Bucket List

Life, etc.

• Finish my PhD.
• Get married.
• Write a (good) book.
• Pick up a sport. Surprisingly enough, this has been one of the hardest items on the list, seeing that I am a couch potato and all. But after taking up Krav Maga two years ago, I have finally discovered that it was possible to enjoy sweating. Now I run three times a week.
• Quit smoking.
• Have a piece published in the press. I’ve actually had two so far (in Belgian magazines, here and there), more if you count online publications. And I also have an evergrowing collection of rejection e-mails.
• Ride a hot air balloon.
• Donate my hair. It was a very nice experience though retropectively, I would pick another hairdresser because I ended up with the sort of haircuts you only see on older women in 1970s sitcoms. 

Art & Culture

• See the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Gianlorenzo Bernini (Rome, Italy).
• See the Bust of Costanza Bonarelli by Gianlorenzo Bernini (Florence, Italy). I almost did, but it was on loan.
  
• See the Sistine Chapel (Rome, Italy).
  
• See the Acropolis (Athens, Greece). Splendid, though a bit crowded.
• Do research in the reading rooms of the British Library (London, UK). I did that in 2016/2017, but it never occurred to me to take pictures as I didn’t even dare coughing. Very nice experience.
• See a musical in the West End (London, UK). I have seen two so far: Les Mis and The Witches of Eastwick. I’m looking forward to the next show.
  
• See a play by William Shakespeare performed.Same, I saw Richard II with David Tennant at the Barbican and Richard III with Martin Freeman at the Trafalgar Studios. Both performances were extremely impressive.
  
• Visit the Uffizi (Florence, Italy). Amazing collection, but frustrating experience.
  
• Visit the Louvre (Paris, France). A must-see, of you aren’t afraid of dying in a tourist stampede.
  
• Visit the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna). Absolutely fantastic. You could spend a week in the museum and still not see everything.
  
• Visit the Tate (London). Beautiful in all aspects.
  
• Visit the British Museum (London). I love it and visit it each time I get the chance.
  
• Visit the Smithsonian (Washington).
  
• Visit Stratford-Upon-Avon.
• See a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
• Attend a live performance at the Cavern Club (Liverpool). Absolutely lovely, and not as crowded as you would expect. Obviously, it was a Beatles cover band.
  

• See the Book of Kells (Dublin). I got extremely lucky and got a pass for a private tour. Fantastic experience.
  
• See The Angel of the North (Gateshead). As heartbreaking as you’d expect.
  

The Angel of the North

• See a Banksy. I have seen two so far, and the quest continues.

Banksy’s Brexit Mural in Dover

Banksy’s Season’s Greetings in Port Talbot

• See the manuscript of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I saw it twice; once at the Tate Liverpool and once at the British Library.
  
• See Caravaggio’s Beheading of St John the Baptist (Valetta, Malta). Life-changing experience. His St Jerome also is in the Co-Cathedral of St. John.
  
• See Bob Dylan perform. It was not the experience I thought it would be, but I am still glad I saw him.
• See Leonard Cohen in concert. A truly magical moment on St-Pietersplein (Ghent).

• See Ben Harper on stage. It was fantastic.
  
• See U2 perfom. What a show!

• See Tom Waits on stage.
  
• See Van Morrison. And probably cry my eyes out.
  
• Attend a Florence + the Machine concert.
  
• See Lady Gaga perform.
  
• Go to Glastonbury festival
• Finish reading Cien años de soledad by Gabriel García Márquez. I have been on it for a good ten years; only a couple of pages left, but I am not ready to let go of it.
  

Travel

• Go on a cruise
• Fly on a light aircraft. Genuinely not as terrifying as I’d thought.

• See Hadrian’s Wall. It was cold and wet and all kinds of beautiful.
  

• Climb Pen-Y-Fan (Wales).
  
• Complete the Three Peaks Challenge (England, Scotland, Wales).
  
• See a real-life basking shark in its environment (Wales).
  
• See a platypus (Australia).
• See the northern lights (Iceland).
  
• Live abroad for a bit. An Erasmus stay in the Canary Islands and ten years in France. Let’s see where we’re going next.
  
• Have the afternoon tea at the Savoy (London). A magnificient experience. I loved every bit of it.
• Cross the Øresund. (Denmark/Sweden).
  
• See Petra (Jordan).
  
• Visit Jerusalem (Israel).
  
• Participate in the harvesting of wine grapes. Truly lovely. A lot of wine was drunk that day though.

• Visit Schönbrunn Castle (Austria). Like Versailles, but prettier.
  
• Lounge on the beach in the Cinque Terre (Italy). Nice and warm with a good swim in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean.
  
• Visit Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany).
  
• Have a pint in Temple Bar (Dublin, Republic of Ireland). I didn’t like it much.
  
• Visit Charles Darwin’s house (Downe, UK).
  
• Eat haggis in Scotland. Nice! Now I need to do it again, but with a glass of whisky, this time.
  
• Travel on a Pullman train.
• Spend New Year’s Eve in London.
• Eat Phở in Vietnam.
• Visit Saint Petersburg (Russia).
• Get lost in Gamla Stan (Stockholm, Sweden).
• Visit Jersey and Guernsey.
• Ride a steamboat.
• Fly in first class.
• Go to Casablanca (Morocco). Say “Here’s looking at you, kid” a million times.
  
• Snorkel in the Mediterranean. Very pretty fish.
  

Snorkeling in Malta

• Spent time on the road in a van.
• Gamble (a little) money in Las Vegas (USA).
• New York. Just New York. I don’t know what I’ll do when I get there.
  
• Drink wine on a terrasse in Tuscany (Italy). Life doesn’t get any better than that, baby.
  
• Visit Auschwitz (Poland).
  
• See the mummies of Palermo (Sicily).
  
• Visit the Magnificient Seven (London, UK). One down (Kensal Green); six to go.
  
• See Pamukkale (Turkey).
  
• Travel on the Orient Express (any route will do).
• Go camping. I know most people do that as a very normal activity, but I never have.
  
• Visit Cyprus.
• See Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)’s redsidence in Croft-on-Tees (England).
  
• See Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s birthplace in  Daresbury (England).
  
• See Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s tomb in Guildford (England).

Note: I am not obsessed with Lewis Carroll. There’s a very good reason for all of this.

What’s left of the Dodgson house (Daresbury)

Detail of the stained glass showing Charles Dodgson and Alice (Daresbury)

The Old retory (Croft-on-Tees) seen from the churchyard

Charles Dodgson’s tomb (Guildford)

• Visit Oxford
• Drink Champagne in Champagne (France). Always lots of fun; Champagne has splendid restaurants on top of its bubbly.
  

• Visit Kentucky. Re-read Elmore Leonard’s short stories on the way there.
• Eat tapas in Spain.
• Visit Pompeii.
  
• See a proper game of rugby in Wales.
• Visit Knossos. Fantastic. Every archeology nerd should visit it.
  

• See a sea shell grotto. What can I say? I like curiosities and bonkers theories. I visited the sea shell grotto of Margate, which is dramatically underrated.
  
• See the Roman baths in Bath. Epic.
  
• Spend a night in a “haunted” castle.
• Visit the Hebrides (Scotland).

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All texts, pictures and videos © Justine Houyaux except the heading picture, courtesy of Pexels.com.

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