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| Source: J. Aaron Farr CCA licence |
Showing posts with label list. Show all posts
Showing posts with label list. Show all posts
Monday, 13 January 2014
Working Holiday scheme
(!) See disclaimer at the end of article (!)
Want to really experience a country and its culture? Want to see the local sights, hidden off the "tourist-track"? Then a Working Holiday visa might be just your thing. The visa allows you to travel a country for a longer period of time and finance your travels by working. It's a fantastic opportunity and one I would encourage any person, with access, to do at least once in their life.
Monday, 21 October 2013
The 101 things I want to do before I die - My bucket list
The first time I heard about a "bucket list", I was around 14 years old. A film called A Walk to Remember had been released. It featured this girl who had been diagnosed with cancer and her desire to do all the things on her list before she died. (I'm not going to reveal the end, so you'll just have to watch it).
Not long after, I typed up my first bucket list and hung it on my bedroom door. It didn't have that much on it, but a few on the things still remain on my current list. It stayed there for many years and slowly I started to tick a few of the boxes.
Unfortunately the original list was lost, but I managed to remember most of it and have added many more dreams over the years. Until now, mine has been a word document saved on my computer.
A bucket list is a list of stuff you'd like to do. It's not like the ordinary to-do lists people make at the beginning of the week to feverishly try to balance work and spare time. No a bucket list is a list of dreams, activities and adventures you would like to do some time before you die.
So why should you have one? Well first of all, it's important to have a dream. A goal. Something to aim for. It doesn't have to be huge like becoming the President of a country. It could be something as small as making you grandma smile every Saturday by bringing her flowers. Point is that we all need to embrace that inner child in us. That "Peter-Pan" stage of our lives where everything is possible if you only believe.
You can go about it in many different ways. You can make a scrapbook with recycled paper, use an website to manage your list or fill a wall with colourful post-its. Point is you need to find a way that suits you. It's no point me telling you what is the right way, cause there ain't one. What I will do however, is tell you how I went about it.
Draft it on a piece of paper (or on your computer). Just write, or draw, whatever comes into mind. Remember, this is your list. Not your dads or your best mates', it's yours. The stuff you put on this list might seem silly to others, even borderline rude, but to you it means something. That's all that matters.
The final version should be something you've put some thought into. Like I said at the beginning, this is not the average weekly to-do list which has got the groceries on it. This a list of life. Having said that, nothing is set in stone. You can add or change your list. Only rule is that it's your list.
My way of doing it is having two pages for each goal. On the left page there will be a headline with the dream and pictures from it. Then on the right side I'll write about it, what happened, where I did it and how it was.
By spending some time with it, you make it special. It's not just another piece of paper to go next to the pile of bills or in that folder on your computer where you save all the mixed documents. Nurture it. It's your new mantra. Your new Bible if you want to call it that. It's a reminder about your dreams, about your goals. So if, and you probably will at some point, feel a bit lost in your life you can look at your bucket list. You've done the hardest part, identifying your dreams. All you have to now is make them happen.
Now, some people might say that you should only put stuff that realistically can happen on there or that they think you're capable of. I think you shouldn't. My personal opinion is that you should write your dreams down, regardless how unrealistic they may seem. I put "Present at a TED talk". Now, I'll admit that I'm not any close at the moment in receiving an invite to speak at an TED event, but who's to say it won't happen in 30 years from now? Point is, don't limit yourself. It's your dreams.
William Arthur Ward once said “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”
Here's my bucket list (in no particular order)
Not long after, I typed up my first bucket list and hung it on my bedroom door. It didn't have that much on it, but a few on the things still remain on my current list. It stayed there for many years and slowly I started to tick a few of the boxes.
Unfortunately the original list was lost, but I managed to remember most of it and have added many more dreams over the years. Until now, mine has been a word document saved on my computer.
A bucket list is a list of stuff you'd like to do. It's not like the ordinary to-do lists people make at the beginning of the week to feverishly try to balance work and spare time. No a bucket list is a list of dreams, activities and adventures you would like to do some time before you die.
 |
| December 2012: Licence - Though this is a fairly new dream, a few years back I suddenly wanted to get my motorcycle licence. Still have to buy a bike, but I'll get to that one day. |
So why should you have one? Well first of all, it's important to have a dream. A goal. Something to aim for. It doesn't have to be huge like becoming the President of a country. It could be something as small as making you grandma smile every Saturday by bringing her flowers. Point is that we all need to embrace that inner child in us. That "Peter-Pan" stage of our lives where everything is possible if you only believe.
You can go about it in many different ways. You can make a scrapbook with recycled paper, use an website to manage your list or fill a wall with colourful post-its. Point is you need to find a way that suits you. It's no point me telling you what is the right way, cause there ain't one. What I will do however, is tell you how I went about it.
 |
| London New Years Eve 2012-13 : When I was growing up, I used to watch the telly on New Years and see the celebrations from all over the world. London, Sydney and New York was always my favourites. So that's how my childhood dream ended up on my list. |
Brainstorming and thinking makes it easier to know what you want, really want, and that would make you truly happy might not always be an easy thing know. Take some time to do this, like an hour or two. Go to a place where you can relax, breathe and think. For me this is the beach on a sunny day. Listening to the waves relaxes me immensely.
Draft it on a piece of paper (or on your computer). Just write, or draw, whatever comes into mind. Remember, this is your list. Not your dads or your best mates', it's yours. The stuff you put on this list might seem silly to others, even borderline rude, but to you it means something. That's all that matters.
 |
| I bought this leather bound notebook with high quality paper. |
The final version should be something you've put some thought into. Like I said at the beginning, this is not the average weekly to-do list which has got the groceries on it. This a list of life. Having said that, nothing is set in stone. You can add or change your list. Only rule is that it's your list.
My way of doing it is having two pages for each goal. On the left page there will be a headline with the dream and pictures from it. Then on the right side I'll write about it, what happened, where I did it and how it was.
By spending some time with it, you make it special. It's not just another piece of paper to go next to the pile of bills or in that folder on your computer where you save all the mixed documents. Nurture it. It's your new mantra. Your new Bible if you want to call it that. It's a reminder about your dreams, about your goals. So if, and you probably will at some point, feel a bit lost in your life you can look at your bucket list. You've done the hardest part, identifying your dreams. All you have to now is make them happen.
 |
| Put your personal touch to it |
Now, some people might say that you should only put stuff that realistically can happen on there or that they think you're capable of. I think you shouldn't. My personal opinion is that you should write your dreams down, regardless how unrealistic they may seem. I put "Present at a TED talk". Now, I'll admit that I'm not any close at the moment in receiving an invite to speak at an TED event, but who's to say it won't happen in 30 years from now? Point is, don't limit yourself. It's your dreams.
William Arthur Ward once said “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”
Here's my bucket list (in no particular order)
My bucket list
Travel
- Live in a different country- V
- Travel by myself - V
- Travel to Oxford - V
- Travel to Venice (Italy)
- Travel to Australia
- See the Sydney Opera House
- Celebrate New Years in London - V
- Celebrate New Years in Sydney
- Celebrate New Years in New York
- Do Route 66 (USA) on a motorbike
- Travel to Scotland
- Travel to all seven continents
- Europe - V
- Asia
- Oceania/Australia
- Africa
- North America
- South America
- Antarctica
- Interrail - Travel Europe by train
- Travel to the end of the world - V
- Travel to the north of Norway and see the Northern lights
- Travel to Svalbard (Norway) and see polar bears
- See the Pyramids of Giza
- Travel in a hot air balloon
- Experience weightlessness
- Swim in every ocean
- Pacific Ocean - V
- Atlantic Ocean - V
- Indian Ocean
- Southern Ocean
- Arctic Ocean
- Go to the airport and pick a random flight and go there
- See the Eiffel Tower
- Travel to the North Pole
- Travel to the South Pole
- Fly a plane
- See an active volcano (active as lava)
- Have a pint at the Oktoberfest in Munich
- Travel to Pompeii (Italy) and see the stone people - V
- Visit the Amazon Rainforest
- Cross a country by foot/bike
- Attend the Mardi Gras in Sydney
- Ride the cable cars up the hills of San Francisco (US)
- Celebrate St. Patrick’s in Ireland
Work/education
- Get a degree from university - V
- Get a degree or certificate from University of Oxford
- Work as a bartender
- Get a job I love
- Work for Travel Channel OR National Geographic
- Work with kids - V
- Volunteer for an orphanage
- Find a job I’m completely happy in
- Work as a teacher
- Be a jury member
- Study philosophy and/or psychology
- Open a cafè in the countryside
- Volunteer for a charity - V
- Run my own business - V
Random
- Sleep under the star one night
- Learn conversational Spanish
- Learn a Sign Language
- Learn to play the piano
- Be two places at once - V
- Find a cure for my animal allergies - V
- Get a motorcycle licence - V
- Improve my handwriting and write more letters/postcards - V
- Pet a kangaroo
- Get a book published
- Drive a Ferrari
- Do a skydive
- Spend a few weeks in a buddhist temple
- Run a marathon
- Get over my fear of heights - V
- Get a tattoo - V
- Read every book I own
- Have over 500 books in my own library
- Watch the sunrise on the beach
- Hitch-hike
- Get six pack abs
- Have a “slow-motion-moment-with-family/friends-at-the-airport”
- Make a difference to in someones life
- Do karaoke for one whole night in a bar/pub/club
- Take a photo, every day for a year
- Run a club/hotel in Greece
- Send at least ten messages in bottles - V
- Ride a camel
- Own my own house
- Go zorbing
- Be on TV - V
- Take dance lessons
- Salsa
- Ballroom
- Samba
- Hip-hop
- Go to a P!nk concert
- Learn to juggle
- Attend the Olympics somewhere
- Get an article published in a newspaper - V
- Meet a Royal
- Attend an art class and learn how to paint
- Do yoga (for a minimum of 6 months, twice a week)
- Learn archery
- Swim with dolphins
- Climb one of the World Seven Summits
- Donate blood
- Fall in love
- Have kids
- Fire a gun
- Go on a safari
- Wear a kilt
- Eat insects
- Write my memoirs
- Have my own “Hallmark-perfect-Christmas”
- Milk a cow
- Present at a TED Talk
- Find my Narnia in the back of a wardrobe
Now it's your turn, dream, write and do it!
If you would like to share it or need any tips, feel free to comment below.
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