Seventy years, seventy challenges: the list

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And so to the list. 

I'm pretty happy with my life and having done a shed load of different things over the last 50 years, these days I get the most pleasure from simple things - and I'm lucky enough to live in a fabulous part of the world. So there are no eye-wateringly expensive journeys to remote parts of the world, no 'visit 70 countries in a year' challenges, no cruises, no skydiving. To some people maybe my life here and my life/lost choices are rather ordinary - but all will bring me joy, push me to live my life to the full, and are mostly things that I don't usually make time to do. 


Some of them will push me out of my comfort zone, all of them are life-enhancing, and most importantly all of them are things that I can do if I only make the choice to do them. What's the point of making a bucket list of epic but undoable things that's going to sit sadly unticked in 18 months time because I never actually wanted to go to go ziplining in Alaska/bungee jump off a canyon in Australia/spend the winter in Thailand?

Here, in no particular order, are the 70 challenges I intend to complete before I hit 71 on 11 October 2026.


  1. Write a blog about doing 70 for seventy - here it is!

  2. Reach level at least A2 in Spanish

  3. Do Pilates at least 3 times a week

  4. Do cardio/HIIT/fast walking once a week

  5. Cook dinners for friends

  6. Have a 70th birthday party

  7. Go to 4 Convivencia concerts 

  8. Go to at least one rock concert

  9. Do a dance workshop and /or see a dance performance

  10. Go to a hairdresser (once!)

  11. Practise gratitude every day

  12. Spend a day on the top of Pic du Midi

  13. Do at least 10 new local walks

  14. Do a new year swim in 2026

  15. Knit a scarf

  16. Walk by the sea at least once every month

  17. Swim in the sea at least once a month between April and October 

  18. Learn to juggle

  19. Fly a kite on the beach

  20. Grow my hair

  21. Spend a day in a city

  22. Get a tattoo

  23. Watch the summer solstice sunrise

  24. Watch the winter solstice sunrise 

  25. Swim in Lac de Jouarres at sunset

  26. Go and see the Christmas lights in Béziers

  27. Take a boat trip

  28. Have a posh picnic somewhere beautiful

  29. Get back to 57,5kg

  30. Continue to learn more about and practise positive aging

  31. Eat out solo somewhere totally new

  32. Come out as happily separated-and-single

  33. Ride in a tourist bus or train

  34. Go out for an Indian meal

  35. See everything as if for the first time

  36. Go to Pic de Nore

  37. Walk on Espinouse

  38. List and honour all the things I’ve done in my life that have inspired me and made me who I am

  39. Dance, often

  40. Meditate, regularly

  41. Try more local wines

  42. Do a mind puzzle every day

  43. Dress up and drink a cocktail

  44. Complete a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle

  45. Do some shamanic rituals and ceremony

  46. Say no more

  47. But also say yes!

  48. Breathe deeply and mindfully for 5 minutes every day

  49. Go to at least 3 new museums or galleries

  50. Go out for tea/coffee and cake

  51. Go out wearing red lipstick

  52. Make a playlist of 70 favourite pieces of music

  53. Be a Zorba the Buddha

  54. Paint a watercolour picture

  55. Celebrate one thing every day

  56. Cook some new recipes from my cookbooks

  57. Take the one euro train

  58. Explore Narbonne as a tourist

  59. Mark each of the Celtic festival days

  60. Seek joy in everyday life

  61. Buy some flippers and go snorkeling

  62. Teach Indie something new

  63. Spend a day at a spa

  64. Get my French passport

  65. Buy some shoes that aren’t trainers (and wear them)

  66. Do at least one course to learn something new

  67. Stop feeling guilty about reading during the day

  68. Use weights or resistance bands twice a week

  69. Buy some clothes that aren’t what I’d usually wear (and wear them)

  70. Carpe every one of my remaining Diems

I plan to write about some of these over the coming months so I have a permanent record of what I did (and hopefully not what I failed miserably to do!).

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