Bucket list for this year

Two days back I was reminiscing about my activity filled early Bengaluru days and Ram was asking me why I am not active now and whether it was the marriage that changed me. Truth is, I had stopped doing many of those activities much before marriage, may be the day-to-day life just got in the way. And of-late, the pandemic had put some serious limitations on living the life that my heart wanted to live, and I thought it is high time I do something about it. So, I have decided to start living my bucket list by taking at least one step towards my goals every day. 

I do have a much bigger bucket list, but I thought of taking a subset to be completed in a year. I am just listing down few of my bucket list ideas and examples as inspiration if any of you want to create your own cool bucket list. Most of my list is based on things I am reluctant to do (like interacting with strangers) or to nudge me to do things I used to do earlier (photography, art, volunteering etc.) Basically, try new things, take a risk, overcome a fear, accomplish a task, pamper yourself - all tiny steps towards a more well-rounded you. Some of it might need some planning, some will only take a few hours out of our day, but at the end of the year, when we look back at all that we have accomplished, it will be worth it. So, make a list of the things you would really like to do and promise yourself to get started on one task each week. 

1. Invite someone new to go for a coffee.
2. On holiday, take a photo of ten strangers and try to get a little story or snippet to go with each.
3. Ask a senior citizen, to tell you about what it was like when they were young
4. Meet a Blog Reader in person (Anyone game? Of course, my treat)
5. Give lots of (genuine) compliments. If you have a nice thought about someone, let it out!
6. Perform a random act of kindness for a stranger 
7. Become a mentor to someone younger than you.
8. Take all old books and magazines to a local waiting room, for others to read
9. Clean out your closet, donate everything you have not worn in the past year to charity.
10. Declutter ten items
11. Volunteer for a day
12. For a period, a week, a month, or all year, only shop locally. Purchase free-range, ethical, and fair-trade goods, buy from independent retailers, at farmer’s markets and give handcrafted creations as presents.
13. Pick a random novel from a bookshop. Read the first paragraph. Do something (anything) triggered by those words.
14. Grow a Beautiful Garden
15. Take an art class. (May be https://www.lovelifedrawing.com/how-to-draw-faces/)
16. Make a scrapbook of a memorable occasion 
17. Take the camera with you for an entire day and capture everything and anything that takes your interest
18. Every day of a week, capture a moment of your day with a drawing or painting
19. Create a piece of art & sell it
20. Print and display the digital photos 
21. Make a new website
22. Make someone a birthday or celebration cake.
23. Surprise Someone
24. Take photos of ten favorite corners of your home.
25. Visit your elementary teacher 
26. Get back in touch with an old friend
27. Write a handwritten letter to someone
28. Get a professional body massage
29. Book a meditation or yoga retreat
30. Organize a professional photo shoot
31. Create a family logo/monogram
32. Run a marathon
33. Take an academic course
34. Clear credit card
35. Take a vacation from the world for a day. Turn your cell phone off.
36.  Keep a diary of all your thoughts and feelings. Write every time you feel like it.
37. Visit a different country
38. Go on a drive in an area nearby that you do not know well. Explore hometown like a tourist.
39. Sleep under the stars. 
40. Watch the sunrise and sunset on the same day
41. Take a coastal road trip 
42. Take the train journey through a scenic route
43. Visit a new tourist attraction 
44. Do a tour you have never done before
45. Stay in a unique hotel
46. Go on a girls only trip
47. Stay up all night talking
48. Go on a wildlife safari 
49. Explore scenic biking trails
50. Finish a classic novel
51. Plant ten trees
52. Make a list of everything that you have done and take yourself out to dinner to celebrate your accomplishments.

 

The Bucket List

It's quite some time since Sandeep passed on the baton to create my own bucket list. And he is making sure I don't forget about it.. hmmm

The tag is basically based on the movie The Bucket List and tells you to make the list that you want to do before you kick the bucket. When I saw the tag, the first thing that crossed my mind was to write a will!! That was the time amma was dragging me to banks to add the nominee name or to change the joint account holder, some things that I was never bothered about till date. And at that time there was one question in my mind - 'what if something happens to me?'. I know it's a pessimistic outlook,but these are some reality that needs to be addressed as well..

Anyway that apart, my wishlist would look like this.. I am not looking at the practicalities here.. Just that when you dream, dream really BIG..:)

1) Travel the world

This will be one thing that tops my list.. I would like to travel around the whole world and enjoy the beauty of each and every place may be in all seasons.. hmm Why that smile? Is it too much to ask for? Do you really think so? Then may be I will stick to only the 1000 places listed in the best seller "1,000 Places to See Before You Die" What say? :P

In fact, I'm not very much interested in the much talked about tourist spots. In all my trips I look for peace, serenity and natural beauty and so mostly I aim for the off the beaten track kind of places and of course there are plenty of such places.. So now the question is where do I start? The easiest for me will be to start with India - places like Valley of Flowers, North east regions, Kashmir,..etc. But then I realised I haven't visited places like Rajasthan , Lakshadweep , Andaman , etc and don't want to miss out on that either.. And I don't mind revisiting places like North Sikkim in another season..

And coming to outside India, I have visited only a few places in Europe. There are lots and lots of places which were in my list - always missed the flower show in Keukenhof, the Black Forest, Prague , Greece , Switzerland , Scotland ,.. Then places like Australia , New Zealand , Egypt, Kenya , Malasia, Maldives , Thailand..

The list will go on and on.. Only thing now left is planning. May be I should decide to leave my city once a month and leave my country once a year.. hmm tough.. Still I would try.. So anyone interested to join me for this expedition?

2) Go on a road trip with no predetermined destination

Yeh this is also related to the previous point, but when I say no predetermined destination I mean it. I have always felt that the road traveled is much better than the destination reached. But many a times we forget to stop n enjoy the beauty coz we have a predetermined destination to reach. When we used to travel in Germany we used to do this "Hop and Go" stuff. There if we take a ticket to the destination you are free to travel in any of the trains and the train frequency is 20 mins - 1 hour depending on whether it's within the city or outside. So whenever we saw a beautiful place we just got down in the nearest station and roamed around that place clicking away to glory. Once we are done we just hopped on to the next train and continued our journey.. This used to be real fun and I have got some really beautiful snaps in the process. I would like to do the same again especially in rural areas.. I am sure the life there is going to be really interesting and even more just the idea of setting out on a trip to no where is so exciting.. :)

3) Build a house of my own..

It will be my den built according to my OWN design.. It will have everything that I like and will be my comfort zone.. And did I tell you I like gardening too? So it will be a small house with a BIG garden.. Yeh a beautiful landscaped garden full of flowering plants of all sorts, a good lawn with a hammock to enjoy the evening breeze won't hurt either.. And yes my backyard will have a kitchen garden too..This can cater to the day to day needs of the kitchen ( Not sure whether this is really my interest or mom's influence)

4) Own a pet

My house won't be complete without my pets.. And what all should be there? Of course dogs will be the first choice. There are lots of breeds that I like - Golden Retriever , Coker Spanial, Lasapso , Pug.. and of course how can I forget Sony - So German Shepherd , labrador ,.. The ultimate will be if I have one of each of these breeds :) And yeh I like goats as well.. Yes u heard it right.. that explains my virtual pet also.. As a kid I used to play with the small ones from my neighborhood n God they were real fun.. and I should have cats n kittens too..they are so adorable.. What about rabbits.. They are sweet too.. :) And birds? Nope.. I feel so sad to cage them.. Instead may be my garden will have a bird bath.. Yeh that will be just fine :)


5) Have a baby

I am obsessed with babies and so this will come naturally to the list. So I'll start with a sweet cute baby girl.. Why baby girl? coz then I can deck her up with all those pretty frocks n hairdos n what not.. But then she will be bored alone..In that case twin girls will be just right.. wow two cute identical twins..double fun it will be..:) On second thoughts why to limit the number? I will have as many as my home can accommodate.. Oops then I should keep this in mind while designing my house.. But then there is one glitch.. I like these babies to remain as babies for ever and never ever grow up and lose their innocence.. Any remedy for that?

6) Swim in the sea and drive a car in b'lore roads

ha ha basically I'm looking for some courage here ;) I can swim in a nice calm pool how much ever deep it is, but in a rough sea where waves are coming over you is something different. For that you should have more faith in yourself.. :P
Same with driving in b'lore roads. I used to take my car in my hometown, but once I came to b'lore I literally froze. Now even if I go back home I hardly take it out. Again just a matter of practice, but I should take the first step.

I think it is better to stop dreaming now :) Too long a list will only be a burden ;) Let me first work on these and make it attainable :P

Now whom to pass this on? Most of the people whom I visit have done the 8 things tag which has a subset called "8 things to do before I die". So it doesn't make sense to tag them although I would like to see their exclusive list. Anyway how about tagging some of the new friends.. Probably it's a long list, but still..

So the tag goes to

Ms Cris
Sharanya
Bindhu
Alex Mcone
Nikhil
Shreejith
Roshan
Arun Paul

In addition I also tag

Prashant - He has already done something that most of us would like to do. Went for a Solo bike ride across India- 35 cities, 18,000 kms and lots n lots of experiences.. Would surely like to what crazy things he would like to do next ;)