The Anti-Bucket List

While procrastinating, I like to write lists; shopping lists, to do lists, hot guys at uni lists, DIY idea lists, bucket lists... See, even this sentence turned into a list!

I think that a bucket list is the biggest deal though. It’s like saying ‘I cannot possibly die without doing this first’ and so it can range from the extremely batshit crazy like swimming with sharks to the more heartfelt  like helping starving kids in Africa. Ok that last bit was a joke, who actually says that?

Don’t say Americans.  

My problem with writing a bucket list is that I make it so unrealistic that I never do anything. Run a marathon? Ha! I can’t even walk across the road without being out of breath. I’m also impatient.  If I want to do something, I want to have a plan and I want to do it now. I studied French for six years and would like to be able to go to France and put it to good use, but writing that down and not being able to do that any time soon is discouraging.

So my solution to my bucket list dilemma? Don’t have one! Instead, I’m going to list things I’d like to do/achieve specifically in the next six months or so. It’s purposeful, immediate and more of a reality than an idea. And then after that time has passed, I’ll make a new list for more things I want to do. I also won’t call it a bucket list because if I’m going to kick the bucket it better not be in the next six months.

So here it is, my anti-bucket list of things I’d like to do (so far). I’ve already started planning for some and as for the others, I'll get there.

1. Read Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting 

2. Register myself as an organ donor. Not that I think anyone wants my liver but I’m sure the rest is useable.

3. Go bungee jumping.

4. Wear a bikini to the beach (and in doing so, get over my body issues)

5. Travel out of South Africa

6. Go on a road trip: I’ve done this many times before but one cannot go on too many road trips. If you watch a lot of movies you will know that the solution to everything is to go on a road trip where romance will occur, unforgettable experiences will be had, and eternal bonds of friendship will be formed.

7. Do something good for someone in the Grahamstown community outside Rhodes.

8. Go to a music festival

9. Cook an entire meal for someone special: This someone will obviously be my mother and I’ll make her curry and prove I'm a good Indian daughter. Also, here's what I would look like as a good Indian daughter.

10. Learn how to make decent coffee: A beginner’s barista course is offered by The Factory Cafe in Durban, but comes at a price of R4500. So I’ll start hinting to my mother after I cook that curry.

11. Have my writing published

12. Get fit: note, I did not say lose loads of weight and look like a stick.

13. Learn how to drive

14. Watch the sunrise at the Monument in Grahamstown

15. Camp outdoors

Any other ideas of doable things to do?