My Bucket List: Things To Do Before I Go

I like reading the bucket lists that people post. They say a lot about the authors’ personalities, their interests and their dreams, and it’s fun to share our ideas and compare our experiences and expectations. And if I can help them achieve tick off an item or two, that’s a bonus!

It’s only fair that I share mine – what can you learn about me? Some of these goals were drawn up or accomplished long ago, reflecting who I was then. As that changes, I’ll add a few new ones over time. There were a few I never knew I wanted until I actually went out and did them.

(Updated: Apr 25, 2022 @ 10:31 AM)

My Bucket List Items

Travel

• Go on a road trip
  New Zealand, 2013/14
• Cross the Arctic Circle
  Crossed at Napapiiri on New Year’s Eve, 2006
• Estonia
  Visited Tallinn, Kuressaare and Tartu in 2013
• Neringa, Lithuania
  Watched the sunrise in Nida, 2013
• Mexico
  Guanajuato and Leon, 2010
• Iran
  Four cities in 2016
• Cornwall, England
• Firenze, Italy
  November 2017
• Vatican City
  November 2017
• New York City
• Portland, OR
  And then I’ll have visited the three West Coast states
• Norway
  Fjords and Hell should be worth saving up for!
• Iceland
• Anywhere in Africa
  I visited Cape Town, South Africa in October 2019
• Fly first or business class
  I flew business class on Finnair’s A350 XWB jet from Helsinki to Singapore, and later on an Emirates A380 and a Singapore Airlines A350

Adventures

• Kayaking
  Akaroa harbour, 2014
• White water rafting
  On the Kaituna in Rotorua, 2013
• Go skydiving
  Franz Josef, 2014 (because a helicopter landing’s too pricey)
• Go whale watching
  San Diego, 2010 – we saw a humpback whale
• Dive with great white sharks
  Stewart Island, 2014
• Swim with basking or whale sharks
• Encounter manta rays
• Go cross-country skiing
  Let’s talk about downhill skiing after I master this, alright?
• Go jet skiing
• Fly an aeroplane
• Climb a mountain
  So far I’ve cheated by taking the gondola
• Walk the Camino de Santiago

Sights

• Go somewhere snowy
  It’s an obsession for kids from the tropics; Rovaniemi 2006, Julian, CA and Whistler 2010
• Scale a glacier
  Fox Glacier, 2014
• The Great Wall of China
  On a school trip in 2001
• Summer solstice celebrations
  Ligo 2013 in Latvia
• Stonehenge
  A sunny day, 2011
• Spot a wild kiwi
  Stewart Island, 2014
• See the little penguins
  Oamaru, 2014
• View the Milky Way on a clear night
  Christchurch and Stewart Island, 2014
• Spend a night in a castle
  Zamek Ryn in Poland’s lake district, 2009
• Dive the Poor Knights Islands
  Snorkelled instead, 2013
• Frolic on nude beach
  There’s one in Nida – 2013
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
  When it’s complete
• See puffins in the wild
• Bayon, Angkor Wat, Neak Pean in Cambodia
  Siem Reap, September 2014
• Aurora borealis/australis
  No luck so far – hope that changes soon!
• Ningaloo Reef, Australia
  I’ll be very happy if I get to swim here or in the Great Barrier Reef
• A night in the desert
  Iran – it was very cold.
• A European Christmas market
  I went to the one in Warsaw that was still going on in February
• Carnival on Shrove Tuesday
  Cologne, Venice, Brazil, anywhere will do
• Cherry blossom season
  I enjoyed walking among the cherry blossoms in Busan in March 2019

Food and drink

• Black pudding
  As kaszanka, fried on a skewer or with a full English, it’s all good – 2011, 2012 and 2013
• Haggis
  Something I enjoyed very much in Scotland, 2011
• Mead
  The drink of Norse legends
• Orchard fresh fruit
• Seafood straight from the ocean
  Sea urchin, crayfish and butterfish on the beach where they were caught, 2011
• Some place that was on Man v. Food
  Hash House, San Diego (the Las Vegas outlet was featured on the show)
• Kriek and Lambic beer
  Anderlecht’s Cantillon brewery, 2013
• Bluff oysters
  Some of the biggest and sweetest oysters available
• Taiwan’s night markets
• A Michelin-recommended restaurant
  Miod Malina, Krakow (2009) and Kam’s Roast Goose, Hong Kong (2016)
• Babi guling
  Bali’s iteration of a roast pig is next on the list
• Ranch steak
• Gelato in Italy
  It was so good, even in autumn
• Cask strength whisky
  I got my Ardbeg Corryvreckan

Sports and racing

• Visit Newcastle United Football Club
  Paid tribute at the club I support in 2011. It was followed by the best season in ages.
• Attend a Formula 1 race
  Malaysia 2000 and 2003, Singapore 2008 – 2017
• Attend a WRC rally
  Poland 2009, Mexico 2010, Finland 2013
• Attend Rally Finland
• Attend a MotoGP race
• British GP at Silverstone, 2011
• Attend the Indy Grand Prix of Long Beach
  2010 season. I’d love to see the new cars though
• Attend the Monaco Grand Prix
  And pay as little as possible for accommodation
• Be a paddock guest
• Camp at the 24 Heures du Mans
  The greatest endurance race of them all
• Take part in a go-kart race
• Attend the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy
  And the most dangerous road race out there
• Drive a single-seater Formula car
• Drive a lap of the old Nordschleife
  Nürburgring forever!

Music

• See Regina Spektor in concert
  Singapore, 2012
• See the Choir of King’s College in concert
  Singapore, 2009 and 2013
• See The Police in concert
  Singapore, 2008
• Catch Neil Finn (of Crowded House fame) in concert
  Sydney, 2013
• Go to the opera
  Tosca at the Wiener Staatsoper, 2017

Achievements

• Learn to drive
  Got my license in 2013, and I did it with a manual transmission!
• Run a blog
  This thing you see before you
• Live abroad
  USA 2010 and New Zealand 2014
• Ride a motorcycle
• Publish a book or get published in one
  I’ve written columns for the local papers, but I’d like to go one step further
• Speak 4 languages
  English, Mandarin, and I have a big headstart with German
• Get scuba diving certification
  I’ve been putting it off for 18 years!
• Be self-employed
• Take part in a conservation project
• Bring change to a wasteful, consumerist culture
  By designing a system that encourages people to share, fix, re-appropriate, recycle and use less stuff.
• Sell the food that I prepare/cook
  And hopefully not poison anyone…
• See Halley’s Comet
  It passed Earth when I was born. I hope my eyes will function well enough to see it in 2061.