Is This a Dream?

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Beaver-Creek-Lodge-in-Colorado

Today I was asked, “Are you forgetting what your home looks like?  You sure have been on the move lately!” and it made me think about my whirlwind adventures in the last two years and reminded me that this month officially marks two years of blogging.  Since starting Bucket List Publications, I’ve visited more than a dozen states, four provinces, and 8 countries. I’ve participated in the most extreme adventures and I’ve made life-long friends. I created something I am proud to say is mine. This weekend I’m in Colorado visiting Beaver Creek Lodge on a press trip and I’ve come to realize that this is the accumulation of all of my wildest dreams come true. 

Beaver-Creek-Lodge,-Colorado

I’m sitting in my suite overlooking the Colorado mountains and preparing for whitewater rafting tomorrow. That, to me, sounds like a movie. I would have never dreamed such a blessed life. I didn’t start out rich and just have a beautiful life handed to me. I consciously thought about what would make me happiest in life and I found out how to make it a reality. It seemed impossible, but one small glimpse of unrealistic dreams, of courage, of not accepting the norm led to this.

Beaver Creek Lodge, Colorado is my office this weekend and the view is epic!

Beaver Creek Lodge Room

Beaver Creek Lodge RoomBeaver-Creek-Lodge-in-Colorado

Beaver Creek Lodge

Thank you for all of your support and continued readership. Without you, I won’t have any of this. I never realized so much beauty existed in the world. This is my idea of Paradise. I hope you’ve found yours.

What is your ideal career? What is your ideal living location? What is your top travel destination? Do you have a bucket list? Share your goals with me as I have shared them with you and lets make them a reality.

*This journey was made possible with help from Beaver Creek Lodge; however, as you probably know by now, all opinions & thoughts are my own.*

See you on the river tomorrow.

65 thoughts on “Is This a Dream?”

      • Hi Leslie — Yes…I live in northwest Denver now. I was born in southern Colorado and I lived in Colorado Springs for many years. There may not be a more beautiful urban setting, with Pikes Peak overlooking everything we did. Fortunately, there is so much to do and enjoy in Colorado that I never take it for granted…I still gasp when I see some of the mountain vistas. (SCUBA is not great in our cold dark mountain lakes!) Training now for a trip to Nepal in the fall, so we’re going to altitude as often as we can; good thing we start with a mile-high advantage! Glad you are enjoying yourself…would love to welcome you and your family to Colorado.

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  2. Thank you for sharing your adventures. I too have been blogging a little over a year. It started as a way to record memories for a trip to India with my children. But I quickly tapped into this amazing travel blogging community, and you are actually one of the first wordpress blogs I started following intentently. You and the rest of the community have inspired me to dream bigger. That my far off fantasy of traveling the world could be a reality if I’m brave enough to choose it. For now, I fully admit I’m not yet brave enough. But writing has filled a creative void I did not realize I was missing, and with every post I write, every travel blogger post I read, every new blog I follow, I get a tiny bit braver. My fantasy looks a tiny bit more realistic. So thank you and please keep writing. I thrive off you adventures and inspiration.

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    • If there is a job of official photographer, I think it might go to my husband, but with how encouraging and supportive you are of your son, maybe you could be official travel nanny. 😉

      Have a great weekend,

      Lesley

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  7. Congratulations. You have the life, that you wish and work for. Dreams can come truth, it just demand, that we work for it. I relocated to Spain around one year ago, and also try some very new ways for living here. Thanks for sharing.
    Irene

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  10. My blog will be one year old in twelve days. It’s been an amazing year for me and, although a lot will change, I’m looking forward to what’s coming next:) Happy birthday for Bucket List Publications and all the best for you, don’t stop being an adventurer!:)

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  19. Lesley, it is really lovely to hear ‘you’ in your posts.
    “I consciously thought about what would make me happiest in life and I found out how to make it a reality. It seemed impossible, but one small glimpse of unrealistic dreams, of courage, of not accepting the norm led to this.”
    This quote from you, will be pasted onto a sticky note on my laptop. Keep dreaming. Janice 🙂

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  22. I’ve just re-read it I’ve enjoyed it so much. My goal is to live my life as a Writer, to travel and relax and earn a living whilst doing so, before finally ending up opening a tentvillage in Picton New Zealand, when I am once again ready to settle down. Like I said – loved the post. Janice

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      • Why Picton? – Pure and simply I fell in love with it. It’s a small town on the northern most tip of the South Island, situated in the Marlborough Sounds and I love it most in the winter months. For me, I love NZ mostly in the winter. There is an abiding calm about the place, even in its hustle and bustle (it is the ferry link between both islands) whenever there I feel more at home in myself, than anywhere else I have travelled in the world.
        🙂

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  24. I am envious that you are so young and are able to make your bucket list a priority!. We used to live in Denver, CO. I loved being able to see the mountains from the city. We never went white water rafting though. We are about to be empty nesters – count down 3 weeks – and we have started working on our bucket list. My husband and I combined our bucket lists and we want to see a game in all of the football and baseball stadiums in North America and we want to see 50 cities outside of North America. The list is longer but these are what we are focusing on right now. We just went to Reykjavik, Iceland in July.

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  25. I love your courage to explore the world. It is fascinating to read about all of your adventures. I am doing my dream job as a licensed naturopath. I think I would like to expand more into tourism medicine and take the patients I have from all over the world on unique health retreats. I already own a retreat in Sedona so I’m half way there ;-). Keep being an inspiration to so many of us!!!

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  28. My ideal career is something that would allow my creative side to flourish! Right now my ideal location is anywhere abroad… And my top travel destination would probably be Canada!! I’ve wanted to go there for an extended trip for about 4 years now…

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  30. I think you’re on to something with your career — but if I had to really think about my own dream career it would be a mix of writing and helping others. Potentially going to different NFP’s, agencies, or high needs areas of communities and donating my time then writing about it on some forum after.

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  33. Fiction writing is my ideal career – something I’m trying to accomplish right now. There are so many places I want to visit I can’t list them all here, but I’d have to say Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon in the U.S. and Spain Germany would be at the top.

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  36. Welcome to my neighborhood! (Well, I’m down the hill in Edwards.) I definitely live in my dream location but am still working on the dream job thing… I’ve only recently started blogging and would love to turn blogging/travel writing into a full-time career one day. You’re an inspiration!

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  37. Thank you so much for inspiring me as I was reading this just now! I want to believe that a passion for writing, traveling, exploring, searching, pondering, etc… can come together for me also, and one day provide that I can commit 100% to what I love most! Thank you!

    Enjoy your trip, and come rafting in Coloma, CA. sometime. My hometown is very well down for whitewater.

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  38. Hi Lesley! 🙂 @”What is your top travel destination?” – we’re back from unique Iceland where we’ve been for the 2nd time to visit the Westfjords: beyond amazing! 🙂 We plan to go to Gran Canaria(Canary Islands), we’ve already visited Tenerife and Lanzarote, both stunning!
    – – –
    Have a great weekend, my very best and good luck in all your present endeavours, cheers! Mélanie
    – – –
    P.S. my daughter’s name is… Leslie! 🙂

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  39. I agree – Colorado is beautiful. What a lovely press trip, well done! My dream job is travelling and blogging/reviewing full time, rather than fitting it in between my 9am-5pm office job. I’d love to live in San Francisco. As mentioned in some of my blogs, I’ve never been but I know I will love it. So I guess top of my travel list at the moment is San Fran (should be there next year), but China, Japan and Vancouver are also pretty high on the list too. Where would you love to visit next?

    I hope you have an awesome time in Colorado x

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  42. So far, Greece is still my fave but haven’t been since the 80’s. It is on my bucket list to get back but just a few items before it to check off – South America is near the top now. Congratulations on all that you’ve accomplished in two years! I’ve been following the entire time. Add a new baby to that and – wow! You’re my hero :). Best wishes for more adventures to come.

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  43. Echoing others, welcome to Colorado! I hope you enjoy it here and the mountains are the best place at this time, about anytime really. In September the aspen leaves change to a beautiful gold.

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  45. Lesley, I’ve been following your blog for awhile now (it’s bookmarked!) and find you endlessly inspiring. I’m always amazed by your positive outlook and your creativity. I just had to comment because you speak in this post about your big dreams and your courage, but what I’m always impressed with is your tireless effort and endless energy–it’s clear you’ve put a heck of a lot of hard work into your travel blogging, as well as your family life. That shouldn’t go unrecognized. Please keep doing what you’re doing, and sharing! P.S. – Not sure if you would remember me, but we actually went to high school together (was Beaton back then)–I’m always sending people the link to your blog when they need a little inspiration, saying “check out what this gal from my hometown is doing!” 🙂

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  49. Another amazing post, Lesley. I thank you for inspiring me to write, travel and dream bigger than I could have imagined, just by reading about your adventures. Watching you live your life, with your family, with such joy is contagious. A few years ago when I really woke up to my life, I describe it a lot like the scene in The Wizard of Oz, when her life goes from black and white into Technicolor, I understood that I am in charge of my life and making sure I reach for new dreams. Watching you embrace your life in Technicolor reminds me to do the same. Thank you, Nikki

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