Mastering the Bucket List

Marketing and creating products of all shapes, sizes, and designs has been the hallmark of Forney Shell's fascinating career path. Born in 1937, Shell spent the first years of his life in Washington D.C. and Silver Spring, Maryland. His sales acumen was forged through selling vacuum cleaners, touting life insurance policies, and demonstrating products in retail stores. A short move up the East Coast to Boston, Massachusetts, to work for Sylvania Electronics as an electro-mechanical design engineer later led to a cross-country move to California. Shell spent the next 40 years on the West Coast, contributing designs to the Mercury and Apollo space crafts, the Space Shuttle, and the Moon Lander. Retiring in 2000 from his role at Boeing as a Senior Research Design Engineer, Shell followed the siren song to return to the East Coast, settling in Charlottesville, Virginia. Not one to remain idle, however, Shell became a travel agent for a local firm for 18 years before opening his own agency. Shell founded Pan Piper Travel LLC while also working as a part-time guide at Thomas Jefferson's stomping ground, Monticello. A life-long learner, Shell holds a Master of Science degree, is a certified life underwriter, and a certified travel agent. His specialized training with Princess and Cunard cruise lines and the Las Vegas and Orlando convention authorities speak to his travel credentials. Shell is the proud father to two sons and three stepsons. Traveling is one of Shell's personal passions, as he has visited sixty-five world cities, twenty-nine countries, and taken thirty-one cruises. Shell wrote "Mastering Your Bucket List" as a guide for peopling desiring to create a personalized bucket list and to move their travel dreams from paper to reality.