This blog originally appeared on my old blog site micksmusings.tumblr.com
Sitting at dinner with Dennis and little bean on Friday, Dennis and I were talking about our plans for the next while and I mentioned that I’m hoping my next adventure will be Peru and trekking the Inca Trail. I mentioned it was on my bucket list, to which Den replied “I’d like to read your bucket list, write it and put it on one of those ‘musing things’ you write. So here it it, and remember, if this is boring to you, you’ve only got Dennis to blame ; )
The term ‘Bucket List’ comes from the phrase ‘kicked the bucket’ so in normal words it means ‘the-things-I-wanna-do-before-I-die list’. They are normally associated with people who don’t have long left on earth, we hear through family, friends and the media of those who have been diagnosed with (very often) a terminal illness who decide to do all those things they always said they would do, these things become their bucket list. It becomes a race against the clock for those people to complete as much of their list as possible. The most recent example I can think of it Stephen Sutton, the lad was diagnosed with cancer aged 15 and then wrote a bucket list of 46 things he wanted to do before he lost his fight with the disease. One of the things he aimed to do was raise £1million for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Unfortunately, Stephen lost his fight in May, but not before he had raised over £3 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust (you can read more about the incredible Stephen here: www.stephensstory.co.uk )
I always wonder why does it take something like death and illness for us to sit and really think about those things that we want to do with our time?
We all know our time on earth is limited but we often take our tomorrows for granted. The average life expectancy in the UK according to the UN is 80 years old if you’re male, 83 if you’re female. When we are young, naive and impressionable becoming old and grey is the last thing on our minds (as it should be), we get caught up in day-to-day activities, lost in the rat race and before you know it you’re 75 and you never got any of those things you always wanted to do done. You never wrote that book, swam in that ocean, saw that band live, climbed that mountain. You were so caught up in making money for the machine, creating the life that you THOUGHT you should have, that everyone EXPECTED you to have, that you never got to live the life you always wanted, filled with adventure, silliness, creativity and imagination.
So, thanks to Dennis prompting me, I’ve got a list of 50 things I always wanted to do (some of them I’ve already done). I think you should do the same, I’d love to hear yours.
Xoxo Micks
Mick’s Bucket list: 2014
- Trek the Inca Trail
2. Go on an African Safari
3. Swim with Sharks
4. Learn a new language
5. Sky dive
6. Road trip the USA (DONE: summer 2013)
7. Sleep under the stars
8. Complete a half marathon
9. Meet a real, live penguin
10. Attend a music festival (DONE: Glastonbury 2010, Wireless 2012 – I wanna do Benicassim next)
11. Volunteer on a project close to my heart
12. Have Breakfast at Tiffany’s (DONE 2013)
13. Celebrate Holi festival in India
14. Visit the birthplace of The Beatles (DONE 2011/2013)
15. Sleigh ride through the snow with huskies
16. Toboggan down the Great Wall of China
17. Visit the Tiger Temple in Thailand
18. Ride an Elephant
19. Go to an airport and get on the next plane outta there, no matter where it’s going
20. Go on a ‘girls’ holiday. ‘Beeeeefa! Get in. Let’s get fuckin’ mortal!
21. Donate blood
22. Fly in a helicopter
23. Take a gondola ride in Venice (DONE: July 2009)
24: Visit Auschwitz
25. See a show on Broadway – preferably West Side Story which is my fave
26. See Ringo Starr and/or Paul McCartney in concert
27. Learn to surf
28. Find a career that makes me happy
29. Visit the Amazon Rainforest
30. Fly a kite on a beach
31. Spend Christmas abroad – preferably somewhere like NYC
32. Travel abroad alone – at least once
33. Visit NASA! – I’m not actually sure if that’s allowed
34. Throw a drink in someone’s face – just because!
35. Get a tattoo for my bro (DONE 2013) RIP Martin ❤️
36. Learn to fly a plane : ) be afraid, people!
37. Go to an outdoor cinema (DONE, thanks to Rachpal. 2014)
38. Toast marshmallows on a campfire (DONE, Cape Cod 2013. We weren’t camping but it was a campfire, so it does count. It does!)
39. Genuinely surprise someone. Genuinely. Like a proper “OH MY GOD” surprise
40. Get my palms read
41. Chase a tornado/experience a tornado – no I don’t have a death wish, they just fascinate me. I blame my mother.
42. Attend a ‘Murder Mystery’ party – such fun!
43. Visit Old Trafford
44. Complete a colour run
45. Own my own home, complete with vegetable garden : )
46. Visit Paris at Christmas (DONE, 2012 I think it was…)
47. Go to the Opera
48. Go to the Ballet
49. Make a wish at the Trevi Fountain
50. Find my forever person
