It’s the new year again. The time of year when we take a somber look at our lives and really assess what we want to change for the promise of a better outcome than what we are currently producing. The fresh new calendar stares at us like a beacon of hope, encouraging us to make truckloads of promises we cannot usually keep and schedule personal training sessions we will not likely attend. It is the new year where we continue to make the same mistakes as last year and the year before that; trying to change our lives overnight as the clock strikes 12 midnight on the 1st of January.

This made me think about the other side of the new year spectrum. Instead of focusing on the negatives, or the things that will probably not change by any measure of reality unless we want them to, why don’t we think more about what we want to do, I mean really do, over the course of our entire lives? I am referring to the famed concept of the “bucket list”, which is another way of saying, all the things we want to do before we “kick the bucket” (a PG13 synonym phrase for “die”). I started thinking about what’s on my bucket list, as life often seems so much shorter than we anticipate it to be.

In all honesty, I am still dreaming of a time where the calendar month will have absolutely no significance to me because everything will be in such perfect balance that it won’t matter if it is January or June. Until that day comes, I decided it was time to make my very own bucket list, and here’s to hoping I get through it!

General disclaimer: I am by no means a daredevil, I actually only take calculated risks and detest adrenaline rushes, so your bucket list doesn’t have to exclusively combine a bunch of life threatening activities that make you wish you were actually dead, like scuba diving with sharks. For all you out there with a twisted desire to jump out of a plane, I’ll be waiting at the bottom with a camera. My list looks a little more this:

1. Visit South America. Luckily, I just happened to have a cousin that lives in Buenos Aires. How many people can say that? This wish is likely to come true very soon as I have a trip lined up in the new year.
2. Learn Spanish. I took Spanish I and II but never continued even though I adored the language. Who knows, maybe I’ll go to South America, learn Spanish this new year and never come back…
3. Go rock climbing. I have already been hiking on some pretty unfriendly terrain, but rock climbing seems absolutely fantastic.
4. Go hiking in Nepal. One of my best friends, Nora Al-Rowaished started her very own non-profit called OX Adventure. I fully intend on going to their next trip to Nepal. I was supposed to go this last Eid but as fate would have it, it wasn’t meant to be. Nora, I promise you I’ll be there in the new year!
5. Own a summer home in Southern California. I went to university in Arizona, but will never forget the bliss I felt every time the plane touched down in Southern Cali. I know everyone always thinks of Los Angeles in this arena, but I’m more of a San Diego girl at heart. I would love to spend summers in this beautiful state.
6. Learn how to surf. I think my previous wish goes hand-in-hand with this one, don’t you?
7. Hike Kilimanjaro. Just kidding, that’s so cliché.
8. Attend a masquerade ball in Venice. That’s right I said it…. IN Venice. Boom. Also I’m completely and utterly as obsessed with masquerade masks as I am with Vampires (don’t ask). Should Venice prove slightly unattainable I will consider settling for a similar ball in a closer nation.
9. Ride a Helicopter, because why not, it’s the new year!
10. Add a lock to the love bridge in Paris. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic that watched that episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians when Kourtney and Scott padlock their love on a lock at the famed bridge. Not that their relationship is by any means a goal, I would still love to take part in the cheesiness of it all one day with someone special.
11. Go to an NBA All-Stars game. Although my father is a hardcore Greenbay Packers fan, I much prefer basketball to American Football when it comes to watching a sport. I won’t pretend that I have a team, so I think attending the all-stars game would be very fitting.
12. Run a marathon. I’m not talking about something crazy, but 10K would be nice.
13. Ride a motorcycle. I don’t have to be the driver, but I have always wanted to do this as much as it scares the life out of me.
14. Live in another country for a while. University doesn’t count, I would love to actually experience living somewhere other than Kuwait for once.
15. Make amends with everyone. Regarding any loose ends or any situations left without closure, I would never want to leave this world before clearing the air.

This list can keep going on forever, but I will leave it at that for now. What’s on your bucket list?!