The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Jazee

GBD2222, I don't have a bucket list. I try not to have too many lists at all so there isn't the disappointment of not crossing things off.

I'm just letting life happen. If an opportunity comes up that I fancy trying then I will. Otherwise I'll just be content with how things are.

LydiaJ

GDB2222 wrote: »

As I'm getting on a bit, I thought that I ought to prepare a bucket list of things to do before I die. I hate to say this, but there's very little I can think of to put on the list. Is this just me being very, very dull and unadventurous?

Or am I very complacent? Perhaps, I ought to devote myself to some major endeavour in my later years?

Any ideas, please?

Perhaps you have been making choices all through your life to live the kind of life you want to live and to have in it the kind of people and things that are important to you. Such choices don't have the "wow" factor of bucket list items, but they almost certainly do a lot more to make life worth living than a few one-off experiences.

zagubov

In retirement I'd want Michael Palin's job or even better Michael Portillo's. Getting on trains to criss-cross the world. I read yonks ago that David Bowie was scared of flying and took the Trans Siberian Express home after a tour of Japan.

I can remember going to Europe by train from Victoria back in the early 80s. The station was full of trains to international destinations like Rome or Venice or beyond and the departures board gave it the feel of an international airport. I miss that.

Would like to explore all round the med, Turkey and the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Baltic, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia.

silvercar

Never wanted a cruise. The idea of being stuck on a ship doesn't appeal and being dropped off to visit a port, always anxious to be back at the ship in time doesn't sound like fun.

zagubov

PasturesNew wrote: »

If I won the lottery .... a big one .... I'd do the following:

Go on a cruise. Not necessarily an adventurous one, but it'd be nice to have one room and every morning you got up that room was in a different place.

Learn to kayak, join a club to hire a kayak (buying one creates new issues like storing it, getting it on/off the car etc). If you hire them you just rock up and go.

Bit stuck myself now

It's OK to be unadventurous, to not be excited/passionate about things.... it's just a different personality type to the outspoken people.

silvercar wrote: »

Never wanted a cruise. The idea of being stuck on a ship doesn't appeal and being dropped off to visit a port, always anxious to be back at the ship in time doesn't sound like fun.

I'd think it would be the next best thing to having a real TARDIS and I'd love it. however, I'd also have a few reservations as well. As silvercar knows, there are a few horror stories of people not keeping up with changes to departure times and getting stranded in foreign ports.

Plus, I'd be washing my hands with alcohol handwashes every ten minutes to ward off infections.

There's apparently a car ferry from the South of England to Northern Spain that's a bit like a mini-cruise but very cheap; I might look into that.

zagubov

I think the ferry I was thinking of was the Portsmouth to either Bilbao or Santander ferry. It takes at least 24 hours I think.

As it goes via the Bay of Biscay, I wonder if the seas are a bit choppy.

GDB2222

It's only a slight exaggeration to say that DW only has to look at a ship and she feels sick. On board, the vibration from the idling Diesel engines upsets her. So, cruises are definitely not for us.

When I was younger, I used to love sleeping on the train, and waking up hundreds of miles from where we started.

SingleSue

I love trains, we had a go on them again yesterday as we decided to do a last minute day out to Norwich.

Jazee

Our most recent train journey was horrendous. Cancellations leading to delays there and back and having to stand all the way back. This used to be a regular thing when I was commuting too but thought we'd give it another go.

Unfortunately it means I'm going to use the car in future.

SingleSue

I have the advantage there with the wheelchair, no matter where I go or what I am doing, I have a guaranteed seat! Ok, it might be in the middle of an aisle where everyone is falling over me or I have bums and bags in my face but at least I have somewhere to sit.

James and Joe are quite adept at finding somewhere to sit on a train, even if it is on the floor between carriages (had to do that more than once). James has the unfortunate thing of looking completely normal but having everything dislocating if he has to stand on a train (or bus) and people not believing him when he does tell anyone as he rarely gets his stick out in public (he has a collapsible one he carries in his bag at all times), so he tends to choose the floor in those circumstances for less of the hassle factor.