The Bucket List. Everyone should have one. I for one love making lists, and then I love ticking off my lists. And I love making plans - overall I am a very organised person. I made my to-do-before-I-die list many years ago, and thought it was about time that I looked back on it and ticked off what I have achieved so far.
You can see my full bucket list here or scroll down to see the completed list so far...
1. Get a Degree
So it was in Media Studies, I haven't really done anything with it since, or even looked at the scroll/certificate thing, but I have a degree and can put the letters BA (Hons) after my name if I so wish.
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| De Montfort Hall, Leicester, 2009 |
2. Run a Marathon
I am proud to say that I slow jogged/walked the 26.2 miles around the streets of London and am now a London Marathon Medal holder. The training was horrible, it hurt, bodyparts still hurt now, and it wasn't easy, yet I am desperate to do it again to achieve a decent time. The highlights of the run for me were running over Tower Bridge, and then ending with the run past Big Ben and up to Buckingham Palace. The crowds were amazing, I even had a priest throw holy water over me. And I also managed to raise over £3k for Phabkids Charity. Definitely proud of ticking this one off.
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| Virgin London Marathon, 2010 |
3. Work Camp America
I survived a summer full of candy, songs and camp fires at a children's camp in New York. It was my free ticket to the states, getting paid to 'have fun', and I met some great people from all around the world. Although, getting checked to see if I had caught the camp epidemic of "Butt Rash" was not on my list of things to do.
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| Camp Chipinaw, New York, 2010 |
4. Live in another country for a year
I did it. And I picked Canada. An English speaking country was a wise choice I think, and I 100% fell in love with the natural beauty that is Canada, and their chilled out way of living. I lived in the mountains of Whistler to see the amazing ski resort at winter, and the astounding lakes and beaches at summer. And I randomly trained to be a make-up artist with lots of free cosmetics, bonus!
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| Whistler, British Columbia, 2011 |
5. Learn to Ski
Killing two birds with one stone with the whole living in another country for a year. I had a free ski pass from my place of work, paid for a couple of lessons, and hey presto, I can now ski. I would love to try snowboarding one day, but learning to ski was a big enough accomplishment for me.
TOP TIP:
Don't have a drink when you stop for lunch at the top pf the mountain and expect to make your way down safely. Pole lost. Being carried on someone's back whilst they ski down. Not so fun.
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| Whistler Blackcomb Mountain, BC, 2011 |
6. See the Grand Canyon
I saw the Grand Canyon, but if I'm totally honest, I'm still not quite sure what it is, but it's large and peacful, I'll give it that. We arrived pretty late (after being hungover from Vegas, and then getting lost) which meant we were just in time for watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon - I don't know many that can say that. It meant there were less tourists around, we found a quiet ledge, sat down and sang a bit of 'Come By Are My Lord' (not even joking, maybe I was still in summer camp mode) and then watched the pretty pink and orange sky fill the canyon. Be careful if you choose to do this though, finding your way out of a National Park in the pitch black didn't prove to be easy.
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| Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 2011 |
7. See Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls was a lot of fun, Niagara the town was not so fun. Basically a tacky Blackpool style town - why they built that next to a natural wonder - not sure what the Canadians were thinking. But the Maids of the Mist boat tour was a thrill - prepare to get very wet! We did a day trip that also takes you to Niagara-on-the-Lake which was a much prettier town, and also for a wine tasting through the Ontario wineries. Overall it was a fun packed day and I can now say that I have washed my face (or patted it dry) with Niagara waterfalls.
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| Niagara Falls, Ontario, 2010 |
8. Visit Stonehenge
I had a lot of places on my list to see, and then I suddenly realised that I hadn't actually seen a lot in little old England right on my door step. I eventually made the journey down to see those big mysterious rocks plonked on top of each other last year. So many theories, still none the wiser.
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| Stonehenge Monument, Wiltshire, 2013 |
9. Rollerblade by the beach in LA
I wanted to look cool and all American hipster type. I put my roller blade on wrong, it dug deep into my leg and gauged a big bleeding chunk out. I stumbled along the length of muscle beach in my roller blades clinging on to any available wall. Not what I'd dreamed of.
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| Muscle Beach, LA, 2011 |
10. Place a bet in Vegas
I don't have a clue about gambling, I wouldn't stand a chance in Vegas. But luckily we found those tables to play Blackjack where the dealer isn't out to get you, but will actually give you a guided hand at the Paris Casino. I won like $100 and quit whilst I was ahead. I then spent my winnings on a Celine Dion concert ticket, and went to watch her at Casear's theatre, alone. Worth every penny.
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| Paris Las Vegas casino, Nevada, 2011 |
11. Attend a large sporting event
Still other sporting events I wish to see, but I'm proud to say that I worked for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and got to see quite a few of the events. The velodrome events were some of my favourite, but pictured below is me at the Olympic Stadium, just a few hours before Usain Bolt ran his victory.
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| London Olympic Stadium, 2012 |
12. Get a tattoo
This was obviously something I added to my list when I was young and impressionable. I'm 18 years old, what can I do? I know, I'll run out and get a tattoo of the first thing I see in the book. I still have that on my foot, won't be forgetting that I ticked off this one.
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| Tattooed foot, 2007 |
13. Interail through Europe
Getting trains from country to country, still amazes me, even now. And still a lot more of Europe for me to cover. But the picture below shows me getting off a train which actually boarded a ferry. Who knew that trains could board ferries?? I clearly didn't. I wondered how the hell the train was going to cross the water.
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| Train aboard a ferry, from Hamburg to Copenhagen, 2014 |
14. Drink Guinness in Dublin
I'd been holding off trying Guinness for years, as I wanted to have my first the proper way, in Ireland. We went to the Guinness Storehouse factory and even learned to pour our own. I came away from Dublin being more a fan of Whiskey than Guinness though.
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| The Guinness Storehouse, Dublin, 2013 |
