Don't Give Up Your Bucket List

​A lady on YouTube decided she was tired of sitting at home all day, watching two-dimensional life on big-screen TV. Deciding to get out and tour the sites in person that she had been seeing on screen, she sold her house in Florida, bought a minivan, furnished it with her favorite coastal fabrics, and set off up the highway. At the top of her bucket list was the Redwood Forest of California. She made it! Now, she has discovered that she loves New Mexico, so much so that she purchased a one-year pass to boondock at any of New Mexico's free campgrounds -- and there are many!

Watching her videos inspired me to work on my bucket list -- at least, seeing what would be involved if I were to experience the top item on my own bucket list. I would love to fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia; catch VIA Rail all the way to Vancouver; then wind and twist my way back and forth across the US, from Seattle to Chicago aboard the "Empire Builder," from Chicago to San Francisco aboard the "California Zephyr," from San Francisco to Los Angeles aboard the "Coast Starlight," back to Chicago aboard the "Southwest Chief," and back down aboard the "City of New Orleans."

That being beyond my stamina, however, I mapped out a flight to Toronto, where I would board VIA Rail's "Canadian" to Vancouver, Amtrak's "Cascades" to Seattle, the "Empire Builder" to Chicago, and the "City of New Orleans" back down. Now, that would stretch me to my limits, but I think I could handle it as long as I gave myself time to take a decent shower, sleep in a real bed, and do a load of laundry in each city along the way.

Pricey? You bet! Well beyond my tax bracket. But I surely did enjoy dream of sitting in one of VIA Rail's refurbished Budd Company dome cars and watching us roll through the Canadian wilderness -- instead of watching videos of other people's rail journeys.

Of course, one never knows. I never would have dreamed of ever getting to Hawaii even once, let alone twice! Turn off the videos, lady, and start making your dreams come true -- at least, the little ones.