Things you have crossed off your bucket list since FIRE!

[Gone Fishing]

Title says it all!

[Ozstache]

I'll kick it off. 16 months into ER I have ticked off:

- Completed a Master's degree
- Skydived
- Toured New Zealand South Island
- Rode a motorbike to Uluru and back
- Helped my parents achieve financial security
- Significantly improved my health and fitness levels
- Grown a decent beard
- Not on my list but I discovered that my legs do actually tan (albeit only a little)!

Next month I tick off:
- Tour India and Nepal

[deborah]

I didn't have much of a bucket list - but it's grown enormously since I retired

Things that have been on the list forever:
- visited Lake Mungo (more than once)
- created a "Dear Jane" embroidered quilt
- started a degree in Fashion Design (did two years but the degree changed so I'm not finishing it - but I did every subject I wanted to do)
- visited the Brewarrina fish traps
- see my parents and nieces regularly (they live far away).

New things:
- visited remote NSW
- saw Aboriginal rock art at Sturt's Meadows and Mutawintji
- visited the Flinders Ranges and the second biggest monolith in Australia (it's a green Uluru)
- visited Frazer Island

In two months I will go to Turkey for the centenary of the Gallipoli landing and textiles and archeology - this will be the last thing left on my original bucket list.

[PtboEliz]

I just did a polar plunge. Brrrr!

[DanielleS]

1. Got rid of almost all of our personal possessions.
2. Purchased an RV and are traveling the continent.
3. Visited my husband's birth country in Europe for a month-long stay.
4. Published some of my fiction via e-books, doing it all myself--learned html and css, did my own cover artwork, styled the books myself, and was able to take all the time I wanted with no feelings of pressure.
5. Took care of MIL and FIL through various health issues and surgeries without feeling like I was going to go crazy from time crunches as I would have if I'd had a full-time job.
6. Gained a sense of peace, and a feeling of greeting each day with love and eagerness, which is what I always imagined post-work life would feel like.

Looking at this list, I know that something like #5 might not be thought of as a 'bucket list' line item, but the feeling of being able to focus on what is important to me without being bored or stressed by work and frustrated with office politics, and never looking out my office window and thinking, "I could be hiking right now, but instead I'm trapped inside"... that was the true goal for me.

[chuckaluck]

In just the past two years since FIRE:

My wife and I took our first vacations to Europe and will tour many US National Parks this fall
Started guitar lessons
Took a small engine repair course
Took advanced automotive repair/diagnostic course
Increased weekly exercise sessions at the gym

[Exflyboy]

Having already done the 500 skydives and 1500 hours of flying (including getting an instrument rating and flying aerobatics), built two airplanes and built a house.. All while working, there wasn't too much left on my BL....

But.. After garnering a significant Stash I took great delight in standing up for my principles just before I retired.. and ended taking a "Mutually agreeable" severance package...:)

After 7 months of doing whatever I wanted I used the power of FU money to negotiate exactly the deal I wanted before taking a pt job.. I have never been so well paid in my life..:)

[Cassie]

Been to Europe a few times, will take a month RV trip in May, Hawaii & more European countries in my future the next few years.  Also negotiated high consulting rate for my own p.t. business with the option of just doing what I want.  Spend the day in my pj's if I want-previously only a luxury on an occasional weekend. Never setting the alarm clock. Traveling more is our big plan.

[Indio]

I'll kick it off. 16 months into ER I have ticked off:

- Completed a Master's degree
- Skydived
- Toured New Zealand South Island
- Rode a motorbike to Uluru and back
- Helped my parents achieve financial security
- Significantly improved my health and fitness levels
- Grown a decent beard
- Not on my list but I discovered that my legs do actually tan (albeit only a little)!

Next month I tick off:
- Tour India and Nepal

I love that idea of visiting Uluru by motorbike. Where did you start from? Sydney?

[MrsCoolCat]

5. Took care of MIL and FIL through various health issues and surgeries without feeling like I was going to go crazy from time crunches as I would have if I'd had a full-time job.
6. Gained a sense of peace, and a feeling of greeting each day with love and eagerness, which is what I always imagined post-work life would feel like.

Looking at this list, I know that something like #5 might not be thought of as a 'bucket list' line item, but the feeling of being able to focus on what is important to me without being bored or stressed by work and frustrated with office politics, and never looking out my office window and thinking, "I could be hiking right now, but instead I'm trapped inside"... that was the true goal for me.

+1! It's noble and I like your #5 and 6! I thought about #6 probably by my first corporate job! LOL, low pay and being a millennial!!! Joy.

[deborah]

I think having the time to care for my parents when they need it without having trying to fit it in with work is the best thing about retirement. But it wasn't on my bucket list!

[Ozstache]

I'll kick it off. 16 months into ER I have ticked off:

- Completed a Master's degree
- Skydived
- Toured New Zealand South Island
- Rode a motorbike to Uluru and back
- Helped my parents achieve financial security
- Significantly improved my health and fitness levels
- Grown a decent beard
- Not on my list but I discovered that my legs do actually tan (albeit only a little)!

Next month I tick off:
- Tour India and Nepal

I love that idea of visiting Uluru by motorbike. Where did you start from? Sydney?

We started from Canberra with a group of about 40 riders and went via Melbourne. We came back via the Great Ocean Road. It was a charity ride for Prostate Cancer research and all up over 400 bikes pulled in to Uluru from all corners of Australia. It was an awesome experience!

[DanielleS]

I think having the time to care for my parents when they need it without having trying to fit it in with work is the best thing about retirement. But it wasn't on my bucket list!

hehe! Yes, it wasn't on mine either! Yet, what WAS on my bucket list was the feeling of not being crazed by life's unexpected detours. To be able to still be myself and not the crisis, if that makes sense.

[Dicey]

I think having the time to care for my parents when they need it without having trying to fit it in with work is the best thing about retirement. But it wasn't on my bucket list!

+1 to this!

Also, FIL died three weeks after we were married. During the process we realized that something wasn't right with MIL. Long story short, we sold both of our two-story houses, sold one of hers, rented out the other, bought a new house and moved her in with us (She thinks it's her house and most days I'm okay with that, or not, like today.) during my first year of retirement. Having MIL and her pal Al Z. Heimer living with us is sometimes a total pain in the ass. After that, both of my parents started failing. Mom died last month and Dad is on Hospice care.

Honestly, this is not what I expected retirement to look like. I am however, completely grateful that I could deal with all of these life events without a boss breathing down my neck.

Back to the bucket list... DH still works, because his deal is too sweet to walk out on just yet and he loves it. On Sunday nights, often says he has to go to back to work just so he can relax. We have decided to work on the things we can do while we're tethered. Soon enough our time will be completely our own and the traveling will begin. For now, we have decided to flip our first house. It's work we both enjoy. We don't need to do it for FI. We just got to FI without checking that one off our list, so we're going to do it anyway. We found a property, our offer's been accepted, escrow opens on Monday and is due to close ten days hence. We're both pretty excited about it. Onward!

Update 5-4-15 - We held an estate sale, cleaned out my parent's house and found a cash buyer without a RE agent. Also closed on the bucket list flip and spent the last three days doing demo. Lots of hard work, but very fun. Not exactly lying on a beach, but so glad I'm able to take care of things without having to juggle a J-O-B or a B-O-S-S. Perhaps if the flip goes well, we'll schedule some beach time in the future...

Update 7-3-15 - My parent's house closed and all the proceeds are in my dad's account. It will make paying for his care to the end of his life a little easier.
And... We've got a buyer for our flip and we're in a 30 day escrow! That really puts the heat on us to get it finished. A good problem, to be sure.

[Bob W]

I'll kick it off. 16 months into ER I have ticked off:

- Completed a Master's degree
- Skydived
- Toured New Zealand South Island
- Rode a motorbike to Uluru and back
- Helped my parents achieve financial security
- Significantly improved my health and fitness levels
- Grown a decent beard
- Not on my list but I discovered that my legs do actually tan (albeit only a little)!

Next month I tick off:
- Tour India and Nepal

I love that idea of visiting Uluru by motorbike. Where did you start from? Sydney?

We started from Canberra with a group of about 40 riders and went via Melbourne. We came back via the Great Ocean Road. It was a charity ride for Prostate Cancer research and all up over 400 bikes pulled in to Uluru from all corners of Australia. It was an awesome experience!

You're rocking it!   I need to get my bucket list in order. 

[Lazyretirementgirl]

China.

[deborah]

I didn't have much of a bucket list - but it's grown enormously since I retired

Things that have been on the list forever:
- visited Lake Mungo (more than once)
- created a "Dear Jane" embroidered quilt
- started a degree in Fashion Design (did two years but the degree changed so I'm not finishing it - but I did every subject I wanted to do)
- visited the Brewarrina fish traps
- see my parents and nieces regularly (they live far away).

New things:
- visited remote NSW
- saw Aboriginal rock art at Sturt's Meadows and Mutawintji
- visited the Flinders Ranges and the second biggest monolith in Australia (it's a green Uluru)
- visited Frazer Island

In two months I will go to Turkey for the centenary of the Gallipoli landing and textiles and archeology - this will be the last thing left on my original bucket list.

Well, I went to Turkey and it was AMAZING. Absolutely everything I wanted it to be and more. I went for two months visited the centenary of the Gallopili landing, saw Lone Pine and the sites of the August offensive, and where the ships were mined and shot (this caused the landing to occur), then saw all sorts of things including places near the Syrian border, all through the Kurdish area, metres away from the Armenian border. It was all so good. Much better than I expected. And this year (our financial year is July to June), even with my really expensive super luxurious holiday in Turkey I STILL spent less than my retirement income!!!

[Ozstache]

Well, I went to Turkey and it was AMAZING. Absolutely everything I wanted it to be and more. I went for two months visited the centenary of the Gallopili landing, saw Lone Pine and the sites of the August offensive, and where the ships were mined and shot (this caused the landing to occur), then saw all sorts of things including places near the Syrian border, all through the Kurdish area, metres away from the Armenian border. It was all so good. Much better than I expected. And this year (our financial year is July to June), even with my really expensive super luxurious holiday in Turkey I STILL spent less than my retirement income!!!

I was wondering how your trip went. I'm glad it turned out so well for you!

[Mrs.LC]

Stood on the glass balconies at the Willis Tower in Chicago without my knees shaking. The view was amazing. A few years ago I was at the CN Tower in Toronto and couldn't stand on the glass floor with both feet. Progress!

[Ozstache]

I recently went on a 4 day, 3 night train trip across Australia from Perth to Sydney on the Indian Pacific train. It wasn't on my bucket list, but it was on my wife's and was what she wanted for her 50th birthday. Turned out to be a really good trip; a stark contrast in comfort and safety compared to the overnight train trip my son and I did in a sleeper carriage in India a few months ago!