How are my dreams and bucket list going so far this year? You can read it in this blog!
At the start of this year I layed out my thoughts and the feeling that this year could turn out very differently than I was expecting. That is why most bucket list items are quite flexible. I had and still have ideas about how I want to fill in certain things, but the execution is certainly not fixed. Luckily I love spontaneity and go with the flow.
The bucket list for 2024 exists of different things: from travelling to experiences. Some of those… I have achieved it! To the other points on this list I am still really looking forward to.
Visit something music related
Finally, after a dreadful 2023 of attending zero music related experiences… I attended a concert! Not just a concert, I found my way to The Eras Tour all the way in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. This made me so happy, because all the plans that I had in 2023 simply didn’t work out, from festivals to concerts. But being a Swiftie for the past 15 (?!) years, it was amazing that my first music related experience after covid was going to see Taylor Swift.
I also hope to visit other music related things this year. I would love to go to Hamburg, Germany in autumn, the city is known for classical music and it is also one of the musical capitals of the world. It would be amazing to go there, but we’ll see where I end up this year!
Staying in a castle
Depending on how long you’ve been following this blog, you probably know all the unique places I’ve lived in. From an estate to a museum. Now that I’m living in a regular house in the Dutch countryside again, I’m itching to stay in unique places again. For example, last fall I stayed in a converted monastery, which was a very out of the ordinary experience and I can’t get enough of it. So the next logical step seems to me to be a castle? I really have no idea how or where, but I think I’ll do that somewhere in Germany or Austria. Germany in particular is known for the many castles where you can stay.
I haven’t been able to cross this one off my list just yet, because I decided at the very last minute to take on a temporary contract for the late spring till mid summer. Hopefully I will be able to do this this upcoming autumn.
Getting new tattoos
Staying in unique places wasn’t the only thing that started to itch for me. Even though I’ve had tattoos before, this is something I wanted to experience again so much that I decided to put it on my list for this year. I solemnly promise that I will come up with a more specific bucket list in 2025. For this year, I just want to be able to do everything that I already felt like doing in 2023, but couldn’t do then for whatever reason.
And yes, Last February I crossed this off my list! I got two new tattoos on my right arm: a book and nature tattoo and an origami wolf. They came out stunningly!
Visit three new places
I went on quite a lot of trips last year, but mostly to places I had been before. This year I have made it my mission to visit at least three new places. But how did I do so far? Not great, if I am being honest. I mentioned this before in the blogpost but I decided at the very last minute to take on a new contract. So less travelling for me, but then again I am making the money to go on those trips, so let’s hope I will be able to travel a lot in autumn and winter.
I have in particular a lot of German cities that I want to explore: Hamburg, Bremen, Leipzig and Dresden. Austria is also high on my list. But we’ll have to see, since I haven’t booked anything as of yet.
However there is one new place I visited, when I went to The Eras Tour I stayed in Recklinghausen and the concert was in Gelsenkirchen. But since I didn’t truly see a lot of either place, I won’t count these in.
Do five “carefree” things
Every year I come up with a sentence or word that describes how I want to start the year. For 2023 it was: you have nothing to lose. “Carefree” is my word for 2024. As stated at the beginning of this year: I want to go on an adventure, whenever and wherever I can! Completely carefree. That is why I plan to do at least five carefree things and yes, the content is still a surprise for me too!
Did I do it? Yes I did! So far twice. In April I decided very spontaneously to book a hotel and go to the opening of an exhibit in a museum. (Yes, the museum I used to live in!) It was not just to see the artwork, but also to enjoy the little town. That place truly has a piece of my heart and I was so excited to wander around there.
The second “carefree” thing was also travel related, but was for less fun reasons. I went to a memorial service on the other side of the country, but it was quite the obstacle to go there. I just started the new contract, so I had work and also some construction on the train roads made it hard to do just a quick turnaround. So why be quick, why not make a trip out of it? Last minute I booked a hotel for a couple of nights, arranged that I could work in the office (the one from my contract) and most importantly I went to the memorial service. Honestly, it’s a trip I won’t be forgetting anytime soon and I am so happy that I put in the effort to make it happen.
Conclusion
Visit something music related: yes, a Taylor Swift concert.
Staying in a castle: not yet.
Getting new tattoos: Yes, two!
Visit three new places: No, unfortunately not.
Do five “carefree” things: yes, did it two times.
Two and half things done halfway the year sounds like a good deal, especially since I also took on that contract. There is however a reason that could possibly make travelling later this year hard for me. So I have no idea if I can keep this pace up. It would be amazing if I could cross more things off my list and I can’t wait to make more travel plans.
How is your bucket list coming along?
Love,
Leave a Reply