Thursday, November 29, 2007

when AMBITION slaps you squarely on your face!

I suppose all college kids (naive and idealistic) goes through it... and I was no exception when I gave in and wrote myself a rather exhaustive list of "To Dos" in my life. Stumbling upon it last weekend I decided to "tick" off my accomplishments which needless to say left me depressed.

Here goes (in no particular order) . . .

1. Visit the following places:
  • Taj Mahal [Jan '08]
  • Cairo Citadel [1999]
  • Pyramid of Giza & Sphinx [1999 - N.B. must do the full works again]
  • Angkor Wat [2006]
  • Machu Picchu
  • Stonehenge
  • Petra - the Nabatean empire
  • Red Sea [tested & floated 1999]
  • Galapagos Islands
  • African Safari - Serengeti Migration if possible
  • Amazon rainforest
  • Alhambra [2001]
  • Borobudur & Prambanan [1996]
  • Venice during the Carneval [2007]
  • Hadrians Wall by road [twice between 2000 to 2004]
  • routes along the Trans-Siberia rail - from Shanghai/Beijing to Moscow or other way around
  • semi-active volcano [Probollingo and Mount Merapi 1996]
  • Outback Australia via Train
  • Central Asia with a 4WD Expedition
  • authentic Arabian tea house and bazaar [1999 - smoked shishak and danced]
2. Things to do :
  • Attend a World Cup Match and complete watching the entire season on TV [1998 France-UK]
  • Meet Salman Rushdie in person
  • Home-stay in a French Chateau for a week
  • Attend a photo camp by Steve McCurry
  • Go alcohol free [since 2000]
  • купите kompakt камеру в России - Buy a KOMPAKT camera in Russia (St. Petersburg)
  • Go to law school [2003 - proudly dropped out a year later!]
  • Write and publish a travellog or book
  • Watch a tuna auction!
  • Attend a cricket Test Series
  • Participate in a LOMO Convention
  • Take medicine [2006 - accepted in Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy but aborted plans]
  • Learn children book illustration formally
  • Volunteer as a NGO and be more involved in charitable and fundraising work [the later ongoing]
  • Do more for the environment
  • Take up shooting as a sport [2005]
  • прочитайте Анну Кейрнина (Лео Толстой) на русском языке - Read Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina in Russian
  • Be a good mother, wife, and compatible companion to a kind, talented and amazing guy

I'm thinking off...

going "WIDE"... really "WIDE".
...............................................................but how wide is wide? prime or zoom?