‘Before I Die…‘ is a series of posts about all the (feasible) things I want to experience and the places I want to see… before I die.
view the list
-KIRITIMATI ISLAND
I’ve got less than 15,000 days before I die to explore the 197,000,000 square miles of Earth and try its infinite experiences.
-John V Cain
Where in the world is the biggest way to celebrate the end of a year and the start of the new? Most would say New York’s Times Square, AKA “The Crossroads of the World” and “The Center of The Universe”.
Having an apartment just a walk away from there, it’s just another urban intersection to me, like how the Eiffel Tower is just a tower to long-time Parisians.
Don’t get me wrong, watching that ball drop at midnight amidst a crowd of what seems like millions is on many a bucket list for a good reason. But I first saw it as a child then many times after so the magic is long gone.
Once you do something in the biggest way possible, you can’t go bigger, so before I die, I want to go smaller and celebrate a New Year’s on Kiritimati Island. Here’s why…
There is something super special and ultra unique about celebrating the New Year there. And I’m not talking about the fact that it’s a small tropical paradise island of which is special and unique in its own right.
Kiritimati Island of The Republic of Kiribati is quite literally where time begins, therefore it’s where the new year starts before anywhere else in the world.
Look at that map, the island is about as middle of nowhere on Earth you can get. In fact, its right smack in the middle of Australia / East Asia and the Americas – that’s an an unfathomable expanse of space.
This isolate location puts Kiritimati Island at the most forward of the first of the world time zones, UTC +14 to be exact. In essence, where time begins.
Imagine lounging on the beach of the Eastern most tip of the island and being the first person of the 7.3 billion people on Earth to enter into a new year.
Quantum theory proves that time doesn’t actually exist, or at the least it’s just a function of relativity.
But I think it’s still a pretty cool bucket list experience to fulfill before I die, besides, it’s a bona fide paradise.
Before I Die… celebrate a New Year’s Eve on Kiritimati Island, Kiribati
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4 Comments
Great bucket list. I find it amazing how “the place where time begins” just happens to be a beautiful island in the middle of nowhere.
I remember freezing my ass off for the ball drop in Times Square, this place seems… nice.
Holy shit, looking at that map, the logistics of getting to Kiritimati seems like a nightmare of an adventure, that’s a good thing.
I remember reading about this place once, apparently they did nuclear bomb tests years ago, I suppose its a good place to do it since Christmas island is so far from anything.