Bucket lists

I don’t have a bucket list per se but there are places I would like to visit - visit all the cathedrals of the UK, visit Orkney and the Faroe Islands; visit Iran; “do” the Silk Road from China to Turkey; walk some of the Great Wall and also see the Terracotta Army; Galapagos; Aurora borealis or australis, not fussy (tried 4 times unsuccessfully); visit Greece; the caves of Altamira…. Etc.
Very likely not to do them but I’m allowed to dream, aren’t I?

I decided a while ago that I wanted to visit Buenos Aires before I die, hopefully with a side trip to Patagonia. I'm still keeping that hope alive.

I'm still hoping to get a full-length novel published. I've had short stories in magazines and publish-to-order anthologies but the novel is yet to be.

And one day I'd like to shell out recklessly on a really expensive bottle of wine, just to see if it's worth it.

Mine isn’t all travel. One thing was to have a letter published in a national paper, another to read a novel in a foreign language, to finish a big tapestry I started in 1974, appear on TV, go up in a hot air balloon. All done. The day eating nothing but chocolate was surprisingly depressing, reading a long book in one sitting was a delight. I don’t think I’ll ever get round to writing that book though, and I’m not so sure about the screen free week…..

I don’t have a bucket list but have been lucky enough to visit many wonderful places. I hope there will be more opportunities and experiences but I’ll take it as it comes.

PS, Cape Cod is lovely to visit anyway, but according to my sister, don’t even think of going in the height of summer, when it’s absolutely heaving with visitors, not to mention often extremely hot.

For anyone who’s got whale-watching on their list, I can recommend going from Provincetown in Cape Cod (a 2 1/2 hour-ish drive from Boston). We’ve been several times since the 80s - primarily to see a sister who lives not far from P-town, as she calls it. We’ve always been lucky enough to see whales - huge humpbacks, usually very close up - apparently feeding on sand eels. We’ve always visited in the summer or lately, during the first half of September, when the weather’s usually still good and the crowds have lessened a bit.

There’s also a ferry from Boston to P-Town, which we’ve never used, but apparently many people do use it regularly.

I don't have a bucket list and take life as it comes.
I would never have thought of going to Canada but when the opportunity arose I went and had an amazing time.
I think life gets in the way of long term plans. My DH and I had wanted to move to Scotland but he died before we could do that so no bucket list for me.

No, I do not have a bucket list. I work on the basis that if I have a bucket list I would be so focussed on it I might miss seeing something much more iteresting and challenging as a result and bucket builds up your hopes and expectations of the bucket list event that it is far more likely to be a disappoinment.

Yarn from nettles sounds interesting, lixy. We don’t actually get nettles but there are probably similar things here. I went to Venice for the first time in 2019 and I agree, it is a wonderful, wonderful place. The Great Wall of China is pretty steep, depending where you go, but amazing. I have been there a couple of times to different parts but now I wouldn’t be comfortable going to China or Russia, for that matter. Never seen the Northern lights and that would be good but I have seen the Southern ones in Tasmania when we lived there and perhaps they are similar. I didn’t know what they were, thought it was something wrong with the atmosphere or a UFO or something. A friend told me , I hadn’t realised you could see them there.

I did want to do a walk along the Great Wall of China, but clearly that one is firmly on the back burner, as is my fantasy of owning a Volvo estate and a couple of retrievers.

I'm very much hoping that my retirement 'to do' of inter-railing in Europe will be realised in the next few years.
I also have a list of practical crafts to explore - making yarn from nettles, baskets from brambles and spoon carving being at the top.

I’ve done most things I wanted, like going to Venice, going to the ballet in Russia and singing in some wonderful concerts, but I always wanted to see King Ludwig’s castles in Germany, Neuschwanstein and the like. I’m not up to doing that now, so that’s one ambition that will ever be realised.

I have an inbuilt resistance to the idea of “Bucket Lists” which I find both pessimistic and optimistic.
Pessimistic because I wonder what people expect will happen when they have ticked off the final destination? Will they just turn their face to the wall and “go gently into the night”?
Optimistic because who is to say 1) how long any of us have, 2) how long we may be fit or economically sound enough to travel to exotic destinations or 3) it implies that we are masters of our fate. It also assumes political stability in the relevant parts of the world.
Fortunately, like Penelope Lively I have reached a stage where my capabilities match my desires. Yes, there are many places I have not visited or seen and while I might regret that, I actually don’t care all that much.
What I do regret is that DH had his retirement years snatched away by poor health and premature death., missing out on the existence of two of his grandchildren and seeing any of them grow up. I know for instance that he enjoyed St Petersburg while we could still travel and several European destinations, but like to think he derived as much pleasure from a steam train ride on the Bluebell line with his little grandsons. Compared to that, missing out on bucket list destinations seems irrelevant.

I’d love to see the Northern Lights, but after a sister and BiL went on an expensive cruise largely for that purpose, and saw nothing but thick cloud, I’ve rather resigned myself to seeing it on TV.

Venice was on my bucket list. After being dragged up in the back street of Birmingham, I never thought I'd see it. I've been four times and it was never disappointing. I got butterflies each time. I'd go back any time. New York too was as I imagined. Nothing I'd like to see/do now really. Maybe the northern lights or whale watching. 🐳

I've always been disappointed by seeing "bucket list" places. I think the anticipation is a better experience.
I have decided not to have a list any more but just to wait and see.

I saw wolves in the wild in Poland - a pack of them streaking along in the snow. It was one of the best experiences of my life (better than seeing Ayers Rock imo). Our taxi driver pointed them out to me - DH was asleep at the time and still doesn’t quite believe it!

I do have a bucket list, entitled 60 things to do before I’m 60. The last time I checked it out I’d done 40 of them and I’m 67 now. It’s time to dust it off, I think…..

Message withdrawn at poster's request.