 Things to Do Before You Die
Death is a dramatic subject to begin with and
I try to avoid thinking about it because to do otherwise would make it hard to concentrate
on life. I prefer to assume life has an ending, but I do not refer to it as death, and
since we are all tourists in this world, there should be some things we take with us
before we leave. What could those be? Many memories and a cheerful life that will bring
more bonuses at the end, I think.
Hopefully, no one will be leaving soon, but a book reminded me to think about a certain
kind of list. The book Unforgettable Things to Do Before You Die, written by
Steve Watkins and Clare Jones, inspired me to think about my list. This book offers a list
that suggests you travel around the world before you die though these all depend on
specific tastes. Some examples from the book:
*Traveling to France to visit castles and taste wine
*Listening to the opera Aida in Italy
*Traveling on an elephant in Nepal
*Leaving the life of a immigrant warrior in Mongolia
*Watching volcanoes in Guatemala
*Riding a bicycle near a rice field in Vietnam
*Looking at Vietnam from the Great Wall of China
*Joining a wild animal hunt in Tanzania
There are many other examples in the book, including seeing Istanbul with its feature of
being the place where east and west mix. The list is quite nice, but as I said, it depends
on specific tastes. Criticizing a book is not a good thing, since we are a country where
reading rates are very low, but I can't help but criticize the list the authors put
forward. As a person who thinks that locations become nicer by their pairing of people and
as a result of memories, these places mean nothing to me at all.
My list is very specific since we have very different lives and tastes in the world.
Looking over the sea in Istanbul means so much more to me than looking at the Nile in
Egypt. Traveling on an elephant in Nepal would never make me as happy as going to the park
where I injured my eyebrow when I was 5 years old. Tasting wine in France would never warm
my heart compared with having a Sunday breakfast with my family. If I think in a
pessimistic way, a rice field would just remind me bugs and becoming tired and itchy
because of the grassy places. On the other hand, wild animal hunting could really be a
last thing to do before you die. Watching a Volcano in Guatemala, which is really noisy
and formless, would not be on my list; I would prefer to sit on my balcony at the
summerhouse, with my cousins, like in the old days, and watch the sea and waves. Leaving
the life of an immigrant warrior in Mongolia is a waste of time if I am leaving, why not
meet with the people one by one who are really remarkable for my life and buy them small
presents that will remind them of me?
Leaving behind the pessimistic thoughts, my aim is not to disparage the book and those
places and activities mentioned. There are many beauties in the world that will bring joy.
But, instead thinking about things to do before you "leave" would be perfect
when you associate these things with your past life instead of things that require money,
effort and which are fairly cliché.
Now do you have an urgency to make your own list as I did when I read the book? Farewell!
Gülay Acar (COMD/IV)
howtoreachgulay@yahoo.com
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