[Note from Frolic: We are so excited to have author Rebecca Raisin guest post on the site today. Take it away Rebecca!]
I’m not the most adventurous person when it comes to daredevil bucket list activities. You won’t find me doing loop-de-loops with a stunt pilot. Or climbing over the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Never, ever will I be flung high into the Indonesian sky in an adult size slingshot. And forget swimming with sharks. Yet, these are just a few of the ‘gifts’ I’ve bought for my significant other. Every time I subject him to one of these high octane pursuits he asks me if I’m trying kill him! I’m not, I promise, but the scaredy-cat part of me gets a huge thrill living vicariously through him without actually having to put my own life on the line.
Of course, he regularly threatens me with payback. Taunting me about skydiving, bungee jumping, zip lining, but he knows if he actually presented me with any of these experiences, unlike him, I’d make an excuse about leaving a pot on the stove and haul ass out of there!
I’m a bookworm at heart so my bucket list has more a literary bent and who doesn’t like matching a book to an experience, right?! Most things I want to see or do are related to books I’ve read or places my favourite authors once inhabited in some way, which will come as no surprise to most of my fellow book worms, I’m sure!
Here are my top five bucket list wishes…
1. Topping the list is every bibliophile’s dream: Travel to Scotland and run The Open Book, a little bookshop by the sea.
For a very reasonable price this Airbnb listing includes accomodation and the chance to live your dreams as a bookshop owner! Imagine spending a week in the Scottish Lowlands, whilst helping customers hunt for that special tome… If this sounds like the ideal escape check out the listing here: https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/7908227?s=51
Suggested reading: Thorn in my Heart by Liz Curtis Higgs
2. Visit the Hemingway home in Key West, Florida.
I’ve always wanted to see where literary legend Ernest Hemingway lived and loved and wrote some of his greatest work in the balmy winds of South Florida. The Spanish colonial style house is open to the public for tours, you can meet the famous polydactyl (six-toed) cats, see his desk complete with typewriter, and his collection of books. Find the penny by the pool that he famously dropped into wet cement. I’ve been obsessed with Hemingway since reading A Moveable Feast about his early days in Paris surrounded by literary greats who were just making their names, like Gertrude Stein, F Scott Fitzgerald, and the other members of the Lost Generation. I like the idea that he eventually settled in Key West and made friendships with the locals and wrote some of his best known work there. And if you’re so inclined you can even hire the house for your wedding ceremony… https://www.hemingwayhome.com/legend/
Suggested reading: At First Light by Vanessa Lafaye
3. Walk the Camino.
I’ve been quietly contemplating doing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage after reading the book, The Year We Seized the Day by Australian writers, Elizabeth Best and Colin Bowles. Their unique stories really touched me and I felt every bump, every blister as they walked the Camino looking for some kind of redemption in their lives. I can only imagine walking all those miles would give me ample time to plot, to imagine, and to really push my physical body to its limits. There are so many books written about the Camino and what the pilgrimage signifies for each individual from religious reasons, to spiritual, to just plain physical. That’s the beauty of the Camino, it means whatever you want it to mean and the only thing that each pilgrim agrees on is that they’re indelibly changed afterwards and life is never quite the same again. What secrets lie along those paths…? I am desperate to find out!
Suggested reading: Chasing Shadows by T.A. Williams
4. Learn a language!
This has been on my bucket list for quite some time, going way back to when I read Eat, Pray, Love as Liz tried to learn Italian. I’ve dabbled with learning French, ooh la la, and Italian before getting myself totally muddled and giving up. However this year I’ve decided enough is enough and have joined a ten-week Indonesian course with a teacher to kick start my journey. Bali is only a three-hour plane ride away so I intend to have holidays there under the guise of practicing my linguistic skills…, totally legit, right?
Suggested reading: When in French, Love in a Second Language by Lauren Collins
5. Participate in olive harvesting in Italy.
Like the millions of people who read Under the Tuscan Sun I immediately yearned to pack up and head to Italy! To immerse myself in the culture, to get know the locals as if I was a long lost family member returned to the fold, not just a tourist stopping by for a few weeks. I imagined myself waking with bird song on a hot Italian summer day, donning some work clothes, a hat and heading out to help tease the olives from the trees. Carting crates of olives to the press to watch them go from fruit to liquid gold right before my eyes! It would be a dream come true to have a hand in a helping a batch of oil come to life, and even better tasting the fruit of your labours; thick crusty fresh-baked bread dipped in lovingly made olive oil, could there be anything better? It’s still a dream at this stage but I hope one day to get to bella Italy and pretend I’m a local, even just for a little while…!
Suggested reading: The Olive Branch by Jo Thomas.
Thanks for reading! Are you an adrenaline junkie, a nomad by heart, or is your bucket list filled with books to read? I’d love to know what your top five would be!
All the best,
Rebecca x
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About the Author:
Rebecca Raisin is a true bibliophile. This love of books morphed into the desire to write them. She’s been published in various short story anthologies and in in fiction magazines, and is now focusing on writing romance.
Rebecca aims to write characters you can see yourself being friends with. People with big hearts who care about relationships, and most importantly believe in true love.
Come and say hello to Rebecca on her Facebook Page or Twitter.
Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop by Rebecca Raisin
Rosie Lewis has her life together.
A swanky job as a Michelin-Starred Sous Chef, a loving husband and future children scheduled for exactly January 2021.
That’s until she comes home one day to find her husband’s pre-packed bag and a confession that he’s had an affair.
Heartbroken and devastated, Rosie drowns her sorrows in a glass (or three) of wine, only to discover the following morning that she has spontaneously invested in a bright pink campervan to facilitate her grand plans to travel the country.
Now, Rosie is about to embark on the trip of a lifetime, and the chance to change her life! With Poppy, her new-found travelling tea shop in tow, nothing could go wrong, could it…?
