Saturday, 18 October 2014

40 by 40 - an alternative bucket list

We've all heard of a bucket list, right? It's essentially a list of things you want to do before you die. I'm hoping that day is a very long way off, so I've come up with a more medium term list - 40 by 40.

It's simple really - I've made a lift of 40 things I've always wanted to do / experience / have and I hope to complete the list by the time I'm 40. That gives me until 11 August 2023. I'd better get cracking then...

It was quite difficult at first to think of 40 things. I wanted to include a list of easily achievable things and things that would stretch me a little. When I asked my friends for suggestions they came up with things that weren't really 'me' and a list of exciting things I've already done (which made me very lucky!)

Without further ado, here is my 40 by 40 list:
1.    Have a drum lesson
2.    Fly in a hot air balloon
3.    Go on a cruise
4.    Ride in a sports car with the top down
5.    Visit the Royal Opera House
6.    Milk a cow
7.    Have a vegetable patch / garden
8.    Climb Scarfell Pike
9.    Go skinny dipping
10.  Run 10k in one go
11.  Swim with dolphins
12.  Have something published
13.  Do ‘zoo keeper’ experience
14.  Get promoted
15.  Ride a horse
16. Pull a pint
17.  Hobbit / Lord of the Rings trilogy film marathon
18.  Do a CBT
19.  Hold a tarantula
20.  Bake a soufflé
21. Own a designer handbag
22. Visit the Isle of Man
23. Eat in a sushi restaurant
24. Visit Lego Land
25. Visit Stonehenge
26. Have a professional photo shoot
27. Visit Edinburgh Zoo
28. Row a boat
29. Climb to the top of Durham Cathedral
30. Learn a foreign language (conversational)
31. Host a dinner party
32.  Get iris tattoo
33.  Achieve ideal weight
34.  Learn to play chess
35.  Be vegan for a month
36.  Fly first class
37.  Sleep in a hammock
38.  Experience a sunrise
39.  Learn sign language
40.  Drive a sports car
I'm going to do an update post every time that I achieve something on the list.

What do you think of the idea? What sort of things would you put on your own list? Do let me know.


  1. I also have a bucket list and we share a few of the same goals! Mine has 100 things so is going to take me a long time but I think I've achieved about 22 of them, really good idea to share this as a blog post! X

    1. It's lovely to have long term goals and it makes sure that there's potentially always something exciting on the horizon, I think!

  2. Ooo, I definitely need to copy you and do this! You've got some things on your list that I would definitely put on mine ... bake a souffle, own a designer handbag and visit Lego Land being 3 of them :D

    Great post!

    Louise x

    Confessions of a Secret Shopper

    1. Deciding on which designer handbag is going to be a huge problem, hehe!

  3. Great idea to have a list. I achieved many of the things on your list before I reached the big number, but it they were more by chance than happenstance!

    1. People suggested a lot of cool things for the list that I have been lucky enough to acheive, such as going in a helicopter, climbing a mountain and going on a dog sled!

  4. I did the Day Zero project a few years ago, where you're supposed to complete 101 goals in 1001 days. I didn't get anywhere near the goal, but it was nice to have the motivation.

    1. I agree! It's so nice to have this list because if I need inspiration for something fun to do I can look at the list. I've a feeling some of them are going to be a little expensive though :-|

  5. Great bucket list and gives you something to look forward to. I have always wanted to swim with Dolphins at Atlantis The Palm hotel in Dubai and that is my next goal but so expensive so need to save up

