One year ago, in July 2013, I was sitting in a hostel in La Paz, Bolivia, finalising a list of 100 things to do before I die. That blog post has since received 12,789 hits. It seems it’s a common desire among many of us to want to see the world, do interesting things, and make sure we’re not missing out.
On the other hand, some people are critical of lists like this. They don’t think you should just “tick the box”, or they argue that it’s more about who you’re with than what you do. I agree on both points. And The List is not my only resource in life – I’ve done all sorts of things in the past year that aren’t written down anywhere, including many wonderful moments with friends and family doing seemingly mundane things, watching new films and reading good books, starting my own company and making new connections…
For me, though, having a list is a way to ensure that I also look at the bigger picture, that I plan a few longer trips, that I invest time in the things that won’t be achieved just overnight; ultimately, that I don’t wake up dead one morning wondering, “What did I do all these years?”
So one year on, where am I with The Bucket List?
#5 Visit Iguazú Falls – DONE! Argentinian and Brazilian side. My first major waterfalls, and well worth the experience.
#11 Witness the Northern Lights – I need to do this soon, who’s with me? We’re experiencing a peak in sun spot activity this year and next, so now is a great time to see the auroras…
#15 Visit Pompeii – I’m planning to do this with my mum next year to celebrate our 33rd/66th birthdays. We already went to the exhibition at the British Museum, so we are well prepped!
#16 Go to Hobbiton and visit Weta in New Zealand – I just booked my trip to Auckland for November. Not all those who wander are lost…
#17 Do a Thelma-and-Louise style US road trip – Well it’s not the US but I do plan to drive from Auckland down to Wellington with my friend with whom I dressed up as Thelma and Louise for a fancy dress party at uni, so I think it counts…
#41 Sing Evita songs in Buenos Aires – Done! I went through my full repertoire outside the Casa Rosada and gave the city just a little touch of star quality…
#45 Visit Iceland – Could combine this with #11 next year?
#47 Travel to 100 countries – Almost halfway there! I think I’m at 45 today and I’ll be at 48 by the end of the year…
#53 Go paragliding – Done! I was going to do a little arty video clip from my GoPro footage but it was 16 minutes long and all a bit jumpy, so I think you might either get bored or experience motion sickness…
#55 Gallop across a field – Done! In Argentina. Amazing.
#71 Read the Bible – So I started last year. I had a bit of a break. Now I’ve started again and I just have 77 hours to go, so says my Kindle. Hmm…
#73 Watch all three Lord of the Rings films back to back – Well I obviously need to do this before #16.
#83 Reach 1,000 Twitter followers – I’m halfway there at almost 500 followers. I just need to make sure I reach my target before Twitter stops being a popular digital platform! 😉
#89 Do yoga daily – I was doing it just a few months ago and now I’ve completely lapsed.*Sigh*
#90 Speak fluent Spanish – I was well on the way last year but I must admit that I haven’t really been working on it since my South America trip…
#91 Learn Mandarin. Or possibly Japanese – I tried Mandarin. It is hard. So I’ve gone for Japanese instead, and I’ve completed a foundational course. Maybe if I plan a trip next year I can have that as a goal..
#100 Watch a tennis match at Wimbledon – DOH I completely missed the fact that there was a ballot. Oops. Apparently there are some tickets released every day online so will try that. Or does someone with friends in high places want to invite me as their plus one to the Centre Court Final? …
What’s on your list?
