So I’ve realised that I’ve watched 18 films so far on this trip, most of them forced upon me during long-haul bus rides, a couple in a hostel, and three that I actually chose to watch at the cinema. One of the good ones was The Bucket List, in which a selfish capitalist Jack Nicholson finds himself sharing a hospital room with loveable family man Morgan Freeman. Both suffering from terminal cancer, they are each given a matter of months to live; so they decide to go off together and experience the world. Their bucket list (a list of top 100 things to do before you die or ‘kick the bucket’, as I’ve just discovered – duh) includes a mix of each of their ideas, from the more material skydiving, getting a tattoo, kissing the most beautiful woman in the world on the one hand, to the more poetic, like witnessing something majestic, on the other.
The film is poignant and sweet though all the time heading towards the inevitably sad ending. But if there’s one thing we can learn from this film, isn’t it that it’s better to write such a list, and most importantly to start ticking things off that list, long before you actually expect to kick that proverbial bucket? I’ve started this list in the past, in the form of ‘100 things to do before you die’, never getting further than about 40 – it’s harder than you think! You need to be quite creative. But it’s also an ongoing endeavour, as you tick things off, mature and change your priorities, and get new ideas. Some of my great achievements from previous versions of the list include running a half-marathon, growing mermaid hair, wearing red lipstick out, trying a Bloody Mary, visiting a porn shop, and of course, visiting Machu Picchu.
Travelling alone, and now even without my iPhone (SNIFF), has given me a lot of time to think. So here it is, my 100 things, varying in how easy they are to achieve. I’m baring part of my soul here, revealing things that are important to me, so try not to be too critical! We all have different things we want to do. And you should know that I have actually done some things in my life already – skydiving, bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, swimming with dolphins… But any constructive builds or new ideas are very welcome, and if you want to do any of these things with me, just let me know 😉
Top 100 things to do before you die (according to Anna!)
Here goes, not in any kind of order of priority, though it starts with lots of travelling ones, which is inevitable given the context in which I’m writing the list:
1. Visit the Great Wall of China
2. Visit the Taj Mahal
3. Visit the Victoria Falls
4. Visit the Niagara Falls
5. Visit Iguazú Falls *DONE July 2013*
6. Fly over the Grand Canyon *DONE June 2015*
7. Visit Mount Rushmore (“Oh, and by the way: There is no Count Rushmore!”) *DONE July 2016*
8. Go on a romantic trip to Venice. WITH A MAN. *DONE in July 2015 – not with a man, though, SNIFF*
9. Visit Moscow
10. Visit St Petersburg
11. Witness the Northern Lights *DONE March 2015*
12. Take the Orient Express
13. Visit Slovenia
14. Eat sushi and sing karaoke in Japan *DONE April 2016*
15. Visit Pompeii *DONE September 2015*
16. Go to Hobbiton and visit Weta in New Zealand *DONE November 2014*
17. Do a Thelma-and-Louise style US road trip. Without the suicidal ending. *DONE November 2014 – sort of! In New Zealand… and DONE again June 2015 in California/Nevada/Arizona*
18. Visit Nepal
19. Visit Tibet
20. Go on a yoga retreat in India *okay I think this one needs replacing!*
21. See the Pyramid of Giza
22. Visit Wat Phra Si Sanphet in Thailand
23. Visit Petra in Jordan
24. Visit Mexico
25. Go to Rio de Janeiro
26. Dance salsa in Cuba
27. Visit Mongolia
28. Travel to Timbuktu
29. Eat pizza in Naples *DONE September 2015*
30. Cycle across Gotland, Sweden
31. Take the boat down Göta Kanal, Sweden
32. Go to Alton Towers
33. Go back to Jorvik (the rotten fish smell on the museum ride!) *DONE October 2018*
34. Climb Kilimanjaro
35. Go hiking in Switzerland (still haven’t been after nine years in Geneva!)
36. Visit the reconstructed Amber Room
37. Visit Jerusalem
38. Visit the glowworm caves in Waitomo *DONE November 2014*
39. See the Panama Canal
40. Sleep in a Scottish castle
41. Sing Evita songs in Buenos Aires *DONE July 2013*
42. Go driving in Tuscany
43. Leave the gun and take the cannoli in Sicily
44. Spend Christmas in New York, Home Alone 2 style (minus the criminals)
45. Visit Iceland *DONE January 2016*
46. Travel on the Trans-Siberian railway
47. Travel to 100 countries
48. Visit NASA
49. Learn to identify and name all 88 constellations
50. Drive an Aston Martin
51. Go on a Harley Davidson
52. Ride a jet ski
53. Go paragliding *DONE August 2013*
54. Fly in a hot air balloon *DONE June 2015*
55. Gallop across a field (on a horse. Not with coconuts à la Monty Python) *DONE July 2013*
56. Climb to the top of a climbing wall
57. Run a marathon
58. Walk on hot coals
59. Learn archery
60. Get my sailing licence *DONE September 2018*
61. Do a watercolour course
62. Learn to knit
63. Have a garden *DONE December 2018*
64. Have an ocean view
65. Kiss a Swedish man *DONE August 2015*
66. Learn to ice skate
67. Go kayaking in the Stockholm archipelago
68. Meet Andrew Lloyd Webber
69. Meet Cameron Mackintosh
70. Meet Leonardo DiCaprio (yes, I know, but the teenage me would be really happy)
71. Read the Bible *okay I think this one needs replacing!*
72. Read the Quran *okay I think this one needs replacing!*
73. Watch all three Lord of the Rings films back to back *DONE January 2016* (over three days! I decided that 12 hours is too much to watch in one day…)
74. Watch all eight Harry Potter films back to back *DONE September 2018* (over a week! Again, I’m too old and wise now to make myself watch TV continuously without a break…)
75. Attend a film premiere (on the red carpet, not from behind the fence)
76. Have a walk-in wardrobe
77. Learn to juggle with three balls
78. Learn to salsa (important for #26)
79. Learn to swim properly!
80. Learn to dive (as in, off the edge of a pool. Nope, can’t do it)
81. Receive a bunch of roses *DONE February 2017*
82. Get a tattoo
83. Reach 1,000 Twitter followers *DONE May 2015*
84. Get 1,000 subscribers to my blog
85. Learn the names of all the countries in the world, and their capitals
86. Own a hammock
87. Fall in love *DONE June 2017*
88. Learn to play guitar
89. Learn to play Somewhere over the Rainbow on the ukulele *DONE December 2015*
90. Speak fluent Spanish (I’m getting there!) (update: oops I’m forgetting it all…)
91. Learn Japanese *This was work in progress ahead of my trip but not such a priority now*
92. Learn Latin
93. Have an article published in a known publication *DONE January 2016*
94. Have a book published *DONE June 2016 (co-author) and October 2018 (sole author)*
95. Have a lead role in a musical *DONE directed and starred in Starlight Express in Geneva October 2013*
96. Do a French cooking course
97. Find a snow globe of St Paul’s Cathedral like the one Mary Poppins has *DONE October 2014*
98. Voice a cartoon character
99. Have a dog
100. Watch a tennis match at Wimbledon *DONE (centre court!) July 2017*
So what are the top 100 things to do before you die according to you?
#55 achieved today. No, sorry, I don’t have one mid-gallop…
