Yesterday, I wrote to you about a Bucket List and gave you some tips on how to write your own. If you’re curious to read mine, here it is!
I first wrote it in 2011, and updated it recently. New goals were added, old ones that didn’t work for me anymore were deleted. It is a work in progress, and hopefully I can inspire you to write yours!!
My Bucket List
Last updated September 2024.
- Say thank you to all people in my life – remember to do it often. (Ongoing…)
- Learn to dive.
Go paragliding. (flew with an ULM in the South of Belgium)- Build a career in bringing people together around culture and heritage. (2017: added marketing, business and personal growth to the mix 😄)
Start my own business. (2017!)- Meet people from all over the world. (Ongoing…)
- Go back to Japan when the sakura blooms.
Live abroad for six months. (2013 : lived and worked as a teacher in Termoli, Italy. Terrific experience!)
Visit Vienna. (Summer 2011 : went to visit a friend and fell in love with the city)Bike around San Francisco. (Spring 2013 : did a bike tour around San Fran and guess what… fell in love with the city!)Be awestruck by one of the USA Canyons. (Spring 2013 : drove and walked in Bryce Canyon, was mesmerized by its grandeur!)
Dance on the Great Wall of China. (2017 : done!)Learn graphic design and illustration(2013 : I started taking a graphic design course + in 2017 started selling my design (skills))- Write a book.
- Visit Egypt: the Pyramids of Gizeh, the Sfinx, the Valley of the Kings…
Fall in love & *be* in love. (2012 : met my first husband)- Fall in love again.
- Learn Japanese. (basis conversation : ongoing)
- Be the best I can, anywhere, anytime, with anyone.
- Go to the Elisabeth Competition.
- Meet the Dalai Lama.
- Go for a road trip without making plans.
- Visit Prague.
- Go to Russia, visit Moscow and St Petersburg.
- Learn how to make furniture or how to redo a chair.
Play in an ensemble or orchestra. (Sep 2013 : Joined the orchestra of my Music Academy)- Get my Cambridge CPE. (C+ level done. Maybe that’s enough?)
- Slide through the rainforest on the Amazon river.
Gamble in Las Vegas. (Spring 2013)- Ride a horse on the beach. First: conquer my fear of horse riding…
- Call or e-mail customer service, just to thank them for the great service.
- Fly in a helicopter.
Guide tourists in Ghent. (done when my Italian friends visited)- Visit Mayan cultures in South America.
- Go to New York.
- Step in my parents’ footsteps and follow their trail through Syria and Jordan.
- Take the Trans-Siberian Express, travel all the way to Beijing, starting from Ghent.
- Celebrate Chinese New Year.
- See the Northern Lights.
- Visit Ireland, play the harp there and celebrate St Patrick’s Day. (almost: went to a super cosy harp concert in Wales & got a fan picture with Catrin Finch!)
- Walk through Scotland, play the harp there, and dream up a mysterious story.
- Paint and draw more often (ongoing)
- Love myself.
- Get a black belt in karate. Or start jiu-jitsu?
- Make friends with at least 5 strangers in the street. (this should become a yearly goal…)
Bake a cake for someone special. (done, done, done and done!) + bake some more!Read a book on a subject I would’ve never thought of reading about. (Investing? Done! Gardening? Done! Philosophy? Done! Nutrition? Check!) Now keep going…- Volunteer at the Red Cross or anything of the kind.
Try vegetarianism for at least 21 days. (Spring 2012 : tried it for 30 days, then decided to become a flexitarian and eat less meat and fish)
Eat vegan for some time. (done, don’t remember the year, but the full 3 weeks until I caved for cheese…)- Conquer some fears: singing in public,
swimming in the open sea,diving from a high cliff, deep sea diving with an air tank, fighting with impact (like jiu-jitsu). - Do something completely crazy and out of character.
- Learn to make a salto, or a back handspring.
Learn toes-to-bar. (Finally got them, August 2024!!)- Do a full pull-up.
- Drive an Aston Martin oldtimer.
- Fold a thousand origami paper cranes. (ongoing…)
- Get my portrait painted.
- Rescue a dog from an animal shelter.
- Be passionately kissed in the rain.
Plant a tree. (2020 : done!)- Learn kitesurfing.
Climb a volcano. (Sep 2006 : climbed the crater of the Santorini volcano – one of the Greek Cyclades – the one that destroyed Minoan culture)
- Make a tour in Belgium, actually city tripping in all the cities I’ve never visited for real.
Learn winetasting. (Summer 2012 : We went to the Loire valley in France, visiting local wine farmers and taking wine classes. In Italy, 2013, I went to the Negroamaro Wine Festival With a group of sommeliers; ongoing ^.^)Learn ballroom dancing(Sep 2013 : done!)Learn how to surf the waves. (2019 in Portugal, just one lesson though…)- Keep surfing!
- Donate blood. (done, keeping this up…)
Visit Stonehenge. (check!)- Take care of panda bears, or see them in their natural habitat.
Start playing music in the street, out of the blue, and on a whim. (Summer 2024 : finally dared to play the public piano in Ghent)- Be healthy. (ongoing…)
Grow my own vegetables. (2020 : started gardening and never stopped, even growing some herbs, kale and swiss chard on my balcony)- Learn how to help people without losing track of myself in the process. (yes!)
- Live in a more sustainable way. (ongoing!)
- Dare to say what I really think. (oh, I do… sometimes)
- Travel in Asia : Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, …
Go on a short trip to Stockholm. (november of some year I forget)- Learn how to ride a monocycle.
- Swim with sharks. Or maybe dolphins…?
- Ride an elephant.
- Cuddle a lion (cub).
- Learn sign language.
- …
