Somebody recently pointed out
that I turn 30 next year, and subconsciously I started preparing myself for my
impending demise…
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The cousin and his new family |
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| Meeting little Cuan, my tiny nephew |
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| 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!
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| 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]:
- Drink a beer in every country in the world
- Start an empire
- Get a criminal record for something epic (age 80+ - think streaking at a international sports game type thing)
- Accidently discover a cure for a major disease
- Taxidermise a pet
- Add a word to the oxford dictionary
- Survive a plane crash
- Swim the English channel and//or northern sea
- Write and publish a book on why Speedos should never be worn
- Write and publish a travel novel
- Win a noble prize
- Live on a deserted island
- Grow a beard
- Cook and eat road kill
- Bake a cake taller than my shortest friend
- Climb Everest
- Make a feature film
- Climb Manchu Pichu
- Find ‘the one’
- Elope/ get married
- Have kids
- Legally give one kid a truly ridiculous name
- Survive a month without a shower
- Run a marathon
- Death road in Bolivia
- Reunite Butt Mullet (world’s most underappreciated lyrically deviant band) for a reunion gig
- Travel to a distant country just for dinner
- Cycle the Cape Epic
- Buy a camel // lama // goat
- Complete a week long [spiritual?] pilgrimage barefoot
- Cycle across a continent
- Lick the statue of liberty
- Defy gravity
- Participate in Carnival in Rio
- Do the splits
- Join a nudist colony for the day
- Raft through the grand canyon
- October Fest in Munich
- Heliski
- Finish 2 pork knuckles (eisbeins) in one sitting
- Be a mermaid
- Visit the Aral sea
- Leave my ‘mark’ on at least 7 world wonders
- Own my own homey home
- Travel in a hot air balloon for an extended distance
- Lasso a cow
- Climb a pyramid
- Organize a rock band to crash a Justin Beiber/ Celine Dion concert
- Get a random tattoo chosen by a stranger
- Lick a porcupine
- Patent something [preferably something awesome]
- Complete a half iron man
- Swim the golden mile
- Tame a wild animal and make it my pet
- TP a national monument
- Sheer a sheep and turn it into dashboard fluff
- Get someone else to add this task to my list
- Smash a guitar rock star style
- Pick up at least 17 hitch hikers in an abnormally small car
- Set a Guinness world record
- Fly a helicopter
- Travel over land and sea (ie: flightless travel) from Australia to Spain
- Walk across a country
- Never be in debt
- Transiberian railway
- Cross the Bearing sea between Russia and Alaska
- Marry two people
- Skinny dip in every ocean
- Learn how to play guitar
- Swim in a pool of money
- Throw a handgranade
- Finish the Lord of the Rings trilogy
- Write a song and actually sing it to people
- Learn a third language
- Learn a fourth language
- Get my dive license
- Bungee jump
- See the northern lights
- Motorbike across south America
- Kite surf
- Great barrier reef
- Pirate swing from one boat to another to commandeer a cup of tea and some cake
- Mug a hobo
- Orchestrate a mass burning of evil pop music CDs
- Running of the bulls
- Moon a president
- Submerge in a submarine
- Lick a president/ royal
- Tell someone the entire story of my life sparing no details
- Break out of prison
- Build and live in an igloo for as long as weather permits
- Live to be 100
- Hike the whole coast of RSA
- Open a backpackers hostel
- Own a bar
- Drive a monster truck over a car
- Travel on an iceberg
- Never have a 9-5 job
- Win a major competition
- Own my own boat
- Find and eat the world’s hottest chilli
- Do a Mexican wave in Mexico
- Cycle from Norway to Cape Town (or vv)
You only have one life... Make sure you love it!
