Thinking about “bucket lists”.
I have done a lot of things in my life simply because I wanted to. And I have had the somewhat rare privilege of independence from employers.
But as an adult I spend a lot of time on things I must do. I must clean my house. I must work. Because these things have to happen and I am the only one here.
But, at 66 I am deeply aware that time, for me, is limited. I don’t know how many “good” years I have left. It could be 30. Or it could be 5.
So I am thinking about what I want. Not what I need or should do. And that is, I suppose, what a “bucket list” is. It is about desire.
Most people have a lot of travel on theirs. My travel would be different. The world has changed and not for the better. I want to see Eurasia, but not now. I want to visit it 100 years ago, or even 50. And that is impossible.
I am also ruling out items which are, for me, as impossible as time travel. I have limited money, limited time, and limited energy.
So the travel portion of my list has to have a few very specific characteristics. It must be a place with beauty that is unchanged. A place I can photograph and get something of value. A place that could still take my breath away.
Or, if it isn’t a pristine sight, it should have food impossible to understand or even access, without going to the place where it is native. For example, I hear that bananas are a thousand times better fresh picked when ripe. So a place in banana country would work for me. Parts of Eurasia also qualify, for the cheese or the fresh noodles or any number of other things. But may be out of my reach.
Right now I am thinking of the painted desert. It is within reach and is an extraordinary sight.
I am sure I will think of more.
What determines your list? Do you include things that you can probably not pull off, for various reasons?
What will you do for the remainder of your one precious life?
Travel used to be on my bucket list, but like you, not so much anymore. I'm grateful I've traveled a bit in my life and seen other parts of the world. I'm looking to travel more now on the inner planes and experience a consistent state of fundamental well-being and love and compassion. Good for me and good for the world. And I can do it wherever I am. There's so much to experience within us! And that doesn't preclude grieving and other so called negative emotions. I'm not into the spiritual by-pass. Just more balance.
hoping there is a lot more travel..... off to Barcelona in September and then????