On Bucket Lists....

Maybe it's time to add some more items.

I have maintained a bucket list for many years, although it’s been a few years since I looked closely at the list. For those not familiar with the term, a bucket list is a list of things you want to get done before you “kick the bucket”—probably originating from the 2007 movie of the same name with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

My list usually contained about a dozen items. For a long while, this was largely fantasy—things that sounded great but were probably not very realistic. But who knows? Over the years, things got added and some deleted, but the core remained much the same. Interestingly, they were all experiences to be had; not one of them was something to own. It was a good list to daydream about when other responsibilities were more pressing. But none of them had ever been ticked off. And then we started our new lifestyle and many more things became possible with a little effort.

I realized a month or so ago that I needed to review this list—a good number of things had been ticked off. Maybe it was time to revamp the list and get more adventurous. Maybe it was also time to appreciate how things get achieved when you set up the right circumstances.

Bucket List Items Completed in the Last 12 Months:

1. To see the Northern/Southern Aurora

In the last 12 months, I have seen both. Once in Southern Tasmania in late Dec 2023 and then again in Scotland in May 2024. Especially the Scotland experience—it was amazing and something that I will never forget. I wrote about it here and here.

2. To see David Gilmour Perform

This one really was up there for me. Having grown up loving prog/rock bands of the ’70s and ’80s, David Gilmour was the lead guitar player in Pink Floyd. I have been a Pink Floyd fan since high school and played many of their songs when I played guitar in a cover band. I last saw them play in either ’88 or ’89. They have long since broken up (with much aggro, as was the tradition amongst those bands). David, who is now almost 80, performs in public rarely these days. I had always assumed that seeing him perform was going to be a very long shot… would he tour again… would I be anywhere near there… could I get tickets? In London, in early October this year, he did, I was, and I could. It was everything that I had hoped for. I wrote about it here

3. To Watch the America’s Cup in Person

This one was a little more planned. Back in November 2023, as we planned our travels for 2024, Barcelona in October for the America’s Cup was locked in with an AirBnB close to the beach/race course. I wrote about it here

4. To see a Really Over-the-Top, Full-on Orchestra Performance

This one really was just a random chance. When we were in London to see David Gilmour, I noticed that there was a performance, also at the Royal Albert Hall, of “Carmina Burana” in all its glory with a 60-piece orchestra and a 400-voice choir just a few days before. If you are not familiar with this piece, it is a huge, massive, way over-the-top piece by Carl Orff, written in 1935. To give you an idea, there were eight guys playing the very busy percussion section. Lots of fun. Have a listen here and you might get a sense of the drama in this amazing piece of music

Actually, I just realised there was one more… Seeing a total solar eclipse was also on the original list. We did that here.

When I looked at this list again just now, I was a little stunned—these four (now five) were all done.

Some of these took some serious long term planning, flying across the planet to be in the right place at the right time. Others, like the auroras and the orchestra were more matter watching for the opportunity and then making the effort. Perhaps the most important factor was an attitude of “why can’t I make this happen?”, and having thought about what might inspire me in the first place.

And none of these were disappointing, which I guess is always a risk: that you finally experience something you’ve wanted for a long time, but it really doesn’t deliver on the anticipation. All of these definitely did deliver. All of these are definitely events that I will remember for a lifetime.

There are still quite a few things left on the list:

• To see the hot lava in a live volcano

• To see a rocket launch

• To spend a night on a square rigger at sea

But this list seems way too short; it is definitely time to start thinking about some more … and given the success rate from the last year or so, maybe I need to be careful about what I wish for….

Until next time

David (and Michelle)
from sunny Prague in the Czech Republic