My reverse bucket list

I'm not really a fan of the bucket list craze that seems to be sweeping the world (and travellers in particular!). I don't mind a spot of travel daydreaming, but the idea of making a really long list of things I must do before I die is a bit overwhelming (especially since I have no idea how long I have until then - ten years or fifty?), and I was grateful to read a post from my friend Nora of The Professional Hobo saying that she thought the same way. Instead, she thought a more useful step would be to write a reverse bucket list and I decided that was such a great idea I would do exactly that.

A reverse bucket list, Nora decided, is a list of things you have already achieved in life that are the kind of things worthy of being on a bucket list. What a great way to reflect on and celebrate all the great things you've already done? I've had a good think about what this list might include for me and since quite a number of them are related to travel and culture, I decided to share my reverse bucket list here.

Me on the Trans-Siberian ... back in the days of massive video cameras

Amanda's Reverse Bucket List

1. Riding the Trans-Siberian train across Russia. A real "lifetime achievement" for me, I was so happy to make a trip I'd been daydreaming about for many years.
2. Living in a foreign country. (Check; three times! For the uninitiated: Japan, Slovakia and Germany, teaching English as I went.)
3. Visiting 40 countries. That's more than the average Joe.
4. Becoming fluent in another language. My German is still not, and won't ever be, perfect, but when I joined a German playgroup here in Perth last year, a couple of members assumed I was German, just with a slight accent from being in Australia for a while. For me, that's as good as being fluent!!
5. Having a family - the young traveller is the best thing of all on my reverse bucket list. Oh and my husband's pretty nice too (and he helped me a lot in achieving #4!).
6. Being paid to work as a writer. I'd still love to (and am determined to) publish a novel, but in the meantime getting paid to write has certainly fulfilled one of my childhood ambitions.
7. Getting my Masters degree. It's in education and helps me plenty with the blogging and social media training I do.

Thanks so much for the idea, Nora - and now over to my readers - what is on your reverse bucket list?