Milestones

In the past few weeks I have passed a few more milestones. I’ve been in the apartment a little over a year now. We sold the house (that was an intense and somewhat unsatisfying experience — a long story but the important part is that the deal is signed and will close in early July). The divorce is in the last queue for the signing of the final order. Once that is signed everything will be legally complete 31 days later.

However, so much time was spent working on prepping the house for sale in April that I got no writing/editing done and my taxes are late (again) this year.

As I cross some of these big things off the To Do list, I look at other lists — I have been keeping a bit of a “bucket list” of things that I most want to do and see — plus I am continuing to look for those experiences that I can enjoy as part of my Year of Yes. On Monday, I took in one of those experiences: reading some of my early diary entries for Grownups Read Things They Wrote as Kids — and was recorded for potential inclusion in the podcast.

Action shot, reading my diary on stage for GRTTWaK, at the Victoria Event Centre.

So… what’s on that bucket list? I’ve really been thinking about that. Thinking about places I want to go, things I want to try. Obviously these can’t all be done back to back and some may take much more planning and/or work. Some may never come to pass but I am going to put these out there, just in case someone can help make them happen.

Bucket List? by Vernon Chan

— Publish a YA fiction book and sell a few copies to people I don’t know.
— Drive a car on a racetrack and/or drive a derby car
— Visit various places in Canada I’ve yet to see (esp: Yukon, Toronto, maritime provinces)
— Visit Japan (Tokyo ideally)
— Give a TED talk or similar
— Go camping on my own
— Learn to read Tarot well
— Learn to ride a motorbike (& get that license)
— Take a foraging class – especially mushrooms
— Get a sizable role in a local stage production

Those are just the ones that have been front of mind of late. This list will likely change — expand or contract — and the travel list is very long but I threw in some highlights. Do you think I’ve missed something obvious?