My Life List

I recently read somewhere in the online universe about the importance of having a "life list". What some might call a "bucket list" or what I, in my infinite 17-year old wisdom (I was so ahead of the times) called my list of "101 things to do before I die". That list was long ago misplaced but I do remember that it contained such lofty goals as "get a tattoo" (check!) and "be on tv".

I've re-written my list now and while I won't bore you by listing all of the 225 (and growing) items on it, I will share this:

117 are places I want to go - Zanzibar, Jordan, Turkey, The Grand Canyon, Cuba, New Orleans, Croatia, Paris, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, New Zealand, Colombia, Brazil, Quebec, the Maldives. . . .

55 are location-specific activities (things I want to do in a certain place) - ride a donkey on Santorini, ride a camel in the Sahara, see the bats in Austin, go on a safari in South Africa, bike the Golden Gate Bridge, go wine tasting in. . well, a whole lot of places, do a long-distance walk in Scotland, drink beer at Oktoberfest, truffle-hunt in Italy . . .

3 are career goals - be a full-time travel writer/freelancer, be published in Budget Travel magazine, and own a bed and breakfast or tour company

9 are what I consider personal goals - reach and maintain my ideal weight, become conversationally fluent in three languages, learn to bake, run a 5k race . . .

The remaining 41 are things I want to do at least once - shoot a gun (at a shooting range only!), swim with sharks, surf, ride a motorbike, sleep on a beach, walk behind a waterfall, drive cross-country. . . .

I'm hoping to cross off eight of these items by the end of 2009 and other 15 or so within 12 months. Though I'm sure, faster than I can cross them off, I'll be adding more!