Summer Bucket List

I have a huge bucket list of all the things I would love to do in my lifetime, who doesn’t, and while some of them are never going to happen (I am not the type to make a scientific discovery), there are many attainable things on the list. Having a lifetime aim to complete these is a good thing, because it give me a lot of time, but it is also a bad thing because I have longer to put most of them off. So, I decided to write a Summer bucket list – some of the things I have done before, I just want to do them again this Summer. Seeing as Summer has not even begun here in the UK, I am giving myself until the beginning of October to complete the list, because that is when we get back from our holiday, and when our summer officially ends. This is what I aim to do:

Go camping - Dave has never been camping before, apart from at a festival, and seeing we are surrounded by some many beautiful camping areas only about an hour away, it would be a shame not to go.

Sleep in a hammock – I seem to have a bit of a hammock obsession at the moment. I went in one when I was much younger, but after that I never went in one because I was scared I was so fat I would either break it or just roll straight out of it. Not any more! The hotel we are going to stay at has hammocks everywhere, so I intend to spend hours in one, with a cocktail in hand.

Run 5K – As I have mentioned before, I have started running again and I am building up to being able to run 5k. By the time we go away in September, I am determined to be able to run that far and then I can run a 5k on the beach every morning. Hopefully.

Where more colour – When I was overweight, I wore a LOT of black. I wore back because it was flattering and would not draw attention to my body. I also had bright coloured hair to draw attention away from my body. Most days all I would wear is black and I am sad to say that has not changed. I didn’t even realise until a few people mentioned it recently, but the majority of my wardrobe is still full of black clothes. I guess I haven’t gotten out of the mindset of feeling the need to hide myself – so that is something I want to change, and Summer seems like the perfect time to do it. I need to buy some new clothes anyway, and I will NOT buy any more black. Well, maybe a couple of items. It is still a flattering colour!

Hire a bike and cycle somewhere – I realised the other day that I haven’t been on a bike in about 8 years. I don’t plan on buying one, just hiring one and taking it out into the countryside for a bit of an explore. I will no doubt be blogging straight after with a picture of all my bike related injuries. I don’t have great balance at the best of times, let alone being on 2 wheels.

Read more – When I was at Uni, I read so much. I often had about 10 books on the go at one time – but they were all academic books. Apart from my honeymoon, where I read a book on the beach, I haven’t read books for pleasure in about 7 years. That is shameful. I have SO many amazing books that I have bought myself, or my awesome friends have bought me because they thought the books were perfect for me (which they are), but they just sit on the book shelf because I don’t have time to read them. Well, I used to say I didn’t have time to exercise, but I MADE time. So reading should not be any different. It’s exercise for the brain, right? So I am going to put aside 30 minutes a day to read. Some educational books and some trashy books. I need to find out what this 50 shades of grey stuff is all about.

Spend a day exploring the city I live in – It really is amazing how little I have seen of the city I have lived in for 7 years. It doesn’t help that new buildings, bars and restaurants are popping up all the time. I am going to spend a day wandering around all the little side streets and see what I can find. I am hoping lots of little nice cafes.

Go hiking in Hope Valley – This is a place in the Peak District, only about a 30 minute train journey away, that I have been wanting to go for years. There are loads of great walks round there and as well as being a good workout, it will be a good opportunity to play with my new camera outside. Everything Dave and I have had time off to go, there has been crazy amounts of rain.

Spend more time outdoors – Working from home means that I spend the majority of my time indoors, so I want to spend more time outdoors, even if it is just sitting in the garden to do my reading. But…..there is still that rain.

Play tennis – I love playing tennis (I absolutely despise watching it though – it’s so boring) and we have the racquets and balls in the shed and we have some good courts near by. But, again, the rain. I can see the rain is going to get in the way of a lot of things.

Go Kayaking – This I shall be able to do when we go away. In the sea. Scary!

Try windsurfing – Again, another holiday activity. I may need some lessons as it looks like one of those things that you convince yourself will be easy, and then you spend most of the time flat on your face.

Have lots of picnics – being outside and eating….what’s not to love?

Visit a beach – holiday time. Eeeeeee.

Spend more time writing – being a writer, this should be a pretty easy one to complete. I just need to schedule my time better.

Say yes to everything for a week – This is something I have been wanting to do for a couple of years, ever since reading Yes Man (see, I do read some books). I am not going to tell anyone that I am doing it, until the week is over, as I am sure someone will take advantage of it. With life being so busy at the moment, it can be easy getting into the habit of saying no to everything. But, good things can happen when you say yes.

Go a whole day without phone, tv and computer – Apparently, there is life beyond phones, TVs and computers. I don’t believe it, so I will have to test this one out for myself.

Stargaze – Stars are pretty. Enough said.

Go zip lining – This is more something that Dave wants to do, and I am absolutely terrified to do….which is why I am going to do it. My first thought was “I’m too heavy for that, I will break it”. But I am not. I can do it – so I will.

Have a crazy garden party – I’m getting older now…I need a blow out party!

Go rock climbing – Again, I always told myself I was too overweight to do this and that I was too unfit, so I can’t wait to give this a go.

Stay up all night – Although I haven’t quite reached the going to bed at 9pm stage of life yet (although it feels like it is approaching), gone are the days of staying up until 6am and watching the sunrise. Maybe just one last time, to see if I can make it.

Go to a pool party – They always look like so much fun in films. A pool, music and cocktails – what isn’t fun about that?

Watch a film in IMAX – Everyone says how awesome they are. Trouble is, Dave says we should go see Batman. Erghhh.

Play beach volleyball – Maybe I have just been watching too much Top Gun.

Host a poker night – I keep saying I will have people round for a poker night and I WILL. I just need to learn how to play it first.

Watch a film outside – The hotel we are going to stay at has films on the beach at night, which will be awesome.

Re-learn how to do a handstand and a cartwheel – I swear I spent most of my childhood doing handstands and cartwheels and now I have no idea how to do them. I am sure I still no how, I just have too much fear. Time to get rid of that fear and do them again.

I am so annoyed that I still can’t fix the commenting function on blog posts, so none of you can reply to this with your summer bucket list. But if you have come from the Facebook post, then head back to the Facebook status to let me know what is on your Summer bucket list.

I am looking to change the website over, so commenting will be back soon. You can still comment on all recipe posts though