Movie Bucket List

Read what I have done

When I read the movie bucket list, I was delighted to discover that I had already done many of the things on their list, or had done something equally challenging and exciting according to my interests and values.

Compare my bucket list

Witness something truly majestic: Read my story The Mountain Kings of Africa

Help a complete stranger for a common good: A worthy aspiration. I’ll not reveal if I have achieved it

Laugh till I cry: Friends enjoy my wry sense of humor, I think! The “laugh till I cry” occasions are rare in the face of life’s vicissitudes.  ‘Here's something to remember when you're older - never pass up a bathroom, never waste a hard-on, and never trust a fart.’ (Movie Bucket List quote)

Drive a Shelby Mustang: I don’t have a great interest in cars, though I loved my first car - a Ford Escort ET3124 (December 1969) and I did get a Mercedes (January 2007) as my retirement present!

Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world: Done it frequently!

Get a tattoo: I have a tattoo, a small dolphin, on my left arm. This was done when I was 55 and ought to have had more sense. But I can justify this unusual decision, and maybe I will write the story some day.

Skydiving: Acts of fancy and courage. Read my story Let’s Go!

Visit Stonehenge: I've done the Irish equivalent -New Grange, a 5000 year old Tomb, famous for the winter solstice illumination, which lights up a passage and chamber.

Spend a week at the Louvre: I’ve been to Musee du Louvre many times. It would take a lifetime to view its 35000 works of art

See Rome: Caput Mundi (The capital of the world), one of the founding cities of western civilization. I went there in 1972 with my wife, and can’t believe I haven’t been back.

Dinner at La Cherie D’or: My equivalent would be Le Procope in Paris, founded in 1686 - “the oldest cafe in the world”. “Le Rendezvous des Arts et des Lettres”

See the Pyramids: I have seen the ruins of Great Zimbabwe - a world heritage site - one of the most important archaeological sites in Africa, giving testimony to the lost civilization of the Shona

Get back in touch: I guess this could be on everybody’s list?

Visit the Taj Mahal India: My comparable site would be Skellig Michael - the seventh century island monastery off the coast of Kerry in Ireland. This enthralling location reminds me that some of the wonders of the world are in our own backyard.

Hong Kong: Been there, loved it - sang at the China Club!

Victoria Falls: The Mosi-oa-Tunya (“the smoke that thunders”) the most enormous waterfall in the world, situated on the Zambezi river. Having lived in Zambia in the early seventies - (read Going Back) - I’ve seen this wonder many times, and it never fails to mesmerize me. And I’ve seen the world’s highest falls - Angel Falls - in Venezuela, and the majestic Iguazu Falls, located between Brazil and Argentina.

Serengeti: I've been to Masi Mara in Kenya, which rivals the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda for my “Witness something truly majestic”, experience.

Ride the Great Wall of China: It’s on my to-do list, but I’d be happy to walk it!

That concludes the movie bucket list.  Why not compare the movie bucket list with your own retirement wishes, and share it with me here.