You’ll have noticed I’m not putting much on here anymore. I’m not sure why not, but it may have something to do with the fact that I’m back home in New Zealand and busy doing things outside rather than inside. It’s still summer time here and the living, almost as the song suggests, is in fact, pretty easy.

I’ve been getting about a lot since I came home so have not been inclined to sit inside putting written things on the internet. I’ve been socialising, exploring and working. You know, seeing people, going places and doing things. No time for writing things down I’m afraid. Well until now of course.

All this going places and doing things makes one more aware of what’s around you. I certainly notice that since returning to New Zealand having been away for over 20 years, I appreciate the incredible surroundings much more than I did before I left. England is indeed a green and pleasant land, but the scenery in New Zealand knocks poor old Blighty into a cocked hat, to coin a phrase.

What this is about is to write down as much as for my own sake as anyone else’s, the things I might like to do if I was given the opportunity and the funds. I’m not a fan of the bucket list phrase for no particular reason, so it’s just my list of things to do.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to have already done most of the things I wanted to do and been to the places I wanted to be, or see. So I don’t have a whole catalogue of things to put on a list, or at least didn’t when I started writing this down. Maybe they’ll come to me as I go. That’s part of the fun I think. I’ll start with the ones I already have on my list and let you know when I start making stuff up as it occurs to me.

What got me thinking about it is this #100happydays project that’s catching on a bit. Every day I put an image on Instagram of something that makes me happy that day. Unsurprisingly the idea is to spend a 100 days thinking of something that makes you happy every day. There is no point to it apart from the fact that it’s fun and makes you think of happy things at least once a day and that’s got to be a good thing. I put it on my Instagram and share it on Twitter. If you want to join in or have a look. My Instagram account is sandysviews and my twitter is @seefromhere.

Back to my list. I don’t want to do things that require great energy or personal risk. I get no enjoyment from that at all. I want to do and see things that are amazing but which often include peace and quiet, or sitting down.

Where shall I start? What do I want to do the most seems appropriate.

1) Visit Nova Scotia. It’s an ancestry thing, my Scottish Ancestors came to New Zealand via Nova Scotia. I think the best way to get there is fly to Boston and drive up. I want to get a house on the beach, with a rustic town nearby and do some wandering about in the wilderness.

2) Sit on the sun deck of the Royal Livingstone Hotel in Zambia. In case you are wondering why, have a look on a search engine. The Sun deck of the Royal Livingstone Hotel is right beside the Victoria Falls. Imagine.

3) Take a road trip around the lower South Island of New Zealand in the Autumn when the mountains will have the first dusting of new snow.

4) Walk the Abel Tasman National Park.

5) Take a Riva Aquarama for a spin somewhere fabulous in the Mediterranean. If you don’t know what a Riva is. It’s the Ferrari of boats. The world’s greatest, most stylish speedboat.

6) Continuing the nautical theme. I want to be watching in an otherwise quiet bay when a Jet-ski suffers an engine failure and the rider has to swim a long way to shore. The Jet-ski has to be the worlds most anti-social piece of machinery.

7) I want to drive an Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, on a racetrack, I’d drive it on the road but I want to go faster than that. So a racetrack, or that amazing road in Romania even.

8) I’d like to see something I’ve written published in a magazine, a lifestyle kind of one that people pay to read. I have had an article published in a very cool trade magazine you know? Also a number in the NZNewsUK newspaper in England, but I’m talking here about a consumer magazine sort of thing.

9) Finish my novel, have it published by a publisher rather than myself and see it made into a movie.

10) Spend a week at the Danube Delta. Look it up if you’ve not heard of it.

11) See a Kiwi in the wild

12) If I get married again, have the ceremony at Blanket Bay resort

13) Build a Cob House, for my home.

I’m making things up from here, can I get to twenty? Surely there are 20 amazing things I’d like to do. There are! These are the other things I knew I wanted to do but had parked somewhere in the back of my mind until now.

14) Take the Orient Express from Istanbul to Venice. I love a nice train ride and getting dressed up. This kills two birds with one stone.

15) Hear a Kokako in its natural habitat.

16) Take a river boat cruise on the Rhine

17) Try a glass of Romanée-Conti to see what all the fuss is about

18) To be able to afford to own a Land Rover Freelander2. It’s my dream car.

19) Visit a Pacific Atoll. One you can have a holiday on.

20) Drive across the USA, in a convertible Mustang.

21) Appreciate Art better, I just see pictures. I understand Art is important so I’d like to get a better appreciation for it.

That will do for now. It would appear there is a lot of stuff to do, I need to make more money, or perhaps less spending of the money I already earn might be easier.

22) Learn to save rather than spend.

See what I did there?

I should print this out and stick it on my wall. Perhaps get one of those Apps that helps you plan for goals and budget. Or I could just be wistful and dream about the things I’d like to do.

I’m in a place now where I am inclined to pursue the things that matter to me though. Life is for living, it’s simple but it’s true so you should do this too.

Make a list of the things you’d like to do and set about them, rather than making a bucket list when you are faced with your own mortality. Like in that movie, it’s too late then unless you are very rich indeed.

What’s on your list of things to do?