I’ve never liked the term “bucket list”. To me that term just comes with some negative baggage. It seems focused on the wrong end of things, of someone about to die who is looking back on their life. While I’m sure that moment will come to me at some point, and there is certainly nothing wrong with productive reflection, that isn’t where I am right now. Right now I am living that life. My intent in making a list of things I want to do isn’t because I’m afraid I’ll regret missing things (even if that might be true), but rather is that I want to make a list of things to do because I actually want to do those things.
Since I hate the term but love the concept, rather than bucket list I’m going to call this my “to do” list. It is a reminder of all the amazing things out there in the world that I want to accomplish and experience and appreciate. Though I am a man who appreciates a good checklist, ::cough:: Understatement ::cough:: I’ve written this down to be more than just that. These aren’t just vague and aspirational goals to daydream about. I intend this to be a source of personal inspiration and encouragement, as something that will keep me focused on the very real and very big expectations I have for my life. I reserve the right to update this frequently.
Adventure
– Live abroad (6 months in Singapore, 1997)
– Bungee Jump from a bridge (May, 1998 in Taiwan)
– Ride a camel. (March 2001, in the Australian Outback)
– Learn to scuba. (April 2001, in Indonesia)
– Walk underneath a waterfall (March 2010, Honduras)
– Swim through an underground cave system (April 2010, Belize and Guatemala)
– Fly over the Nazca Lines (May 2010, Nazca, Peru)
– Make a pilgrimage.
– Live on an island for a year.
– Dive with whale sharks.
– Swim with dolphins.
– Rappel into a giant cave.
– Re-read “Lost Horizon” in Nepal.
– Experience weightlessness.
– Go to space.
– Watch turtles hatch and run for the sea.
– Go on an African Safari.
– Sleep in a hut out over the ocean somewhere in the South Pacific.
– Scuba the Great Barrier Reef.
– Ride an elephant.
– Ride a hot air balloon.
– Cuddle a giant fruit bat.
– Find a wild rhinoceros beetle on a hike.
– Hike out of the Grand Canyon.
– Attend a yoga retreat.
– Attend Burning Man.
– Go to a really good psychic.
– Spend the night in a haunted house. (Again. The first time was near Roswell New Mexico, but we didn’t know it until morning.)
– See the aurora borealis.
– Run through ice fog (then immediately fly to the tropics!).
– See a full eclipse of the sun (and think about “Watcher In The Woods”).
– Attend a lantern festival in Thailand.
– Sleep in a castle.
– Swim with the jellyfish in Palau.
– See the green flash of sunset.
– See the monarch migration in Mexico.
– Dive to a shipwreck.
– Take a train ride in a sleeper car.
Learn/Grow
– Work with a mentor.
– Be a mentor to someone else.
– Make friends with someone I admire.
– Learn Spanish. Moderately fluent.
– Learn to play a song on the guitar.
– Attend the World Domination Summit. (I’ve got my tickets for 2014!)
– Go to an Opening Ceremony of the Olympics.
Give/Community
– Do something memorably amazing for another person who deserves it.
– Volunteer in another country.
– Raise money for a cause I believe in that substantively helps someone.
– Invest $1,000 in someone.
Health/Fitness
– Run a half-marathon. (May 2013, Frederick MD)
– Run a marathon.
– Eat a meal that I’ve grown myself in a garden.
– 200+ mile bike tour.
Achieve
– Produce a documentary about something I’m passionate about.
– Be awesome enough to be asked to give a TED talk.
– Write a blog post that gets 1,000 Likes on the Facebook.
Artistic/Creative
– Perform on Broadway (November 2002)
– Act in a movie. Preferably a sweet, coming of age tale or a deliciously bad monster movie, but I’m not gonna be picky.
– Take a photograph so good that someone wants to buy a copy.
– Go see a classic ballet.
– Write a book.
– Sing more.
Miscellaneous
– Have dinner with a pop culture celebrity.
– Find and read the sequel to “Swiss Family Robinson” that was written by Jules Verne.
Travel
– Angkor Wat (May 2001, Cambodia)
– Arecibo (November 2003, Puerto Rico)
– Very Large Array (May 2009, New Mexico)
– Tikal (March 2010, Guatemala)
– Machu Picchu (May 2010, Peru)
– Easter Island
– Petra
– Victoria Falls
– The Pyramids/Sphinx
– Iceland
– Death Valley
– Sedona
– Great Wall of China
– Borobudar
– Seychelles
– Visit all the continents.
. North America (courtesy of being born here)
. Asia (August 1997)
. Australia (January 1998)
. South America (May 2010)
. Europe (August 2012)
. Africa
. Antarctica
– Visit all 50 States (39/50)