50 Things to Do Before I’m 40

Inspired by C64Glen and other people whose lists I’ve looked at, I’ve decided to do my own top 50 list of goals to complete before I’m 40. I’ve got another 13-odd years to worry about hitting 40, so I’m going to be a little more ambitious with my aims.  Some of these I’ve taken directly from other people’s 40 Things lists, because they’re exactly what I’d want to do. Another few I’ve taken from others, but have modified it usually because I’ve done it before and need to up the challenge, or it was an unfinished job and I want to make a proper go at it. Some of them are totally my own, in case anyone reading felt I didn’t have any originality of my own Anyway, as I’ve used other lists as inspiration for mine, feel free to use my list to inspire you.  Depending on things, I may actually go up to 100 if I get these completed faster than I intend to, although also, I may just end up having new aims in general, though I’ll have to keep 50 to a page and no more than 100 in total.

Anyway, my list stands at…

1. Read all of the BBC Top 200 reads. – (0% Complete – 0/200)
Like I indicated in my blog, and below, I’ll be doing this in increments of 5%.  Admittedly though, given it’s 200 books, this will be easier to do percentage as it’s literally 0.5% per book, but the 5% rule will still be in effect here, because it just makes more sense to keep it consistant with below.  That and it’ll spur me on a bit more, although that said, I’ll stick it at 95% till I finished the last book.

2. Watch the Top 250 movies on IMDB – (15% Complete – 33/250)
I’ve decided to reshuffle my list layout a bit.  Instead of accurate percentages, I’m now going to just do it in steps of 5%, so I’ll be roughly rounding up to the nearest 5.  Granted, this will be slightly inaccurate on the percentage scale, but on the numerical scale, it’ll be updated at a more regular frequency.  Additionally, I’ll now be indicating the movies I’ve watched in my blog entry under the 50 Things tag, which I hope to update within the first few days of the following month (for the previous month), starting with September.

3. Learn piano & guitar. – (5% Complete)
I know a tiny bit about both instruments, although I can’t really play any music yet, but I can tune my guitar.  The piano’s my priority for now though.

4. Relearn Irish and German. – (5% Complete)
I used to know quite a bit of German, till it fell out of use… same for Irish, so I want to relearn them both at some point.  I was actually learning a bit of Irish again, though I never did continue it.  I know a little bit of both languages still, but not enough to converse in either.

5. Learn a Nordic language, ideally Icelandic. – (0.005% Complete)
I’m part Icelandic, so I’d love to learn this, although I have learnt a little bit of Swedish and Danish, which should help me a little.

6. Join a gym properly and attend it regularly for at least a year. – (0% Complete)
I’ve withdrawn my membership though at present they want payment off me for months I never attended   Damn non-cancellable agreements

7. Buy a house. – (0% Complete)
I’m quite a while off from this, but like most people, I want to do it.  It’ll most likely put me into debt though.

8. Learn to drive and get myself a car – (10% Complete)
This one could take a while, although I have experience with driving on private grounds which taught me a few important things.  I’m still miles off from being able to go out onto proper roads.

9. Properly produce a Podcast/Internet Radio Show. – (90% Complete)

The DiggerCast has suffered some minor setbacks because of lack of hardware issues, however I am going to be adding a few shows to the family, with a renamed blog which are all officially part of the DiggerCast to a degree, but will be done on different days.  The line up so far for the new DiggerCrew blog-site is the DiggerCast, DiggerFeast, DiggerCouch and a new planned show called DiggerAds.  Watch for more details later.

10. Get myself a Doctorate. (14.2% Complete)
A little update on this.  While I have my CertHE still (and thus cannot update the percentage), I am going to be going to the Open University next year and hopefully will be able to use some of what I know to help get some credits towards the degree I want to get.  I’m additionally going to be getting myself some Diplomas though Alison.com, to help bulk up my CertHE and also maybe get some credit towards the OU degree.

11. Go to at least 3 big music festivals and see them through till the end – (0% Complete)
I’ve been to Leeds, but that was work and I left before it started. I’ve been to Castlepalooza and stayed through fully as well as working, but I want to go to one of the long-standing ones and stay the whole time. I’ve been to Witnness (now Oxygen), but I couldn’t stay through fully due to “The Incident”.  I was rather gutted and all because I missed David Gray and it was the last day as well!

12. Go camping properly/sleeping under the stars. (30% Complete)
I’ve recently gone camping so I’m adding in another 10% to this to indicate I’ve gotten more experience, although admittedly, I’m also learning to travel lighter as well, so it adds to the percentage.  Note though that this’ll be capped at about 60% in terms of progress; I can only get 100%  when I have camped out in the wild and slept under the stars… doing the two separately will net me 10% each, with the final 20% earned by doing both.

13. See the northern lights. – (0% Complete)
My mum mentioned wanting to see them, and I do too, so I’m going to add this here.

14. Own part of a pub/bar. – (0% Complete)
I have no idea what happened here, but MYO Bar seems to have disappeared!  That’s a shame really!

15. Put All My C.D.’s Onto My PC and MP3 player. – (0% Complete)
Perhaps this is an easy one, but I’ve been putting it off for so long now that I may as well do it!

16. See a West-end show. – (25% Complete)
Seeing as I live in London, I should have by now seen a West-End show but haven’t!  I’ve seen all the ads for one and want to go, but I think it’d be a good idea to bring someone along, at least one person, if not more.  Once something is planned, I can put this up to 50% again… and once we’re booked, it’ll go up to 75%.  The 25% is an indication that I’m at least aware of some shows, and want to see one.

17. Shave the hair on my head off. – (0% Complete)
Call it a moment of madness, but I’ve always wanted to do this just to see what it’s like. A friend of mine has done it before in a moment of madness, and I’ve shaved other hair on my body off, but I figure I’d go and do it for the hell of it.

18. Cycle the whole length of the River Thames from start to finish and back again – ideally before I pass 30. – (10% Complete)
This is one of those things I plan to do with a friend or a team, which might end u being for charity as well, although needs a lot of preparation for! I’m hardly fit enough to do such a journey at present.  It would be a summer thing though and will have to be meticulously planned.  I would also cycle along the Thames in Greater London, from one end to the other, north and south of the river as a test run for such an undertaking.  It would be a good test in familiar territory, as London’s a good training ground.  It also allows us to time how long it takes us to do 50 miles.  Additionally, this endeavour will be blogged and other parts of London will be done to help with training.  I’ve done some research on this at Dartford library, and learnt that the Ordnance Survey maps are our best bet for mapping the journey.  I would ideally want to get a bike this year or next though.  I’ve also learnt that there’s a few neat gadgets about that’ll reduce the cost of my plan and make the trip a little better planned.  Update: It may have to be in 2013 now, which is a shame but so long as I get it done… 31 isn’t that far off 30 anyway!

19. Visit the birthplace of my ancestors and learn more about them. – (20% Complete)
I’ve been interested in geneology for quite some time now, so I need to add this one in. I’d love to know where my family started off from.  I also figured that in order to do this, I need to learn more about my family tree, so they’re both put in together.  I’m eventually going to be visiting a relative of mine in Canterbury and he’s going to be showing me the family treet and some family gravestones, which will be cool.

20. Visit 10 world capitals. – (35% Complete)
I’m planning to do a London to New Zealand (via Hong Kong, Japan and Austalia) bytrain and ship/ferry soon, so in theory, I should be able to do either Paris or Brussels, then finish off Amsterdam.  I will probably also get to do Moscow, Tokyo and Wellington, as well as Canberra and Beijing.  Other capitals might be able to be done on the way.  I’ll probably also end up transferring this over to my travel blog. I should at least get much closer to 10 cities, if not exceed it.

21. Complete my “Europe Tour” with my friends. – (0% Complete)
This is a big one. I want to travel round Europe and blog about it on a website. I’ve been wanting to do this for a good 4 years now but it’s not happened yet.  I could combine this with 20, at least partially, although the London-New Zealand trip isn’t a proper EuroTrip.  This will also get a transfer to my travel blog.

22. Watch a meteor shower and see a total eclipse of either the sun or the moon. – (0% Complete)
I’m into astronomy and the like, so this sort of thing would be quite cool to me (and maybe a little romantic?).  Maybe I could mix it in with the camping one.

23. Take a road trip. – (0% Complete)
I figured it’d be cool to go on a proper road trip somewhere, though I kinda did one with a friend years back.  Once a friend of mine gets a car, I’ll be looking at this in more detail.

24. Have a few more media appearances, most notably TV. – (0% Complete)
I’ve been on the radio once in the past and have had a few newspaper mentions, but I want to say that I’ve also been on TV… maybe it’s vanity on my part but I want to get myself “out there” a bit more.

25. Drive a Ferrari. – (0% Complete)
Granted, I’m not the sort who really likes fast cars (give me a half-decent looking practical car), but I suppose it can’t hurt to indulge in this. I’d never buy one, but at least I’d have a test drive of one. I’d have to learn how to drive first though!

26. Write something and get it published. – (0% Complete)
I think everyone wants to do this one. Ideally, I’d write a novel and get it published, but I may also end up writing about a project or essay and having that published.

27. Get myself decently qualified with parapsychology and photography. – (12.5% Complete)
I recently went on a Ghost Hunting course held by Ciaran O’Keeffe and Steve Parsons, as well as attended some talks in relation to the Dublin Paracon over 2 years.  I can learn some photography and psychology stuff off Alison, and I’m gradually getting to grips with how to use my camera in general, but need to test stuff out better.

28. Go inside the Great Pyramids. – (0% Complete)
I thought it would be pretty cool to be able to see inside the Great Pyramids, although I’m not in a huge hurry to go to Egypt, given the state of their roads!

29. Join the Special Constabulary. – (25% Complete)
Unfortunately I didn’t get in this time, but I at least know what to expect now, so I can consider this at least 1/4 complete still, purely because I reached the interview and test progress.

30. Get my photos published and/or seen in more places – (10% Complete)
I’ve had my photo of Greenwich Park published in the Schmap Guide to London although I’d like to contribute more photos to sites such as this, maybe get some included in a book or something.

31. Visit Japan, Australia and New Zealand. – (0% Complete)
Not much to say other than I’ve always wanted to visit these places.  This is both a perfect candidate for my travel blog and also to get completed in one go!

32. Make my own music and/or successfully play a song by another artist. – (0% Complete)
I need to learn to play an instrument first, but I figured I’d need to take the instrument stuff further than just learning how to play.

33. Be free of all debts. – (0% Complete)
I decided to rejig this around a tad, given I’m likely to accrue more debt later.  Any debts I talk about here essentially refer to major ones; the one below will refer to the debts I’ve accumulated recently.  This one is more for the long-term.  Maybe it is a bit of a cop out, but I at least want to be seen to have made some progress with this.

33a. Be free of all short term debts (recurring debts or debts less than 3 months old)  - (90% Complete)
My finances are a bit iffy at the moment, given I owe money t0 utilities,  but one of my consistent recurring debts has been sorted, so I have a tiny bit more purchasing power.  Admittedly, I think that it may be some time before my utility bills are sorted.

34. Own my own successful company. – (10% Complete)
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve consolidated all Stormhaven Networks’  websites into a single company which I’ll be calling Stormhaven Developments.  However the shuffle hasn’t begun just yet, and won’t properly start till I get home.  Plans will be made however.

35. Learn to to manage my time better. – (33.34% Complete)
I’ve actually started to make headway here.  I’m now occasionally using a diary and also thanks to C64Glen, I might have found something to let me organise myself a little bit more.  Update:  While I haven’t used said sites just yet, I have now got 2 diaries for use in the New Year; one small for keeping on me in person, and one large for leaving at home.

36. Learn to budget my money properly. – (30% Complete)
My finances are a little healthier than what they were and I have a tony bit more spending power, but I could still do much better with this, and intend to this week.  I should at the very least be able to stop outgoings of about 10 quid going out, plus another 4, though my costs will be going up soon in other areas.

37. Walk around all 7 walking routes in London. – (0% Complete)
I want to do this as a precursor for the cycling event although again I need to get fit for it.

38. Give a proper talk/speech on something. – (0% Complete)
I have done this in the past regarding the paranormal, but I suffered from stage fright due to lack of preparation! I want to try to give a talk while prepared this time!  I really suck at public speaking (even though I end up having to do it!) but somehow I get through it… I can do better though!

39. Have children. – (0% Complete)
Eventually. I don’t want to talk about this now.

40. Run at least one successful website. – (30% Complete)
It’s again all down to the fact I have a lot of websites up, but it appears that my Therians dot Net website is well on the way to becoming popular; indeed it’s rcieved 1,336 visitors over the past 31 days (18th August to 19th September), so that constitutes reasonable popularity.  However, I expect one of my larger projects may become more popular, due to its more mainstream appeal.  Increased by 10% given my sites are getting a little more recognised.

41. Eat somewhere really, really expensive! – (0% Complete)
Perhaps it’s the posh git in me, but I’d love to eat somewhere really upmarket at least once before I hit 40.

42. Visit the most remote places in Britain and Ireland I can get to by public transport, then again with a car. – (0% Complete)
I’ve wanted to visit the Highlands for ages, but I’m not sure if I can do the most remote place without getting a car.  Would be fun to see how far I could get though.

43. Drive a tank. – (0% Complete)
This would be pure awesomeness… and I’m a bloke so yeah… bang bang XD

44. Play proper paintball. – (0% Complete)
I’ve not done this yet but want to.

45. Learn to program again and don’t let myself lapse. – (0% Complete)
I still remember some of the basics, but really I’ve completely forgotten everything I learnt.  I want to learn Java and VB6 again so I can code them

46. See wolves face to face and maybe help out at a sanctuary. – (0% Complete)
I’m going to try to visit the wolf sanctuary in Reading, or Wold Wood in Kent, as Colorado was pretty much a bust.

47. Start to meditate and take up yoga again. – (0% Complete)
I used to do yoga and I can kind of do meditation, but I need to focus more for both.

48. Keep myself fit. – (0% Complete)
I’m going to have to find other ways to keep myself fit, now I withdrew my gym membership.  I might just start walking 30 minutes every 2-3 days or something to start with.  Getting a bike would be a good idea too.

49. Learn how to cook to a better standard than I can now. – (20% Complete)
For the first time, I managed to make my own pilau rice, which will be immensely cheaper than buying microwavable rice, especially if I use cheaper rice; the idea really is just to give it some colour to go with chicken tikka.  But yeah, for less than the price of two pack of micro rice, I should be able to make at least 20 servings of pilau rice now!

50. Learn how to sew properly. – (0% Complete)
I need to learn how to sew so I can sort my own clothes out instead of asking others to as I’m sure I’m capable of it.

Last updated: 29th April 2011

References:

http://www.c64glen.com/40-things/
http://www.before40.co.uk/40things.html
http://www.direxplorers.com/lighter-note/1360-50-things-do-before-you-forty.html
http://www.blinman.com/before30.htm