Every item is a "bucket list" item
Last week a friend mentioned that she and her family were going on a “bucket list” trip over the holidays this year. Having just turned 50 myself, and contemplating (but not in a morbid way) the fact that I most likely have less life ahead of me than behind, it occurred to me that at a certain point, every experience is a bucket list experience.
Sure, I have a list of places I would be particularly excited to visit, and there are some experiences that seem like they’d be really special. But the truth is, I really don’t know if I’ll ever hike the Camino de Santiago or bathe in Icelandic hot springs. I do know that next fall I have a work trip to Quebec City and while it’s not on my actual bucket list, it is, like everything else at this point, a potential last chance trip.
Considering that the last time I went to Quebec City was almost 40 years ago—unless you count that time I drove over the bridge to the city by accident on my way to New Brunswick—it’s quite possible that my next trip there will be my last. So maybe it makes sense to treat it like a bucket list item.
This doesn’t mean I plan to splurge and make it a luxury getaway. However, it does remind me that I should slow down, enjoy the experience, take in the atmosphere, and appreciate the chance to see a beautiful place at least once more in my lifetime.
I don’t mean to become the kind of person that goes around saying, “Enjoy that Oreo! It could be your last!” (Although it could). It’s more like being the kind of person who isn’t waiting for some mythical time when life will “really” begin or when I can “truly” enjoy myself.
We all know a story of a person who passed away right before their retirement and missed out on all the bucket list items they planned to check off. My own father died just days before a cruise he’d been looking forward to for months. Luckily, it wasn’t a trip he’d waited decades to take: he was a regular traveler and saw many amazing places and met interesting new people in his life.
Even if you can’t swing one of your bucket list items in the near future, what do you have coming up that you could treat like a bucket list experience?
What I’m reading: Last week I finished Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green, and you know what? Everything IS tuberculosis! Now I’ve started Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy’s new memoir. Somehow I’ve never read her very famous novels and I’m regretting that because wow, what a writer.
What I’m watching: I’m enjoying season 3 of The Diplomat on Netflix.