In 2015, the Gee family, better known as The Bucketlist Family, embarked on an extraordinary journey, selling everything to travel the world. Sharing their adventures on YouTube and Instagram, they've visited over 90 countries, promoting values of family togetherness, cultural sensitivity, and environmental stewardship. Their unique lifestyle is funded through a blend of sponsorships, social media revenue, and direct monetization platforms like TapeReal. Despite the challenges of privacy and mental health in the public eye, they prioritize authenticity and real moments. Here's a quick overview of their story:
- The Beginning: Garrett Gee sold an app to Snapchat, funding their global adventures.
- Family Goals: They aim to visit 100 countries, learn languages, and help organizations.
- Monetization: Collaborations, YouTube ads, and direct engagement with fans.
- Challenges: Balancing privacy, mental health, and authenticity in a public life.
- Core Values: Togetherness, discovery, service, and stewardship guide their journey.
- Home Base: Hawaii offers stability and community.
Their story encourages us to reflect on our values, prioritize what matters, and dare to live differently.
The Genesis
Garrett and Jessica first met in 2009 while they were both on missions in Vladivostok, Russia. They ran into each other again at a university in Utah a few years later and eventually got married. Garrett had created an iPhone app and sold it to Snapchat, which suddenly gave them a lot of money. They started asking themselves, "What do we want to do with our lives now?"
Their answer was to focus on being together as a family. So, in 2015, with their two young kids, they sold most of what they owned and decided to see the world.
Setting Audacious Family Goals
On August 15, 2015, before they started traveling, Garrett and Jessica made a big list of goals:
- To visit 100 countries together
- To learn 5 languages as a family
- To help out at 100 different organizations
- To read 100 books about history
- To see 100 shows about different cultures
They wanted their family's life to be about adventures, helping others, and learning, not just the usual things people aim for.
Choosing Canada and Mexico as First Stops
Since they were traveling with little kids, Garrett and Jessica picked places in North America to start. This helped them get used to traveling without jumping into anything too difficult.
They went to:
- Banff in Canada, to enjoy the outdoors
- Mexico City, to experience a big city's life
- Oaxaca, to learn about local traditions
These first trips helped them get ready for even bigger adventures later, as their kids got used to traveling.
Building The Bucketlist Family Brand
Capturing Imagery and Telling Stories
The Bucketlist Family is really good at using pictures and videos to share their journeys online. They take amazing photos and make videos that feel like you're right there with them, exploring new places.
Here's what they do well:
- Professional imagery: They use good cameras and editing tools to make their photos look great. Pictures of far-off places really stand out.
- Authentic moments: They also show real, unscripted moments of happiness, surprise, or even tiredness. This makes people feel connected to their experiences.
- Compelling narratives: Their videos tell interesting stories with beginnings, middles, and ends, making it fun for people to watch.
By focusing on high-quality pictures and engaging stories, they draw people in. Viewers get to learn about new places and cultures in an enjoyable way.
Imparting Values via Adventure
The Bucketlist Family shares important lessons through their travels:
- Togetherness: They show that doing things together as a family or with friends makes relationships stronger. This reminds people to spend more time with those they care about.
- Cultural sensitivity: They help viewers see what's common and different among cultures around the world, teaching respect and understanding.
- Environmentalism: Their trips to beautiful natural spots encourage people to care more about protecting the environment.
- Self-growth: They face challenges like language barriers and budget issues, showing that traveling can make you braver and more adaptable.
In short, The Bucketlist Family not only shares fun adventures but also spreads positive messages. They create a sense of community by sharing valuable lessons through their stories of exploration.
Monetizing Content and Fostering Community
Sponsorships and Traditional Revenue Models
The Bucketlist Family works with different companies and places to help pay for their trips. They've teamed up with:
- Tourism boards like Visit Utah, Colombia is Realism Magic, Visit Mexico
- Companies like Airbnb, the North Face, GoPro
- Financial services like Discover, American Express
These partnerships help the family cover travel costs by including products or places in their content.
They also make money from ads on YouTube and by recommending travel items on Amazon. Plus, they sell their own stuff, like t-shirts and pictures, online.
This way of making money works, but it means they often have to chase after companies for deals. It can also make them focus more on what the companies want rather than what their viewers like.
TapeReal - Direct Monetization and Audience Engagement
Platforms like TapeReal let creators get money directly from their fans. Fans can pay to see special content, like extra videos or behind-the-scenes looks.
This lets creators make what they want without depending too much on companies. It also helps them connect better with their audience.
TapeReal also has features that help build a community, such as:
- Feeds on specific topics to find people with similar interests
- Trending hashtags to see what's popular
- Groups for smaller, focused communities
For a family like The Bucketlist Family, these tools could help them connect with others who love traveling and adventures. Their fans could get more involved and help shape what the community talks about.
In short, TapeReal helps creators make money while also building a strong, active community. This is different from just getting money from companies and ads.
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Prioritizing Privacy, Mental Health and Authenticity
The Bucketlist Family shares their journey online, which means lots of people know about their life. This situation makes it hard for them to keep some things private and to just be a regular family at times. They’ve found ways to keep a balance between sharing and keeping some things just for themselves.
Managing Privacy Amid Public Life
Because they share a lot online, the family has to be careful about keeping some parts of their life private. For example, they don’t tell everyone where they live and prefer staying in places where they won’t be easily recognized. They share a lot but also make sure some things are kept just for them.
Coping With Mental Health Challenges
Being famous on the internet can be stressful. There’s pressure to keep making content and to make sponsors happy. When it gets too much, they:
- Take a break from making videos
- Spend quality time just with each other, without filming
- Remember that being a happy family is the most important thing
Taking care of their mental health helps them stay true to themselves and keep sharing their adventures.
Focusing on Real Moments and Positive Messages
Despite the challenges, the family keeps sharing real, unscripted moments. They focus on:
- Genuine family experiences, showing true feelings and what happens in their day-to-day life
- Sharing important values like understanding different cultures, sticking together, and caring for the environment
- Keeping their content real and not just about promoting products
By keeping things real and focusing on the positive, they connect better with people who follow their journey. This approach helps them continue exploring and inspiring others.
Key Lessons and Looking Ahead
Reflecting on Core Values and Life Priorities
The Bucketlist Family's adventure teaches us that bravery and an open heart can lead us to live lives filled with what truly matters - our beliefs, what we love, and the people we care about.
When they left their usual life in Utah to see the world, the Giffords were guided by their main beliefs:
- Togetherness - making family and shared moments a priority
- Discovery - being curious about new cultures
- Service - lending a hand to those in need across the globe
- Stewardship - taking care of our planet
They found that where you are and what you own aren't as important as the people and values that make life meaningful. Even though it wasn't always easy, the happiness and connections they made were worth it.
Their unique path encourages us to think about what's really important to us and to make choices that bring us closer to those ideals every day.
Imparting Wisdom to the Next Generation
As the Gifford kids get older, how will their unique upbringing influence their views and dreams?
Having been to over 90 countries, these kids know a lot about the world and can easily adapt to new situations, something not many kids their age can do. The understanding and respect they have for different cultures is something very special.
But, their life of constant travel means they've also had to deal with lots of changes and not having a fixed home. As they become teenagers, they might want more stability and a stronger sense of belonging.
Jessica and Garrett hope to teach their kids to find a balance:
"We want the kids to keep discovering new things but also have a community and a place they can call home."
By making Hawaii their home base while still traveling a lot, they want to give their children the best of both worlds.
Carrying the Torch of Inspiration
The Bucketlist Family has shown that a regular family can live an amazing life with bravery, creativity, and being together. They've inspired many people to strengthen family ties, understand different cultures better, and step out of their comfort zones.
Looking forward, Jessica and Garrett are proud of what they've achieved but stay humble and excited for what's next. They want to continue spreading positivity through their stories about family, travel, and being true to oneself.
Above all, they hope the inspiration they've started to spread keeps growing, encouraging people everywhere to connect more with their loved ones and the world around us.
Related Questions
How is The Bucket List Family so rich?
The Bucket List Family got their money from a few different places:
- Garrett created an app for iPhones and sold it to Snapchat, which gave them a lot of money to start traveling.
- They work with brands and places that want to be featured in their videos, like Airbnb and GoPro.
- They make money from ads on their YouTube channel.
- They earn a bit of money when people buy things they recommend, like travel gear on Amazon.
- They also sell their own stuff, like t-shirts, online.
With money coming from these different sources, they can afford to travel and share their adventures.
Who is Jessica Gee?
Jessica Gee is the mom in the Bucket List Family. She and her husband Garrett decided to sell most of their stuff in 2015 and travel the world with their kids. They wanted to visit 100 countries together.
Jessica helps film their trips and tells their stories on YouTube and Instagram, where they have millions of followers. She focuses on sharing real family moments and lessons they learn from traveling.
Where does the Gee family live?
The Bucket List Family calls Hawaii their home. They go back there when they're not traveling. Hawaii gives them a place to feel part of a community and gives their kids some stability.
Having a home in Hawaii lets them have the best of both worlds - they can still travel a lot but also have a place to call home.
What app did the dad from The Bucket List Family sell?
Garrett Gee, the dad, made an app called Scan for iPhones. It let people scan documents and share them easily. He sold this app to Snapchat.
Selling the Scan app gave them the money they needed to start traveling full-time and share their adventures, which turned into the Bucket List Family brand.
