How The Bucket List Family Travels the World with Garrett Gee
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Garrett Gee, founder of The Bucket List Family, recounts how a spontaneous joke about traveling the world for free turned into a decade-long nomadic lifestyle that redefined adventure for his family. What began as a four-month trip funded by a $45,000 yard sale—without touching the proceeds from his app sale to Snapchat—evolved into a sustainable, sponsorship-driven journey across 60+ countries. The family’s philosophy centers on three pillars: adventure, culture, and service, turning every trip into a meaningful experience. Despite financial caution and the emotional toll of early travel disasters—like a child’s facial injury at Miami airport—they embraced the 'silver lining' mindset, proving that true adventure begins when things go wrong. Now settled in Hawaii, Garrett still pursues wild ideas, including becoming a professional soccer player at age 45, proving that age and risk aren’t barriers to reinvention. His core message: adventure isn’t about money or location—it’s about presence, purpose, and modeling resilience for your kids.
Start with $45,000 from a yard sale—not a trust fund—to fund a world trip; the key is sustainability, not spending the acquisition money.
Turn every trip into a meaningful journey by committing to adventure, culture, and service—three pillars that give depth to travel.
Fail visibly in front of your kids: their resilience grows when they see you persist through repeated failure.
The most dangerous thing isn’t adventure—it’s overprotection. Teach kids real skills (like free diving) for safety, not fear.
You don’t need to travel the world to live a wild life: backyard adventures, road trips, and local camping count just as much.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
The Joke That Changed Everything
“No amount of money is better than traveling the world with my family for free, let alone getting paid for it.”
From $45k Yard Sale to Global Adventure
The family launched their journey with $45,000 from selling their cars and home, vowing not to touch their app sale savings. They used early social media to pitch brands for free stays and discounts, eventually turning travel into a profitable business.
The Three Pillars of Travel: Adventure, Culture, Service
“Every place we go, we want to do three things: a unique adventure, a unique culture experience, and a service project.”
The Real Cost of Adventure: Fear, Failure, and Silver Linings
“It’s not an adventure until something goes wrong.”
Why They Settled Down in Hawaii
After three years of nomadic life, the family chose Hawaii after their daughter expressed a desire for school, a locker, and a best friend—realizing that adventure and stability can coexist.
“No amount of money is better than traveling the world with my family for free, let alone getting paid for it.”
“It’s not an adventure until something goes wrong.”
“I didn’t make it as a young man into the pros. Like I’m devastated on the daily of that. You don’t got to remind me.”
Host
Guest
The Bucket List Family
brand
Garrett Gee
person
Jessica Gee
person
Hawaii
place
Tonga
place
REI Co-op MasterCard
product
Snapchat
organization
Ocean Bottle
product
Mormon Church missions
organization
Yvonne Chouinard
person
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