Since it is somehow 13th March already, which makes it exactly 5 months until my birthday and the end of year one of my 40 before 40, I thought I would give you a little progress report. Not that I’ve done much in the seven months since my last birthday, but I do have a few things to report on.
Number 2: Beat Jan at mini golf
Jan always beats me at mini golf and I was determined to beat him at least once. Amazingly, I actually managed this just a couple of weeks after starting the challenge. You can read about it here.
Number 5: Read the rest of the books from the BBC Big Read that I didn’t manage before turning 35
At the start I had 63 left to read and since last August I have finished five of them. Outlander, Trainspotting, Far From the Madding Crowd, The Woman in White and The World According to Garp.
Number 14: Read a book published in each year of my life ( =one book each from 1983 until 2023)
So far I have read books from 20 years, which is almost half (I need 41 in total). You can see them all here. Of course I have read multiple books for some years, but only the first one counts.
Number 16: Try 10 foods or dishes that I haven’t had before
I ate veal kidneys in Yverdon-le- Bains. Admittedly by accident because Jan didn’t know the French word for kidney so I only knew I was getting veal something. But it still counts!
Number 22: Visit a new place in Switzerland for each letter of my first name
So far, I have visited four – Burgdorf, Einsiedeln, Lugano and Yverdon-les-Bains. Not in that order. I actually went to Yverdon-les-Bains first. Nothing like beginning at the end 😉
So only one thing actually crossed off but quite a few in progress. Not a bad start. Obviously I won’t be able to complete number 14 until the year I turn 40 because I can’t read books that haven’t even been published yet 😉 but hopefully I will have a few more things completed the next time I check in… whenever that might be.
Confuzzledom 
What a great list! I love this idea!
Thanks. It’s fun to try and cross things off.
What a super fun challenge! I am turning 50 this year and should make myself a list haha. My big goal has been to celebrate EVERYTHING.
Celebrating EVERYTHING sounds like an excellent plan! 😀
What fun! Well done for beating Jan! I’ve NEVER beaten Chris (or indeed ANYONE) in a swimmming race and I long to! You’re doing well with the books and the new places in Switzerland!x
Thank you for the idea with the places for letters of my name. It’s a great travel motivator!
You’re doing well! I like the challenge of reading one books for each year of life. I want to give that a try some day!
You should definitely try it. I bet you can already cross off loads.
It sounds like you’re making good progress! Lugano is on my list…was it as beautiful as it is meant to be?
It is beautiful but really… crowded is the best word I can come up with. Not as in loads of people but every bit of space is absolutely crammed with buildings. The streets in the centre are all quite narrow and the buildings are really tall so it felt a bit like being in a maze!
Oh I see. How interesting. I suppose everyone trying to squeeze a home for themselves in such a hot spot.
Yes, that could be it. And it’s stuck in between mountains so can’t really expand outwards – tall buildings are the only option. It’s definitely still pretty and has a very Italian feel but I’m not sure I could live there. I like my open spaces and parks!
I prefer open spaces too 😁
That’s a big challenge. I’ve managed to read rather more books these last few months than I usually do, but I couldn’t read 63 in five years, and Far From the MC and The Woman in White aren’t quick reads (both wonderful). I like the idea of visiting places starting with the letters of your name, a good excuse to travel. It wouldn’t take me very long to do though. Did you like the kidneys? My generation grew up on offal and I love them, but a lot of youngsters (I include you as a youngster…) won’t eat it. Well done so far.
I ate most of the kidneys but I couldn’t finish them. I didn’t mind the taste but I found the texture a bit off-putting.
I’ve read 57 books already this year so 65 in 6 years should be easy. If only I could force myself to read those books rather than everything else under the sun 😉