Bucket Lists

granger

granger

Senior Jockey
Joined
Nov 3, 2005
Messages
18,981
Location
Moscow Flyer Stables
What's on yours

Was thinking i'm probably in or very near my mid life crisis point

Travel

Inca Trail and some other regions of South America

Sport

  • Attend an Ashes Test in Australia
  • Go to a Superbowl or one of the big College Games
  • Own a horse that finally makes the track
  • Have that nervous shake I got when Moscow Flyer raced again
Employment

  • Retire by very early 50's
  • Work in a team of 1 for the remainder of my working life


 
granger said:
What's on yours

Was thinking i'm probably in or very near my mid life crisis point

Travel

Inca Trail and some other regions of South America

Sport

  • Attend an Ashes Test in Australia
  • Go to a Superbowl or one of the big College Games
  • Own a horse that finally makes the track
  • Have that nervous shake I got when Moscow Flyer raced again
Employment

  • Retire by very early 50's
  • Work in a team of 1 for the remainder of my working life
Click to expand...
Reading that I realise how lucky I've been PJ. I've been fortunate enough to tick a couple of those off with the Aussie Test Matches, and horses making the track, and hopefully a third is now on the horizon, with the retirement now a distinct possibility in my fifties. Mind you I've been in my mid-life crisis for more than a decade now so you'd like to think I've managed something along the way. :lol:

I don't have a bucket list as such, but with regards travel there are two things on my mind. The first is to do more in the UK in the next few years. I've travelled extensively abroad over the years, but I realise how little of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland I've seen. The second is to retire to the South of France and spend more time travelling that great Country too.

Sport-wise I'll keep up my obsession for Cheltenham and particularly the Festival, but I want to get back in to ownership and the dream would be to have a winner there. If only I could be so lucky one day.

With regards employment, as I said early retirement is very much a near-term possibility, but I will need something to keep my brain going. I won't be able to help myself. I'm just not sure what it is yet, but it will be a few hours a week, with no pressure, doing something that is more aligned to my hobbies and passions, rather than hard business. The thought of trying to make a living buying and selling horses out of French claimers down in Pau and Cagnes Sur Mer has been there for a while, and I've bought a couple out of claimers for myself in the past so it wouldn't be a big step to do something business related if I moved down there. There's still a lot of water to pass under the bridge before I get there though!

In fact your post has inspired me to get focused and actually start thinking about a bucket list over the next few weeks. Why not?!
 
Travel

Nothing involving hills.
Japan and China
A month a year in French Polynesia, the Maldives or the Seychelles, chugging back Pina Coladas would do me.
Also planned to retire to South of France or North Italy, though will need to see what the score is post-Brexit (the unutterable cu*nts)

Sport

Apart from adding to my racecourse dance-card:

Singapore Grand Prix
US Grand Prix (fit it in with a visit to the family in Tx)
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (though only I can afford to stay in the hotel with the fancy lights)
Game 7 in any World Series
Superbowl



Employment

Planned to finish at 55yo though maybe 58yo more realistic, now that the lad is headed to Uni, and I'll be shelling for his digs, the bas*tard.
 
Was in Abu Dhabi a few times Nick. Mostly as a stopover but they had to put me up in a mega swanky hotel once owing to severe fog. The room was nearly as big as my house.

The city itself was a bit soulless but I'm not a city person.

Still the grand prix is what is bringing you there so prob no difference.
 
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Travel:
More trips to the States/Canada
South America - particulary Patagonia
Japan

Sport:
Fenway Park
Madison Square Garden (For the Knicks, already been for the Rangers)
new Longchamp
Japan Cup
Roland Garros
Paris-Roubaix or Tour of Flanders

Employment:
Retire within 5 years.
 
My dad was on about a holiday home in France yesterday funnily enough. Never been anywhere near the vicinity

Any thoughts on any nice areas - village life i'm thinking
 
Number one criterion, PJ, would be to be within reasonable reach of direct flights to home. After that, if you're looking to escape hard winters the further south the better and not too far inland.
 
I can't really say I have a bucket list.

Plenty of things I'd like to do but not necessarily to make a point of doing them, other than moving to Spain and I'm very much of the same mind as Grasshopper on the impact of Brexit on that one. Still, I am working on it. Mrs O's Irish citizenship is due to come through any day now and hopefully mine won't take too much longer, enabling us to go there as European citizens.

Being retired and getting by on about one-third of what I was earning means bucket list are a waste of emotional energy for me. Unless I win the euromillions.

We're mortgage-free on both our properties but will need to sell our house to fund the move to Spain. Orchidette lives in the flat in town and isn't in a hurry to move on just yet. Hopefully in the next wee while she can find a very good man to take care of her. He doesn't need to be white or Catholic or even good-looking, as long as he loves her to the exclusion of all others and has a few mill he's prepared to share with her...


Travel

Still, we were supposed to do Route 66 for my 60th birthday but something got in the way. Then we were supposed to do it for Mrs O's 60th and something else got in the way (the fvcking Brexit vote, IIRC, as that meant we had to get cracking on research for moving to Spain before losing out via deadlines).

It's something I still want to do but feel we need to sort the Spain thing out first.


Sport

I really don't have much of a hankering to attend any sporting activity bar maybe the Dubai World Cup carnival. You see things so much better on telly. I reckon I'd enjoy another forum meet-up, though. I'm not sure which one was the last I attended although I can't imagine any surpassing the truly memorable one at Cheltenham back in the days of Foghorn Leghorn. I still talk about that with the family: the car-park meet-ups for champagne (none of your cava pish) and eats, the pints of Guinness during the afternoon and, especially, the wonderful company and the banter.


Retirement

I retired early, just short of my 56th birthday, and worked on part-time for the next three years. I'm one of the unlucky group whose date of birth means I'm among the first victims of the change to state pensionable age. I have to wait until I'm 66 whereas my immediately-elder brother, just 15 months older, gets his at 65. So I have to wait until September 2021 for my pension. Hopefully it will go further in Spain than here.
 
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Can`t agree with all this hankering for sunny climes. I think we have the loveliest climate. I`m retired and each morning I usually have a 5 mile walk thro` lovely countryside and along the Leeds/ Liverpool canal. Peaceful, serene and invigorating, whatever the weather. Lovely to see the changes each season brings, particularly Autumn and Spring. The thought of 30 degree weather day after day does nothing for me!

As far as travel is concerned, I love my European city breaks. Going further afield does appeal but the thought of long plane journeys puts me off. Too old for all that!

And as for sporting ambitions, I`d love to see selling hurdles at either Plumpton or Carlisle!!
 
Desperate Dan said:
Can`t agree with all this hankering for sunny climes. I think we have the loveliest climate. I`m retired and each morning I usually have a 5 mile walk thro` lovely countryside and along the Leeds/ Liverpool canal. Peaceful, serene and invigorating, whatever the weather. Lovely to see the changes each season brings, particularly Autumn and Spring. The thought of 30 degree weather day after day does nothing for me!

As far as travel is concerned, I love my European city breaks. Going further afield does appeal but the thought of long plane journeys puts me off. Too old for all that!
Click to expand...

That's a healthy attitude, Dan.

I pretty much have to force myself to go out for a walk in the morning unless the sun is splitting the trees.

An ex-PE teacher colleague of mine used to say, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes." I always felt he had a point but disagreed. Weather can be foul. It isn't just a human attitude thing. My wee dog would now and again hesitate at the thought of going outside to 'empty' in the morning. Poor wee thing knew he had to brave the elements just to get relief and shot straight back in the house as soon as it was over.

I'd venture that people who live in sunnier climes are generally cheerier and live longer.

I burn pretty immediately in the sun but the heat doesn't bother me too much. It's humidity that gets me.

I love travelling by plane (unless it's Ry....r) but the longest flight was only eight or nine hours (to USA). I'm not sure how I'd handle a longer flight unless I was being constantly fed and refreshed along the way. But I'm willing to give it a go.
 
I am trying to complete financial planning that gives me a step down choice in about 2 years - about 2-3 days a week in variable work and not for profit volunteering appeals.

Bucket list finance needs:

1. Stay away from Airports as much as possible.
2. Spend as much time in rural Ireland as I can muster.
3. 4 days at Cheltenham
4. 2 days in Punchestown
5. Arc weekend in Paris
6. Golf Club dues
7. Squash Club dues

That's about it as libraries are still free.
 
an capall said:
I am trying to complete financial planning that gives me a step down choice in about 2 years - about 2-3 days a week in variable work and not for profit volunteering appeals.

Bucket list finance needs:

1. Stay away from Airports as much as possible.
2. Spend as much time in rural Ireland as I can muster.
3. 4 days at Cheltenham
4. 2 days in Punchestown
5. Arc weekend in Paris
6. Golf Club dues
7. Squash Club dues

That's about it as libraries are still free.
Click to expand...


Sign me up apart from the sissy squash and flat stuff
 
Desperate Dan said:
Can`t agree with all this hankering for sunny climes. I think we have the loveliest climate. I`m retired and each morning I usually have a 5 mile walk thro` lovely countryside and along the Leeds/ Liverpool canal. Peaceful, serene and invigorating, whatever the weather. Lovely to see the changes each season brings, particularly Autumn and Spring. The thought of 30 degree weather day after day does nothing for me!

As far as travel is concerned, I love my European city breaks. Going further afield does appeal but the thought of long plane journeys puts me off. Too old for all that!

And as for sporting ambitions, I`d love to see selling hurdles at either Plumpton or Carlisle!!
Click to expand...

Lovely post Dan

Nothing like a morning walk for me either - Living in a city environment (unfortunately) means its the only time of the day that i can see actual peace and quiet
 
an capall said:
I am trying to complete financial planning that gives me a step down choice in about 2 years - about 2-3 days a week in variable work and not for profit volunteering appeals.

Bucket list finance needs:

1. Stay away from Airports as much as possible.
2. Spend as much time in rural Ireland as I can muster.
3. 4 days at Cheltenham
4. 2 days in Punchestown
5. Arc weekend in Paris
6. Golf Club dues
7. Squash Club dues

That's about it as libraries are still free.
Click to expand...

If I had the time and the money I would go for an early morning swim (indoors) and walk the beach in Tramore for an hour every day.
 
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