The Bucket List

Coming home last night – after missing my previous flight from JFK to SF and totally exhausted, I killed some time on the flight by watching the movie The Bucket List in the back of the plane.  The movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson is about two older guys who have cancer and decide to do some things in their remaining months on this planet.  Things like parachuting out a plane, pyramids in Egypt, safari in Africa, French experience, etc.  The movie also has a mountain climbing theme, and without giving the ending away, it was a rare movie that brought tears to my eyes.  It reminded me of my own list (which is not formally written).  Things like Machu Pichu, Tien terra-cotta soldiers, Galapagos and Easter Island, North Pole, etc.   But it also reminded me of all the things I have been fortunate to do, which I’ll write about later.

The best part of this story is the man I met on the Stockholm to London flight just the night before.  As is typical, I never hardly talk or look at my seatmate, preferring to work, listen to music, read or sleep.  On our approach to Heathrow, after not saying a word to each other for the past 2 hours, he points out the window and says “Chelsea home (football) stadium”.  So we talk about football and UEFA cup and all of that.  And somehow in the next 10 minutes I find out that he is about 66, and he had several strokes about a year ago.  So he decides (and kind of gives me goosebumps now) to travel around the world and see everything he never got a chance to see.  He tells me about going to Jordan, Syria, Peru (Machu Pichu), Africa, US etc.  He lists an amazing list of countries and places that he has gone to now, all in the past year, around 7 or 8 separate massive trips to different countries.  I think that with my 65 some countries and experiences that I have seen a lot, but he had me hands down with the diversity and places that no one I know has ever been to.  It turned out he had no family, which was kind of sad, though he did not see to feel that way.  It was an amazing coincidence to see the movie the next night and I’ll kind of wonder from time to time where this guys goes next and I’m kind of disappointed that I did not get his name or email address.  WELL DONE MATE, and I wish you best of luck in your coming adventures and it’s a reminder to Enjoy Every Minutes, and live your dream while you’re still able to!