“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
I started this list back in the winter of ’05 right before I packed my bags and headed off to Florence, Italy for a semester. Some people have teased me that I have too many dreams, that it is not possible to accomplish them all. I know my list is quite long, but I am very passionate about life, traveling, and making the most out of it all. After all, there are just so many wonderful and beautiful places to go and things to do and experiences to be had, that I do not want to waste my opportunities. We are better people by the experiences we have and the cultures we encounter. I have decided to call this my Life List instead of Bucket List because it is comprised of things I want to do during my life, not just before I kick the bucket. Plus I think Bucket List has a negative connotation to me.
Some will be easy to accomplish, some are going to take a lot of effort, while others will seem downright impossible. But you never know until you try, and at the very least I want to say that I tried. I will continue to cross things off when the tasks are complete. Here it goes:
PERSONAL
Go on an African safari! 9/28/12-9/30/12 Tarangire and Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Go Skydiving Interlaken Switzerland, Spring 2006
Own an antique car
Sleep under the stars – no tent.
Go deep-sea fishing
Fly a plane
Get something published (other than the magazine articles in college)
Swim with dolphins 2008
Be published as recognized for doing good in the community – Like Chicago’s Best under 30 or something.
Have a full conversation in another language Yellow Bar, Florence, Italy 2006
See a space shuttle launch
Be an extra in a movie Contagion 12.10.10
Ride a camel in the desert Israel, May 2007 & Tanzania Sept. 2012
Learn again to properly ballroom dance with a partner
Learn to play guitar
Spend New Year’s in an exotic location
Ride in a gondola in Venice, Italy with my love
White water rafting Summer 2003
Get passionate about a cause and spend time helping it, instead of just thinking about it.
Start a charity/foundation/organization Social Impact Project TUFC in 2012/SiP 2013
Have a (good) song written for me
Go Trekking with Gorillas (In Uganda)
Volunteer abroad for extended period of time – in an impoverished country – Cross Cultural Solutions, Moshi Kilimanjaro- Tanzania, Africa. Sept 22-Oct 13 2012
Go on an Alaskan Cruise
Go on a World Cruise
Cruise the Mediterranean
Make a quilt
Learn to knit or crochet
Learn to bake a perfect challah
Ride an Elephant
Drive route 66
Celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary
Send mom flowers randomly to say I love you Fall 2010
Be happily married
Have a beautiful wedding and marry the man I love
Have a family my parents (and I) would be proud of
Drive across America coast to coast/ Driving Trip preferably in an RV
Go to a film première
Go to Sundance Film Festival
Visit a Blues Bar Chicago, 2010
Go to a flamenco bar Seville, Spain 2006
Ride in a submarine
Learn how to drive stick shift DC, on a date May 2014
Ride a motorcycle
Volunteer for a local cause January 2010-November 2011
Ride in a horse-drawn carriage with my significant other
Help Build a Habitat for Humanity Home Fall 2008
Go whale watching
Pet a tiger
Hold a monkey –St. Kitts, Oct 2015
Hold a koala bear
Milk a cow
Go to a State fair
Ride tandem bike
Go to a drive-in movie
Ride in a helicopter
Hot air balloon ride
Own a summer home/lake house
Spend a weekend with friends at the OBX
Spend a weekend with friends at a lake/beach house (Friendsgiving 2013 at the river house in Virginia with Megan)
Learn to Ski (water and snow)
Go horseback riding on the beach
Learn how to change a tire on my own
Live in a city other than where I grew up in America DC Feb 1, 2013
Show up at the airport with a suitcase in hand and take the first available flight
Get on Amtrak train and go on a trip to wherever it takes me
Swim in the Indian Ocean (Snorkel) October 2012 (Zanzibar)
Run a 5K Pony Pasture July 27th in Richmond, VA; Run for Hope in memory of Bubbie – 5/4/14; Clarendon Day 5k 9/27/14
Run a 10K
Run a 1/2 marathon – Chicago Half 9/7/14
Stay at the Atlantis The Palm Hotel in Dubai and stay in the Underwater Supersuite.
Go to Wine Country in California October 2010
Try Archery Lake of the Woods Overnight Camp, ages 9-15
Fire a rifle Lake of the Woods Overnight Camp, ages 9-15
Go to a shooting range/Fire an AK47 Fall 2011 and Fall 2015
Go Fishing (again)
See Bryce Canyon, Utah on horseback Summer 2003
Own a great camera and how to use it
Learn to play golf, well
Make an impact on someone’s life CCS -Karanga Catholic Nursery School Tanzania Sep-Oct 2012
Backpack across Europe May 2006
Attend at least five major sporting events:
- ** The Super Bowl
- ** The Olympics Torino, Italy February 2006
- The U.S. Open
- NASCAR/Indy 500
- ** Wimbledon
- ** Kentucky Derby
- The World Cup
- ** Stanley Cup
- Baseball World Series attended White Sox playoffs in 2009
Wear a big hat to the Kentucky Derby
Drink mint Julep
MONUMENTS
The Basilica Di San Marco, Venice Spring 2006
St. Peter’s Basilica, The Vatican, Rome Spring 2006
Sistine Chapel, Rome Spring 2006
The Alhambra Palace, Spain– Spring 2006
Visit Sagrada Familia in Barcelona Spring 2006
The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Stonehenge, United Kingdom
The Sydney Opera House, Australia
The Big Ben, London, England Spring 2006
The Coliseum, Rome Spring 2006
MUSEUMS TO SEE
El Prado, In Madrid, Spain Spring 2006
The Uffizi Gallery, Florence Italy Spring 2006
The Louvre, in Paris, France Spring 2006
The Van Gogh Museum, Amersterdam Spring 2006
TRAVEL
Visit all 50 States: {24/50} (for the actual list, see bottom of this page)
Visit all 58 U.S. National Parks. {6/58} (for the actual list, see bottom of this page)
Visit all 7 continents : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Asia, Europe and Australia
Visit 75 Countries: (25/75) 1) Italy (Spring/summer 2006), 2) France, 3) Spain – (Spring/Summer 2006), 4) Ireland (Summer 2006), 5) Northern Ireland (Summer 2006) 6) England (London Spring 2006) 7) Belgium (Summer 2006), 8) Netherlands (Amsterdam Summer 2006), 9) Germany – (Summer 2006), 10) Austria (Summer 2006), 11) Switzerland, 12) Poland, 13) Czech Republic Prague (Spring 2006), 14) Canada, 15) Mexico, 16) Venezuela, 17) Tanzania, 18) Israel (May 2007) 19) St. Kitts, 20) Haiti, 21) Bahamas, 22) Jamaica, 23) St. Lucia, 24) Barbados, 25) Antigua
Canada (return as an adult) Whistler, Niagara falls, Vancouver
Visit Auschwitz Spring 2006
Berlin Wall Spring 2006
Greece
Croatia
Russia
Sweden
The Outback in Australia
Snorkel or Suba dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
Great Wall of China
Taj Mahal
Bali
Vietnam
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Maldives
Japan
China
Amazon Rainforest
Brazil
Argentina
Peru
Bora Bora
Serengeti Migration – Saw the migration at Tarangire Sept 2012
Galápagos Islands
Costa Rica
Canals of Venice Spring 2006
Pompeii Spring 2006
See the Northern Lights
Leaning tower of Pisa Spring 2006
Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National park
Mount Rushmore
Machu Picchu, Peru
Panama Canal
The Channel Tunnel Spring 2006
Hike Mount Fuji
Mount Kilimanjaro – Don’t have to climb just stand at base. CLIMBED & Summited! 19,341 feet to the top! 10/14/12 – 10/20/12!
Mayan Temples
Visit Liverpool and Cavern Club
Joshua Tree
BOOKS TO READ
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger 2002
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
Harry Potter series – JK Rowling Fall 2007
Moby Dick- Herman Melville
Price and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown 2008
Tuesday’s With Morrie –Mitch Albom 2006?
The Five People You Meet In Heaven –Mitch Albom
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald 2002
The Perks of Being A Wallflower 2002
Ulysses – James Joyce Jr. High
MUSIC
See Paul McCartney live Saw with San at Dodger Stadium August 10, 2014!!
See Goo Goo Dolls live Saw with Matchbox Twenty July 3, 2013 at Ravinia
See Matchbox Twenty live Saw with Goo Goo Dolls July 3, 2013 at Ravinia
Concerts I have already been to:
James Taylor
Dave Matthews (2x)
OAR
Guster
Billy Joel & Elton John together
Lifehouse
Good Charlotte
New Found Glory
Eagles
Don Henley & Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Tom Petty
Crosby Still & Nash
Michael Franti
John Mayer
Counting Crows
Hootie & the Blowfish
Darius Rucker
Rascal Flatts
Carrie Underwood
Kris Allen
Barenaked Ladies
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
National Symphony Orchestra
Rick Ross
Sister Hazel
Mike & Joe
Soundgarden
J.LO & Enrique Inglesias
Paperhaus
Howie Day
Ben Folds
Goo Goo Dolls
Matchbox Twenty
The Wombats
Blues Traveler
Alabama Shakes
Hudson Chase
Ringo Starr
Bone Thug N’ Harmony (just one, the rest were in jail)
David Nail – office visit
Straight No Chaser
Visit all 50 states {25/50}
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Visit all 58 National Parks in the USA{6/58}
Bryce National Park (Summer 2003), Grand Canyon, Everglades, Great Smokey Mountains, Virgin Islands, Zion National Park
I love this list. It’s amazing how many places you’ve been and things you’ve done. I may have to steal the idea.
You were in Congtagion?! Cool. That was the scariest movie I’ve ever seen (I was working in healthcare marketing at the time). Still ridiculously cool though!!
the drive-in movie was a surprise, but i guess since im 20 yrs older than you i take that for granted…they are fun, esp in a hot summer