It was bound to happen. I missed the weekly post for the MFRW 52 week blog challenge. I had it typed up. All I had to do was paste it into the website & schedule it. Guess what I forgot to do? Everything after typing it. So here it is, a few days late. I've linked to the other authors' posts down below like I normally do.
The problem with this writing prompt is I don’t have a bucket. I have a 10-tonne dump truck filled with all the things I want to do, see, and accomplish. Not only that, but the list is dynamic and ever changing.
For instance, I’ve wanted to go to Egypt since I was in the fifth grade and saw the Tutankhamen traveling exhibit at the museum in Brussels. I extended my assignment in Germany in the late 90s for the sole purpose of taking a 10-day Nile River cruise. Then the 1997 Luxor massacre happened and my plans were understandably put on hold. Twenty years later, I was planning to go to Egypt for four days with my tweathens. However…after paying for tickets to Holland for Spring Break and Wales in June, I had a hard time justifying the additional airfare for such a quick trip when I knew I wouldn’t be able to see everything I wanted and would end up going back. So I’ve tabled it for next year and I’ll plan a longer trip.
I mentioned our trip to Holland. We’re going to Keukenhof to see the tulips, Kinderdijk (a UNESCO World Heritage site) to see the windmills, Gouda for the cheese, and (of course) Amsterdam for the canals and art. Jeez…I’m going with five-year-olds. Also, being in the military I have to stay out of the cafes.
I’m adding a week to the When in Wales signing trip in June (23 June in Cardiff) and we’re going to go to Stonehenge and Bath on the way to Cardiff, then use Cardiff as a base before the signing to explore the Welsh coast and highlands. I just realized we’ll be there for the summer solstice so I may drive back to Stonehenge simply for the experience, but we’ll see what our itinerary looks like once we get there.
I managed to cross a couple of things off my bucket list in 2010 when I went to Australia for ten days by myself. I hiked around Uluru and snorkeled in the waters Great Barrier Reef. I’m taking my kids with me next summer for another trip and we’ll probably do the same things, plus spend time on a friend’s farm where they mine for opals, maybe go on a bush camp, and visit the rain forest in the north. If I have the time (and funds) we’ll also visit New Zealand for a few days.
I want to see the Northern Lights. I would love to stay in one of those glass igloos in Norway and be able to lie in bed while watching them. I never had the chance to see them when I lived in Alaska, which is somewhere else I would love to take my kids. Probably in the summer though.
Most of my list involves travel. I want my kids to have the experience of travel and exploration. My goal is to give them as much of that as I possibly can.
Of course, I have things on my list such as writing a best-seller and hitting a list, but that kind of thing is out of my control. It takes time and a little bit of luck. All I can do is write the best books I can and hope readers love them. As a writer, that’s my biggest goal – write books readers love. As much as I would love to be an international best-seller the emails that I get from readers telling me how much they love my books and how much they related to my characters are worth more than any tagline I’ll ever have under my name.
Click here to see what other MFRW Authors have in their bucket!