Updating the Bucket List

Having a read through of my original Bucket (pronounced boo-kay, if you please) List for inspiration on making plans for 2017, I realised that not all of my old Bucket List points to tick off, still align with the person I am today.

Therefore I have replaced, removed and refreshed my Bucket List points to reflect me and the way I am now. I’m sure some of these will change again as I continue to grow over the years but for now, these are the things I want to do in my lifetime:

• Learn to love driving and get a car I want – Driving scares the crap out of me. My problem is how you can be as careful as you like but you can’t control what others do. Point in case; I have had one accident in my time of driving, and I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time – nothing to do with me, a car that was spinning out of control after another collision, hit into me. Not my fault. Didn’t help my fear. Plus, driving is such a responsibility, every time you drive you are putting your and the people around you’s lives in your hands. Every time. Basically it scares me and this is something I want to conquer.
• Own a Louis Vuitton suit case – I’d like a set really, but let’s not be greedy now.
• Visit 30 countries and beyond – As of August 2017, I have so far visited 21 countries. I think I may do this one!
• To always err on the side of minimalism than maximalism – A cluttered home means a cluttered mind. Too true for me.
• Do a mud run or colour run – These just look like fun. Rainbow Run
• Visit NYC – I want to see ‘The Big Apple’ at Christmas when it’s glittery and cosy, and in summer too.
• Get Dan over his fear of flying – This would be great but he is adamant it will never happen…and so far after nearly fourteen years of being together, he’s proved this is the case. But I am still optimistic.
• ‘Do-up’ a house – I’d like to try my hand at interior design and properly improve a house. We bought the house we’re living in now, because of ‘potential’ it had and the ideas it gave us. When we moved in and got people in to start quoting for us, we were sadly told that there’s nothing we can do structurally to the house as it’s essentially a ‘flat-pack’ house. Nevertheless we’re decorating room by room, improving it little by little. The day that I can knock down my bedroom ceiling and put a staircase up to the roof to make a dressing and en-suite bathroom area, is the day I will know I have ‘done-up’ a house.
• Create a family tree – Go back as far as I can. I’ve recently found out that some of my relatives have already started doing this so I may not have to.
• Have a session in an isolation/sensory deprivation tank – I hate to say it but as much as I want to do this, I think I’ll freak out when I’m in there. Let’s give it a go anyway. Floatation pool, Isolation tank
• Visit India – This fills me fear and excitement at the thought of visiting India. It’s just the unknown I guess, but maybe one day this will happen.
• Have a favourite solitary place – Somewhere that I only have to think about to feel happy.
• Write a book – A story that I would want to read.
• Visit an exotic country and swim in a perfect blue sea. – Maybe I need to decide which one.
• Be an Extra – This would be awesome, especially if it was in Midsomer Murders!! Anyone have any contacts??
• Get Dan to write his own Bucket List – I want to make sure my husband fulfils his goals for life too. “Love and Marriage” Dan’s Bucket List
• To love and be loved – This will always be something to strive for.
• Visit Egypt, especially the Pyramids – Something I have always wanted to do, Ancient Egypt has been a fascination for a long time and visiting the place of many a classic murder mystery detective show, would be a dream. Visit Egypt and Pyramids
• Go to Venice via cruise ship – The stories I have heard of what a sight it is to tower above the city of Venice, this is a definite must in my lifetime. Go to Venice via cruise ship
• See the Northern Lights – Although I still want to do this, I’ve heard you can’t really see them with your eyes, only through a camera. And I don’t think they will beat the sight of the midnight sky out in the Baltic sea in June when the sun never fully sets. But I’d like to still see them.
• Retire Early – And enjoy being able to go experience the world without work getting in the way.
• Be in a stage performance – To make it clear, I have no interest in becoming an actress but I think it would be fun to be in some amateur stage production. Why not.
• See a ballet and an opera– Attempt some form of sophisticated entertainment in my lifetime.
• See STOMP live in London – This is something that I have wanted to see ever since I was a child. See STOMP
• Ride in a helicopter – I soooo want to do this.
• Eat at a top 50 world restaurant – And I have chosen Dinner by Heston SW1x7LA
• Sky Dive – Assisted, definitely assisted. Indoor skydiving REAL SKYDIVING
• Conquer a fear – I used to have a ‘crippling’ fear of animals, all animals, I couldn’t be in the same room as them, walk on the same side of the road as a dog on a lead, it really was a crippling fear. But this is something that was conquered thanks to the soppiest Tibetan Terrier you would have ever met. Thank you Tashii for showing me not all animals just want to eat me.
• Always enjoy being creative – I love being creative, writing, art, sculpture, photography, I don’t think I’m particularly good at any of them, but I enjoy them none the less and hope I always do.
• Attend an Olympic event – One regret I have is not attending the London 2012 Olympics, silly and now too late.
• Go to a festival in a different country – Preferably one in a hot country somewhere.
• When in America (one day) watch an ice hockey and American football match – See some alternative sports to football.
• Go Skiing – I know I’ll break something but I’d like to give it a go, and then enjoy a warm log fire in a cosy chalet.
• See Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – I have wasted DAYS trying to get tickets for this near-on-impossible show to see. I loved reading the book of the script for it, and am desperate to see it for real. See Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
• Visit Harry Potter World and the Harry potter Tour – What can I say, I like Harry Potter – 1 down, 1 to go. HP Tour
• Own all the Harry Potter books – I keep borrowing them to read from my little sister. I’d like to own my own set of the hardback books. Own all the Harry Potter books
• Perfect a home cooked dish – Nowhere near started on this one.
• Learn a whole dance to a song and a rap from start to finish – Does The Macarena dance and the rap from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air count? A bit of a refresher course and I’ve done it, if so! Learn a dance and rap
• Have a whole family and friends picnic on a beautiful sunny day – Getting everyone to be free at the same time will be a big headache, but one day it will happen.
• Visit Stonehenge during summer solstice – Imagine the view. I’m also imaging the sheer amount of people, but let’s not worry about that.
• Visit Iceland – It looks like a beautiful country and comes highly recommended by close friends.
• Travel the UK – There’s a lot to see right outside my front door and I plan on seeing it. Having a National Trust subscription this year should help me to go see a bit more too.
• Have an all time favourite film. – I’m not sure this is really attainable as there’s just so many good films out and there will be in the future too. Where to start?
• A night at a casino – And make millions!!  I didn’t make millions, but I’ve been to a few casinos now…and love them!!
• Ascot Ladies Day – Who doesn’t like a good hat occasion?
• Eat a six course meal that I prepared – Maybe I’ll serve my ‘perfected’ dish.
• Learn self-defense – A good tip I read a while ago, carry a brolly and your keys between your fingers!
• Tour the White House – There seems to be a lot I’d like to do in America, I should just add ‘Visit America’ really and be done with it.
• Take an improv class – I’d love to be able to think on my feet a bit quicker, hopefully an improv class could help out with that a little.
• Have my portrait taken – I would like a nice set of photos that I can look back on one day and think ‘hey, I wasn’t so bad after all.’
• Project and watch a film on the side of a house – Like a drive-in cinema, I suppose. It would have to be a good clear night obviously.
• Join a ‘bad singers’ group – I enjoy singing, others may not enjoy hearing me sing, but meeting up and joining in with others who are just as bad as me would be fun.
• Ride a horse – I had a pen friend when I was little and I met her once at the stables she went horse riding at, I didn’t get a go and I’ve always felt a little sad about that. Although I’ve never been a ‘horsey’ person, I’d like to try riding (or at least sitting) on a horse. Horse riding
• Get drunk with someone famous – But who..?
• To improve myself by living by a word a year – 2017: Playful
• Climb a rock climbing wall – I bought my niece a rock climbing experience a year or so ago and she loved it, I also had a boss once who was obsessed with wall climbing. It sounds like a fun thing to try to me.
• Learn how to make the most delicious Espresso Martini – I had the most amazing one EVER at Suburb SW11 in Clapham Junction, and none that I have tried since have even come close to being as good. I’ll just have to learn how to make it myself. Espresso Martini
• Go whale watching – I’m not bothered about swimming with dolphins to be honest, but seeing whales would be awesome.
• Snorkel with manatees in Florida – I didn’t even know this was a thing until I just stumbled across it. And it looks amazing.
• Swim with sea turtles – I once had a dream where I was underwater and a sea turtle swam above my head, it felt like the most magical thing the world, I was so sad when I woke up and realised it had been a dream. I would love for this to come true.
• See the Mona Lisa – It’s so famous, this has to be a must. Mona Lisa
• Fly first class / stay in the most expensive suite on a cruise – Hopefully I could do both in my life, but I’d like to do at least one of them. (You get a Butler in a suite on a cruise..)
• Go to the cinema, on my own – It’s one of those things people just don’t really do. It seems sad somehow. But I like my own company, and love watching films, so why not see a blockbuster out in public and on my own? Cinema, on my own
• Live abroad – Whether for a year or for a month, I’d like to try living abroad somewhere.
• Go inside Beatrix Potter’s Hilltop house  – I’ve stood outside this but was too poor at the time to go inside. Now with my National Trust subscription I’ll be able to walk through the door this year. Go inside Beatrix Potter’s house
• Travel somewhere that feels like it’s at the end of the earth – I’ll know it when I’ve been there.
• Visit a psychic – I’d love to have a one-to-one session with a psychic, just for an experience if nothing else.
• Read all of the Agatha Christie novels – I tell myself how much a fan of hers I am, but have I read everything she’s ever done? No. I’ll have to make a list.
• Have a night of World Record Breaking – I think this would be an entertaining evening for sure as we try to attempt to break world records, just grab a book of Guinness World Records and see what we can do in a night.
• Go as high as I can in The Shard, London – This one I’ll have to do on my own as Dan won’t want any part of it, you know, heights and all.
• See more stars than I could ever imagine being in the night sky – Galloway Forest Park, Scotland, or Westhavelland Dark Sky Reserve, Germany look like good places to try.
• Visit a Christmas market in another country – Warming mulled wine, foreign foods and that great Christmas feeling. I did this back in 2008 when I went on the only flying holiday with Dan we’ve ever done together, and we visited Budapest. Dan said he wanted to move there he loved it so much, I think it was just so he didn’t have to get back on the plane home… We have since visited the Brugge Christmas market (2017) and it was simply gorgeous! Christmas market
• Visit Walt Disney World – I haven’t ever been to any of the Disney places (unless you count the Disney Store…I’m not) and I used to absolutely love Disney growing up. As much as I’d still love to do this, I would like to have a child with me who can enjoy and show me the magic of it when I do go.
• Visit New Zealand – It looks beautiful, simply beautiful. When you’re not running into Orcs that is.
• Own my very own Burberry trench coat – Always wanted one. Burberry trench coat
• Buy a house with a path so I can have Christmas lights leading up it – I can’t tell you why I’ve always wanted this, I just have. My nan bought me the lights for my path when I was about 13, they still work. And I have that path. Sort of, good enough for me anyway, I can put the lights along it in the back garden.
• Tour Japan – Almost got there three or four times (I’ve lost count now) but fate has always stepped in the way. One day this will happen!
• Learn Japanese – So when we go there it’ll be easier to get around.
• Visit Lapland at Christmas – Again this is one for when I have kids with me who can enjoy it for the magic of it.
• Have an all time favourite book – I read books but I quickly forget them, when one sticks with me, I know that’ll be the one.
• Rescue a dog from an animal shelter – I want to home a pup that really needs help.
• Have afternoon tea at the Ritz – It’s where I belong, I can feel it. Afternoon tea at The Ritz
• Write myself a letter to read in 10 years time – I’ll be a different person in that time, It’ll be nice to give myself advice from the old me. Ten Years Time Letter
• Read a book that is set from every country in the world – If I can’t get myself around the world, at least my imagination can go there! Country list

It’s been a slow road going through my Bucket List but when it’s meant to be what I want to achieve in my lifetime, I shouldn’t really expect it to be quick. But now that my list is updated, I can start planning for how to make some of them happen, and hopefully knock a few more off this year…preferably on a shoe-string budget too.

Wish me luck!

Until next time. x