I am quite sure that we all said the phrase “Maybe Someday” at any moment in our life.   We have wishes and dreams and try to convince ourselves that somehow now is not the right moment to accomplish our dream. So we postpone it to an unknown date as if we ever get to do it. I did that several times. I guess everyone has his or her bucket list hidden somewhere in the mind.

I must say that I did strike off a couple of those as I grew up. They were the short-reach objectives like, playing in a band, compose music, paint oil paintings, do stone sculptures, write a script for theatre and watch it performed, observe original art of my favorite artists, get jobs where I get to travel around the world, ride a motorbike in a distant country, get my skipper sailing license and other stuff. However, traveling alone for a long period during which I will possibly do voluntary work was always my impossible dream and always said to myself “Maybe Someday”.

We all think that we are immortals and that we get to live to the day we decide to take the leap and live the dream. We are so much immersed in our daily routine that we forget how fragile we are. During the past two weeks, two guys whom I knew and had my age suddenly passed away and are no longer with us on this beautiful planet. They’re gone. I am still getting to terms with such loss. But this is life. None of us knows when our time is up. Today may be my last day, or tomorrow or today week. Who knows? Death is an important part of life and we systematically constantly try to avoid it. We live as if we are never going to die but eventually we all will. I do not care if we have another life or we will be born again. The only certainty in regards is this current life that I have and that is what matters most.

I also hear phrases like “when I reach pension age I do…” or “When my kids grow up I will…”. We forget that our human body is in decay as time goes by. Who knows if I get dementia or another condition that will restrict my mobility when I reach a certain age? Nobody knows if this will happen irrespective of the numerous preventive measures we take. Yes, we reduce the probability of such an event to happen but we never have a 100% guarantee.  So why do we postpone dreams till we reach the age of 65 without considering that our body may not be the same as what we have right now? Who knows?

While I was in Tulum in Mexico in April 2019, I met a young couple in their late 30s with their two young girls who were 8 and 6 years old. They were in Mexico for a short two-week break. During this holiday they brought up the idea that one day they will drive across South America in a camper together with their kids. It happened that they saw this rusty camper for sale in a yard and simply for curiosity they asked for the price of that camper. To cut a long story short, they ended up buying the camper, started restoring the camper, rented out their house in the States and decided to live their dream there and then. This was not an isolated case. I encountered similar stories during my 8-month journey in Central and South America.

Yes, sometimes it is terrifying to make choices. We fill our minds with doubts. What if this? What if that? But unless we take the leap, we risk not accomplishing our dreams. Once I read the following “Jump off the cliff and grow your wings on your way down but make sure you know how to swim”. On 8th January 2019, I took that leap and boarded the flight to Mexico for my long journey. I sold my apartment and left the job I loved to be totally free from any commitments and my mind will be free from any doubts. I was determined that I was going to make it happen and there was no way to change my mind. For many, it was a crazy bold move to leave everything behind and travel on my own. There was no instant that I regretted my decision. 8 months passed by in a blink of an eye and it was a super fantastic experience.

We only have one chance on this planet. Each and every one of us questions life about its meaning and only we can answer to life by answering by the way we live our lives and be responsible for our existence. Yes, life is full of challenges and sometimes it is not fair. But when we are no longer able to change a situation, then we challenge ourselves to change. Write down your own bucket list and plan how and when you will be accomplishing them. Write down the dates and create a positive mental attitude to get things done. Learn a language, dance the tango, climb Kilimanjaro, tell people close to you that you love them, spend a week in a forest, watch an opera at La Scala. Remember that the bucket list is not a shopping list. A successful life is not measured by the number of possessions or the size of the bank account. You measure your success with your life experiences and with the positive differences you make on this planet.  I hope that when my time comes, I will have the time to look back at my life and with a smile and great gratitude I utter my last words “That was simply an amazing journey”.

Jose’

8th January 2020