The Adventures of a Part Time Professional Gypsy (and her ginormous teddy thing)

Monday, June 3, 2013

One Life - Love It!

Somebody recently pointed out that I turn 30 next year, and subconsciously I started preparing myself for my impending demise…
 
Come 30 I even thought my licking days would have to be over...

And then, two Thursdays ago, my phone rang – a family member had died. So I sucked in my fear of flying, hopped on a plane, bought some shoes (so I could be a respectable pole bearer), and touched down in Joburg.
 
My last living memory of Aunty Alta
Aunty Alta was the tiniest person I’ve ever know, but she had the biggest heart! And, while it was sad to have lost a Grandma, her death led me to meet our newest family member and to see family I had not seen in years, it led me to meet my tiny godkid, to see friends, to three days of solid reunions, and tears, and hugs. Her life and death reminded me what it really means to live.
The cousin and his new family
Meeting little Cuan, my tiny nephew
My little godkid to be - Dandelion (aka Zoe; the one on the left)
Back in Cape Town, after sharing the oldest cab in Cape Town with a random stranger, I went for a run and saw a man in his late 80s playing rugby with some 8 or 14 year old boys. I stopped and stared. They all had the biggest smiles on their faces and it suddenly hit home – it really doesn’t matter how old you are – life’s what you make it. And for most of us, life’s only just beginning!
My first ever shared cab... and the nicest driver too to mark the occasion
After 7 days of solid partying, good music, amazing food, weird coincidences, and something o’clock in the morning bed times; I took a night off and dug out my old bucket list. I sat down and actually thought about the things I’d love to accomplish in my life. While the list is probably too long to accomplish in this life time [and still needs to be worked on – I’m completely open to suggestions and accomplices] – there’s only one way to find out.



 

After taking out the things I’ve already achieved, this is what remains [in no particular order]:
  1. Drink a beer in every country in the world
  2. Start an empire
  3. Get a criminal record for something epic (age 80+ - think streaking at a international sports game type thing)
  4. Accidently discover a cure for a major disease
  5. Taxidermise a pet
  6. Add a word to the oxford dictionary
  7. Survive a plane crash
  8. Swim the English channel and//or northern sea
  9. Write and publish a book on why Speedos should never be worn
  10. Write and publish a travel novel
  11. Win a noble prize
  12. Live on a deserted island
  13. Grow a beard
  14. Cook and eat road kill
  15. Bake a cake taller than my shortest friend
  16. Climb Everest
  17. Make a feature film
  18. Climb Manchu Pichu
  19. Find ‘the one’
  20. Elope/ get married
  21. Have kids
  22. Legally give one kid a truly ridiculous name
  23. Survive a month without a shower
  24. Run a marathon
  25. Death road in Bolivia
  26. Reunite Butt Mullet (world’s most underappreciated lyrically deviant band) for a reunion gig
  27. Travel to a distant country just for dinner
  28. Cycle the Cape Epic
  29. Buy a camel // lama // goat
  30. Complete a week long [spiritual?] pilgrimage barefoot
  31. Cycle across a continent
  32. Lick the statue of liberty
  33. Defy gravity
  34. Participate in Carnival in Rio
  35. Do the splits
  36. Join a nudist colony for the day
  37. Raft through the grand canyon
  38. October Fest in Munich
  39. Heliski
  40. Finish 2 pork knuckles (eisbeins) in one sitting
  41. Be a mermaid
  42. Visit the Aral sea
  43. Leave my ‘mark’ on at least 7 world wonders
  44. Own my own homey home
  45. Travel in a hot air balloon for an extended distance
  46. Lasso a cow
  47. Climb a pyramid
  48. Organize a rock band to crash a Justin Beiber/ Celine Dion concert
  49. Get a random tattoo chosen by a stranger
  50. Lick a porcupine
  51. Patent something [preferably something awesome]
  52. Complete a half iron man
  53. Swim the golden mile
  54. Tame a wild animal and make it my pet
  55. TP a national monument
  56. Sheer a sheep and turn it into dashboard fluff
  57. Get someone else to add this task to my list
  58. Smash a guitar rock star style
  59. Pick up at least 17 hitch hikers in an abnormally small car
  60. Set a Guinness world record
  61. Fly a helicopter
  62. Travel over land and sea (ie: flightless travel) from Australia to Spain
  63. Walk across a country
  64. Never be in debt
  65. Transiberian railway
  66. Cross the Bearing sea between Russia and Alaska
  67. Marry two people
  68. Skinny dip in every ocean
  69. Learn how to play guitar
  70. Swim in a pool of money
  71. Throw a handgranade
  72. Finish the Lord of the Rings trilogy
  73. Write a song and actually sing it to people
  74. Learn a third language
  75. Learn a fourth language
  76. Get my dive license
  77. Bungee jump
  78. See the northern lights
  79. Motorbike across south America
  80. Kite surf
  81. Great barrier reef
  82. Pirate swing from one boat to another to commandeer a cup of tea and some cake
  83. Mug a hobo
  84. Orchestrate a mass burning of evil pop music CDs
  85. Running of the bulls
  86. Moon a president
  87. Submerge in a submarine
  88. Lick a president/ royal
  89. Tell someone the entire story of my life sparing no details
  90. Break out of prison
  91. Build and live in an igloo for as long as weather permits
  92. Live to be 100
  93. Hike the whole coast of RSA
  94. Open a backpackers hostel
  95. Own a bar
  96. Drive a monster truck over a car
  97. Travel on an iceberg
  98. Never have a 9-5 job
  99. Win a major competition
  100. Own my own boat
  101. Find and eat the world’s hottest chilli
  102. Do a Mexican wave in Mexico
  103. Cycle from Norway to Cape Town (or vv)

 You only have one life...  Make sure you love it!