A quick note from your sponsor...

As every one jumps on the fitness bandwagon and starts signing up for events, a polite note regarding sponsorship requests. My chosen charities are NSPCC, Alzheimer's Society, Parkinson's UK, and The RNOH Charity . Like many I have leant towards those that I have a connection with. Where possible I have tried to support these by way of monthly direct debit as I believe this is most beneficial to them. In the past I have cancelled some of my direct debits and instead sponsored individuals as I felt bad turning them down and think it important to encourage people to support charities but cannot afford to do both. This of course has meant that I am supporting your chosen charities and not mine. By all means ask but please don't be offended if I decline your request.

Note:  I will be more inclined to sponsor events that pose a real physical or mental challenge e.g. NOT a 5k fun run.

P.S. and please whatever you do don't ask me to sponsor you so you can fulfill some bucket list item under the guise of charity, like a parachute jump. If you want to do a parachute jump pay for the cost of it yourself and put all sponsorship money to the charity (as well as your donation) instead of funding it out of the sponsorship money!

A Year in Provence ... Part 2

So having rekindled my love affair with 'la bonne vie', what to do about it? Now I'm not naive, I know the dream often does not meet the reality. So let's start with what I did not like about my trip. 

Firstly, mosquitoes. I've always been some what of an attraction for these critters. Whilst my wife remained bite free, I was bitten to shreds and am still scratching myself raw. Secondly, the bloody cockerels waking me up at 05:30, and then virtually 'snoozing' to repeat their bird song every ten minutes. Now I think I was getting used to this as I seemed to notice it less and wake up later as the week went on. 

Finally, the sun. Yes the very thing that makes it so attractive. By 09:00 it was already on its way to 30. On such a short holiday you feel compelled to make hay, as they say, whilst the sun shines but it was far too hot some days and made for uncomfortable nights sleeping. Given more than a week I guess I would acclimatise more but at the same time would have to adopt a more European approach to the midday sun and escape it. 

From an economic point of view the pound is recovering, French property prices have been falling whilst French property taxes have been rising. In the past, UK ex-pats have often set up businesses to serve other ex-pats but with an increasing number of ex-pats returning to the UK this is hitting them. The other favourite is having holiday properties to let but there is already an abundance of these.

With all of the volatility in the EU at the moment the Euro has suffered and could further suffer if countries like Greece and Spain decline further. Ex-pat pensioners have already suffered with currency fluctuations. If the UK withdrew from the Euro zone then working and living in France would become even harder.

Divorce rates for couples who emigrate to France are high, chances of employment for non-French speaking persons are low. The French education system does not go out of its way to accommodate non-French speaking children often setting them back a year to compensate and not providing further help. Private schooling is better but only add to the cost of living.

So where does this leave my French dream? Well from a schooling point alone it puts it on hold until the kids finish school by which time I will be nearing retirement but I do not want to wait that long which brings us back to compromise. Being a home worker I can work from home, wherever that may be, as long as I have a decent internet connection. With kids being at school they have six weeks summer holiday each year. So I like the idea of letting a property for one month each year abroad. Maybe Provence one year, Tuscany another, Murcia the next, who knows.

But there remains an obstacle. Finance. My wife currently still needs to work and cannot get that much time off. So either she needs a job or business that allows her to work remotely or I need to earn enough for her not to work! Hmmmm......????

The last word

It has to be said, some of the best conversations and some of the best ideas are the ones at the end of an evening on the drink. lol

Kicking the bucket list

Bucket lists. Is this what I need? I guess there is some similarity between the life less ordinary and a bucket list. The result of both is to look back on your death bed and think 'wow, I did a lot of fantastic things during my life' or maybe just have some great tales to tell the grand kids and the lads down the pub. 

The internet has allowed people to share their bucket lists and a number of books and magazine articles similarly publish lists of 'things you must do before you die'. A side effect of this is that it suggested ideas rather than prompting people to look at what THEY would really like to do. Writing this I can't help but keep thinking of 'swimming with dolphins', brain-washing in full effect.

My first issue I have with many bucket lists is the income levels required to complete them. Judging by many I've seen, the first item on my list should be 'make my millions' (or rob a bank) at which point the completing the rest of the list will become a whole lot easier. By publishing such lists they're effectively creating markets for experiences and we can't ignore the fact that everyone is after our hard earned cash these days. If there's a common desire amongst people then someone will have identified it as an income opportunity.

So for many bucket list items that were once symbolic of 'off the beaten track/life less ordinary' experiences have now become package holidays or off-the-shelf experience-in-a-box (or red letter) solutions. In doing so surely they have made less ordinary things ordinary!? Surely, this is robbing the experience of  it's very essence leaving you in the pub regaling your tale of glory only to have a friend interject with a 'yeah, I known a couple of mates that did that'.

The second key difference between a life less ordinary and a bucket list is that the bucket list has a deadline, quite literally as it happens. Deadlines are great, especially the whooshing sound they make as they whizz by, but that is part of the problem. Assuming my deadline is age 71 then I have thirty years to complete my list, plenty of time, now pass me a Pringle and we'll see what's on the tv. There lies the problem, we're back to doing our school homework at 10pm on a Sunday evening. Procrastination.

Yep, a life less ordinary is a way of life, not a check list. It's not about spreading the to-do list over my remaining time, it's about cramming as much fun into my life every year, month, week or day. Putting things off is how I got to this mid-life ... situation. No, what I need is not a bucket list but ideas. Ideas and self-discipline.