One of the most satisfying feelings is when you complete and cross an item off your bucket list. On 30 December 2012 I published my incomplete bucket list with an aim to cross at least five items from the list each year.
With a few weeks left in 2014 we had only completed four out of five items for this year… With that in mind, we booked a nuts off-the-beaten-track weekend in Trondheim, Norway, for the first weekend in December with the hope that we would see the Northern Lights (item 21. See the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis))…
So, were we successful? Did we compete five bucket list items in 2014?
For those that might not know, a “bucket list” is a list of all the goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and life experiences you desire to experience before you die. I find that I am more focused on maximising every moment and avoiding the “I’ll do it later” mindset when I have a clear target in mind.
It is not a race against time, but the events in my own life in the past twelve months have made achieving my bucket list goals more meaningful.
In 2013 we got close and crossed four items from the list:
17. Ski in the French Alps (January 2013) – though technically it was ice skating…
27. Party at Glastonbury Music Festival (June 2014)
59. Attend running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain (7th July 2013)
60. Explore the Great Pyramid and see the Sphinx in Egypt (March 2013)
Looking back on our plans and intentions for 2014, I am reminded that everything can change at any moment. We had big plans for 2014. It was the year our UK working holiday visas were due to expire and we wanted to return to Australia via a couple of months in South America during the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Had all gone to plan, we were hoped to see the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue (bucket list number 14), trek the Inca trail in Peru and visit Machu Picchu (number 24), and attend a football (soccer) match at a FIFA World Cup (number 34). It turns out that our adventure to South America will have to wait for another time.
Instead, we have been lucky enough to cross other items off our list during the course of 2014:
6. Go on a Hot Air Balloon ride at sunrise (Cappadocia, April 2014)
13. Drink beer and dance on the tables in a Munich beer hall (May 2014)
15. Attend a minute’s silence on ANZAC day on the Gallipoli Peninsula (April 2014)
51. Couchsurf (With Quinten in Brussels, June 2014)
and..
21. See the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)!!!
Being somewhat overcast and not the best conditions, the Northern Lights were not as spectacular as we had hoped. But the overwhelming satisfaction that I felt in crossing off another item from my bucket list was worth it.
I am always open to suggestions and ideas, so please let me know what you have on your own bucket list and feel free to let me know what you think I should add to mine.
* Incomplete only because I am quite often inspired to add and tweak it!
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