5 things ... I dream of doing someday

Amanda over at A Permanent Flux posts 5 things about any topic of her choosing every Sunday, and, as I am a big fan of open ended memes (lookin' at you, IBOT, Things I Know, Sunday Selections) I thought I might start playing along.

For my inaugural 5 things, I thought I'd dig into the aspirational / daydreaming side of me and drag out some long-term goals / desires that I hope to one day fulfill. I don't have a particular timeframe on these - it's not a by-40, by-50 proposition - and I'm cool with the knowledge that I may not achieve all of them. But it's nice to have dreams tucked away in your back pocket, as life happens to you.

1. Visit Antarctica
For a person who hates the cold, this is kind of an odd one, but I have always wanted to go on an Antarctic cruise. The visuals, the photos, the meeting of ice and sky, the Aurora Australis ... One day, one day.

2. Publish a novel
My earliest ambition was to be a writer, and I've never really left it behind. I am in fact a writer (of sorts) now, earning my income through business / professional writing, but I still hanker for a fiction publication, and I won't stop writing novels, short stories, and half-formed starts anytime soon.

3. Ride the Orient Express from end to end
Ever since reading Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, I have wanted to travel on this train, first class, all the way from Paris to Istanbul. At 2013 prices, that's set me back, oh, around $30,000 or so, but hey. I can dream, right?

4. Become proficient at a musical instrument (probably piano)
I learned piano for 3 years as a child, and have recently started lessons again with my 7 year old. I am getting there - sight-reading music is coming back to me, and I can pick out basic tunes (I'm a fiend on Blowin' in the Wind and Eight Days a Week, just ask my kids!) but I would really love to be better, to be able to play any piece of music after a few run-throughs, to feel it. This will take many more years of practice, as I well know.

5. Have a dedicated library room in my house
My friend (and former employer) J and I share this fantasy - a long, purpose-built library, with comfy reading spaces, floor to ceiling shelving, rolling library ladders and (preferably) a bay window at the end with a window seat. I picture myself, occasional table by my side, sipping tea with lemon and nibbling fudge, while reading old and new favourites, warm sunlight spilling through the window, the air just faintly smelling of paper and lavender. HEAVEN.

So there you go - that's 5 things I dream about. I hope I do at least some of them over the course of the next 40 years or so!