something better to do" and I'm only 20 years old right now.

Rode an..."

Awesome list! Well, apart from the bits about the car accidents and car you were in running several things over.

Victoria, I haven't experienced it myself, but sounds like you got one of those fish pedicures. :) I watched a friend get one of those (on purpose and paid big bucks!).

Karen wrote: "Victoria, I haven't experienced it myself, but sounds like you got one of those fish pedicures. :) I watched a friend get one of those (on purpose and paid big bucks!)."

Mine was free and accidental... I was paddling in the sea when we were in Cyprus. I was only about 10, and didn't think much of it to be honest. In fact, if I recall correctly, I was quite upset to have fish nibbling on my toes, LOL!

LOL These are awesome!

I want to got to Boston for the 4th of July. I do want to be in Times Square for a New Year's, and also see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I would also like to attend an actual "Day of the Dead" celebration somewhere, doesn't have to be in Mexico, though.

Another thing I can check off my bucket list (the fish bites made me think of this!) I was once bitten by a swan. I was about 12 I think? And taking pics for my 4H photography project in Cedar Memorial of the swans, and the daddy swan was feeling rather aggressive that day and kept attacking people. He ran up to me (those things are BIG!) and bit my leg, right above my knee. It didn't break the skin, and I don't remember it really hurting--I was more in shock that anything. My dad was amazed because I did not drop the camera. I didn't run either, the swan bit me then HE ran away from me! Its funny now :D

Yeah, swans are really big! Never been bitten by one, but I've seen some up close. LOL @ the swan running away after biting you, and well done on not dropping the camera!

Jenny wrote: "Oh I thought of a few!

Slept overnight in a zoo. With Gorillas! Not in their enclosure, but in the visitors building with their exhibit. It was a girl scout overnight with my daughter, Tessa. We w..."

That's cool Jenny!

For many years, I oversaw the Girl Scout overnights at the Boston Museum of Science. I got to do many cool things there - 2 of my favorites were dissecting an owl pellet (they eat mice, digest, then regurgitate the bones & fur) and finding 2 complete mouse skeletons, and seeing & touching the Mercury space capsule that Gus Grissom flew in - it sank, and a few years ago was found and raised. I'm a huge NASA geek!

I was a snake charmer in a petting zoo, and I enjoyed grooming our beautiful Scottish Highland calf. Making the fainting goats pass out was fun, too - as was riding a ferris wheel during the entire fireworks show at a state fair.

I slept on a beach on an island - my family came by boat, but I was working and my friend and I flew in in a seaplane. We pitched my pup tent on the beach facing Martha's Vineyard and the Atlantic. We woke up to find 4 deer grazing around our tent.

I visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown - I have on my bucket list to visit during a Hall of Fame initiation weekend.

I vacationed in Southern Rhode Island waters all through my growing up years. I saw Jaws being filmed. I would love to travel to more islands and have more ocean adventures - maybe Hawaii someday.

I would love to go to a New Years concert by The Mighty Mighty Boss Tones - and a St. Pat's concert by Dropkick Murphys. I've been to their St. Pat's week concerts in Boston at the Garden and in Connecticut, but I've never gotten tickets to the actual St. Pat's day one.

I would love to go to a baseball playoff game, or even a Red Sox/Yankee game.

I have ridden an elephant and a camel.

I have given birth, naturally, twice - plus first one C-section. I had to fight back then to do VBAC. I'm proud of myself, and proud of my kids. And my granddaughter, even though she's only 3 months.

I have run a rustic, no electricity/no running water day camp for Girl Scouts. I also was a Pirate Captain at an overnight Cub Scout camp. I've eaten lots of food cooked for me by little Brownies - so now I can eat anything. My rustic living and working conditions have helped to somewhat prepare me for the apocalypse!

I've crossed of:

poisoning family
Becoming a terrorist and
Getting married and have children....

Thank God I did...

Jane, I'm meeting up with you if an apocalypse hits! ;)

Kimoya wrote: "I've crossed of:

poisoning family
Becoming a terrorist and
Getting married and have children....

Thank God I did..."

Glad you crossed the first two OFF your list! :)

Here are a couple more which were jogged by others posting in this thread or in the bucket list thread.

Went on a couple of shark dives with cages, bloody bloody water, and a guy wearing a steel mesh suit. We were so bored waiting for the sharks to come that the entire group were all outside of the cage when the sharks finally showed up. Ha! Luckily no one was hurt, or even bumped. So, I guess technically I've swam with the sharks.

I've also hugged little horn sharks and one attacked me but he was so small (2 feet), he just got a bite of my wet suit. ;) That's what I get for waking a sleeping shark and trying to cuddle him like a teddy bear!

I'm also a huge NASA geek, Jane, and would love to see any of the capsules or space shuttles! I did meet Jim Lovell and had a lovely conversation with him right about the time when Tom Hanks was filming playing him in Apollo 13! Talk about geeking out!

Jane wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Oh I thought of a few!

Slept overnight in a zoo. With Gorillas! Not in their enclosure, but in the visitors building with their exhibit. It was a girl scout overnight with my daughte..."

I was a Girl Scout leader for 4 years, and we had so much fun! I was also a cub scout assisant leader for the boys for 4 years, and I did all kinds of cool things with them! We dissected owl pellets once, it was really cool!