Zadar - AtoZChallenge

This final (YAY!) blog post idea is courtesy something I came across in social media that makes the rounds about once a year.

Zadar, Croatia.

Now in general, I'm curious to visit Croatia & the surrounding areas. but something specific caught my attention thanks to a video making the rounds.

The Sea Organ, or Morske orgulje in Croatian. What appears to be sets of stairs descending into the sea actually covers a series of pipes that produce music as the waves rush across.

Yellowstone & Yosemite - AtoZChallenge

National Park theme - Yellowstone & Yosemite.

This is a roadtrip kind of bucket list item. Along with the Grand Canyon, Pueblo, the Painted Desert, so on and so forth, I'd like to take a Western trek to take in the kinds of sites you just don't find east of the Mississippi River.

Xenium - AtoZChallenge

Xenium - gift given to a stranger or guest (in Ancient Greece/Rome)

Clearly I'm behind the curve in terms of time period.

But, I like the idea and I'm sort of stretching the thought to work along the lines of a pay-it-forward scheme kind of thing. Giving a gift without reason, without expectation. A random act of kindness.

Writing series - AtoZChallenge

Limping to the end here. Crawling to the finish.

For the 'W' portion of my bucket list, I'm going to go with writing a book series. This is as intriguing an idea to me as it is daunting.

Not that I don't have ideas for a few series. Hell, I even have book 1 of a 3 book series (the rough, rough draft) written. But I haven't tackled the rest.

Vacation Home - AtoZChallenge

I don't have what might be considered upwardly mobile sensibilities. I've never ordered custom drapes to match the living room aesthetic. I don't have a living room aesthetic. If I did, it would be covered in dust.

I don't think I knew some people had vacation homes until I was practically an adult. It's not the kind of thing that was in my world growing up.

When my husband and I started out taking small trips that gradually grew over the years, we'd drive past condos and vacation rentals and it made me think. What would it be like to know we've got a little place of our own we could go visit any time in a location we love to visit?

I also wondered about logistical things, but that's not really the fun part of a bucket list.

So I think, it would be kind of cool to have a vacation home. And I'll leave the expenses, the management, the security, the insuring of it to the future, potential me.

Utah - AtoZChallenge

I don't know if I've ever heard anyone in my presence dream of heading out to Utah.

I'm sure it's a perfectly decent place to visit, but it's not necessarily what springs to mind for a lot of people when they think dream destination.

Unless you are a genealogy nerd like myself. Then Salt Lake City's extensive genealogy library is the stuff dreams are made of. There are travel groups that set up routine trips out there for people like me to have a week dedicated to research with personalized assistance. *blissful shudder*

Train - AtoZChallenge

I'm dreaming of a train ride.

Not quite.

Bucket list train trip is a cross-country, luxury kind a thing, passing through wide open spaces and national parks. Happily being lulled to sleep each night with the steady motion and noise combo that plenty of folks search out for their evening sound machine settings.

Skydiving - AtoZChallenge

As someone with a near lifelong fear of heights (I say near because I can only remember back so far - and it's been there the whole time) as well as a person who blacked out when I fell more than a few feet, skydiving is not something you'd expect to be on my bucket list.

And yet, it's something I've always harbored both fascination and horror for.

Fear of heights and other, more awkward issues, aside, there's always this thought:

That is damn good advice.

The older I get, and the more I value living to a ripe old age, the less my interest in skydiving has any shot in hell of panning out. But where there is a will, there is a way.

Skydiving of the indoor persuasion. Totally want to try this out.

Retreat - AtoZChallenge

'R' is for Retreat, as in a writer's retreat.

I'd love, love, love to participate in and eventually host them.

When you follow authors (in a non-stalkery way) on their social media, you come across all sorts of things that can inspire you. Funny anecdotes. Cute comics. Cuddly pet pics. Even just simple words of encouragement for folks who aspire to a certain amount of success in the publishing field. But one of the things that has really captured my attention has been writing retreats.

Some are hosted by best-selling authors (in locations across the globe) for aspiring folk - at a price. Some are groups of authors getting together to spend a week (or whatever) to dedicate themselves to uninterrupted writing time and author support/commiseration in a fun setting. Shenanigans typical ensue.

Sign.me.up.

Quicquidlibet - AtoZChallenge

I'm reaching here. As you do with a post that needs to pertain to the letter Q. Doubly so when you've painted yourself in a corner by using a theme.

Sure, there's a couple of interesting places that begin with Q. But at least one of them got covered by my broad-spectrum 'A' post for Australia.

So once again, I'll take a slightly different approach.

Quicquidlibet.

It's a noun that essentially means "whatever one pleases".

So for my bucket list, for anyone's really, who wouldn't want a day, a weekend, a week, a month, a vacation, whatever time period you denote, to do whatever you wish, however you wish without constraint?

Petra - AtoZChallenge

I can trace, with near pinpoint accuracy, when I became aware of this next must-see location on my bucket list. And I'd be willing to bet it's about the same timing/catalyst for plenty of others folks to want to visit this location in their lifetimes.

"Bond, Ja-"

Er... wrong franchise.

"We named the dog Indiana."

There we go.

Petra. World Heritage Site. Wonder of the World (as of 2007). Listed on just about every 'Must See Before You Bite It" checklist around. And the backdrop of the climax of the 3rd Dr. Jones movie.

Organize & Oral History - AtoZChallenge

I am not the most organized person around. Never have been and most likely never will be.

Generally I'm okay with that. Sort of. Or at least I've made peace with my haphazard I-know-I-put-it-somewhere-near-here-edness.

And then there's genealogy. Haphazard doesn't really serve me well here. I've steadily increased my files over more than a decade of research and frankly, there's got to be a better way than what I've been doing.

And it's not just documents, records and notes. Boxes upon boxes of photographs - loose or in albums.

It is an overwhelming endeavor, but I'd very much like to implement an effective organizational system including the scanning and digital preservation of it all.

To go along with that, I'd also like to set up Oral History records of my family's history and interesting stories my dad has told me. I wish I'd had the thought of doing something similar before my grandmother died, but as with so many of us interested in researching our families, we don't realize the questions we'll want to ask until it's too late.

Northern Lights - AtoZChallenge

I remember learning about the Northern Lights in elementary school. How extraordinary that brilliant colors should shift across the sky. I had already been watching the stars at night, hoping to spy a shooting star to wish upon. The idea that the night sky could be even more impressive has always kept me looking up - even if I'm about as removed from a decent location to observe the Northern Lights as possible.

As if being able to see this in person wasn't a spectacular enough idea on its own, some bright soul came up with the idea of this:

A glass-domed hotel room to observe the lights all comfy and cozy. Yes, please. 

Mont Saint-Michel - AtoZChallenge

We're at the half-way point in this year's blogging challenge. Whew! (& Hallelujah!)

For me, 'M' has got to be Mont Saint-Michel.

Though access to the island has been improved this century by the addition of a bridge, historically you'd have to wait until low tide. And then scurry back to the mainland before the tide came in. This has always fascinated me. There's a bridge now, but the idea of the tides determining access inspires creativity in my brain.

Apparently I'm not the only one.

Louvre, répéter - AtoZChallenge

I'm spoiled for choice when it comes to bucket list ideas for 'L', and I've been fortunate enough to scratch off a few bucket list destinations already that fall under the 'L' category.

I wouldn't mind returning to a few, but there is one that made such an impression I can't help but dream of going back again. And again. And again. And then maybe some more.

Musée du Louvre.

Mon Dieu!

When I traipsed into this museum oh so many years ago, I knew little in the way of specifics about what resided inside beside the Mona Lisa (underwhelming I'd been told) and the Venus de Milo.

Once inside and armed with the extensive map available, we were warned we couldn't possibly see it all in a few hours. I gamely searched for Venus. I took a moment to appreciate Mona. Somewhere in between, I got turned around and had the most amazing experience exploring areas I'd have never come across otherwise. I fell completely in love with a sculpture I'd never heard of, going out of my way to pass by it again before I left. A print of it now hangs in my office.

Others of my group begged off, leaving the museum in search of food, wine, coffee, a nap. I just kept going until it was time to close.

So, without question the Louvre is at the top of my bucket list. To experience it again. To experience it with my husband, with friends and family. To have my breath literally catch once more at the amazing pieces of art and history contained within.

Only 2 of the several floors. Bliss.

Kimono - AtoZChallenge

'J' was not my finest hour for this blogging challenge. 'K' has me kind of flummoxed as well.

I'd like to learn to knit someday, to see if the results would be as lopsided as my crochet attempts have been. But that's not really on par with what I envisioned for this month's theme.

And I could always suggest something romantic like kissing in the rain, under fireworks, under a rainbow, while skinny dipping, under a troll bridge... Wait, what? Er, again, that doesn't quite fit my idea of the potential grandness of this bucket list idea. Besides, I'm pretty sure I've already crossed off in the rain and under fireworks. I'm an old married person living in the tropics. Surely I've handled this already.

So, a slightly different approach.

I'd love to be fitted for my very own kimono. There is such a thing as renting the garments for the experience if you're not in the position or inclination to buy.

The kimono is the tip of a niche iceberg for me. I love learning about other cultures and historic/traditional fashions are strong parts of many cultures. Be it lederhosen or saris, I love the idea of 'dressing up' to be more immersed in the experience - says the woman who rocks walking shoes and jeans like nothing else exists.

Jet ski - AtoZChallenge

Straight forward and simple - 'J' is for Jet ski.

Wind in your hair, speeding across the water. Trying like mad not to fall off or overturn the darn thing. I'm a legitimate clutz, folks.

Italy - AtoZChallenge

Italy.

That is a dream destination that goes back to the beginning.

I'm not talking about Rome (which is good, because I've already listed other places that pre-date the Roman Empire and... er... it really shouldn't be a surprise at this point that my list has so many history-related places should it?). I'm talking about my beginning.

I identified as Italian long before I understood genetics and DNA pie charts. Long before I began charting my family tree and putting in the research time to pinpoint exactly where (at least some) of my people come from. My last name was Italian. Oh so intensely Italian. Mispronounce-ably Italian to all but, well, Italians. Of course I new we were other things (My father's mother insisted there was Native American somewhere, but as with most of what she said, this was full of shit, too.) but I had a daily reminder. Plus I thought being Italian was cool.

When I finally factor in the Roman Empire, the historic sites, the food... how could I not want to go?