Bucket List
What originally began in 2010 as a list of 101 things I wanted to achieve in 10 years is now more than anything a reminder of what I wanted to do seven years ago, of the dreams I had, of the person I wanted to become. Today, some of the items on the list are still things I want to experience. Others remind me of how my goals have changed.
Eventually, there will be a new list. And this one may be subject to expansion or edits. I need a place to keep track of everything I want to do, and what better place to do that than here, on my blog.
A few quotes on travel, adventures, and journeying before we begin…
“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” — Tim Cahill; “Not all those who wander are lost.” — J. R. R. Tolkien; “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” — Anatole France; “What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” — William Least Heat Moon; “Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” — Paul Theroux.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” — St. Augustine; “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” — Samuel Jackson; “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” — Lin Yutang; “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” — Robert Louis Stevenson; “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” — Henry Miller; “A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” — Moslih Eddin Saadi; “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” — Jawaharial Nehru.
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” — Mark Jenkins
THE LIST: 37/64
1. Have a family
2. Travel to New York
3. Act in a movie
4. Go surfing
5. Learn to snowboard
6. Go sailing
7. Run for Miss Canada
8. Get accepted into BCIT
9. Graduate from J-school
10. Complete a crossword by myself
11. Hold a tarantula
12. Go hang-gliding
13. Move out
14. See the Northern Lights
15. Travel to Greece
16. Cook a turkey dinner meal
17. Swim with sharks
18. Swim with sea turtles
19. Take cooking classes
20. Meet a personal idol
21. Visit all of the major Canadian cities
22. Road trip to California
23. Go camping
24. Get paid for journalism
25. Run the Sun Run
26. Turn off my cell phone/computer for a week
27. Learn to speak Spanish
28. Attempt an extreme sport
29. Learn wine appreciation
30. Learn to dance
31. Try the Bikram yoga 30-day challenge
32. Fly in a helicopter
33. Be in the live audience of a TV talk show
34. Break a world record
35. Donate blood
36. Watch the 100 greatest American movies of all time
37. Read the top 10 books of all time
38. Write a screenplay
39. Sing in front of an audience
40. Karate-chop a plank of wood
41. Walk over hot coals
42. Sit on the board of directors of the WRYAP
43. Promote ambassador programs and create more in the lower mainland
44. See the 7 wonders of the world
45. See the 7 new wonders of the world
46. Learn the art of meditation
47. Buy a toolkit and learn to use everything in it
48. Learn to bartend
49. Seriously try 3 business ventures
50. Own a Rolex
51. Go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef
52. Attend a Canucks game
53. Order the most expensive meal off a menu at a fancy restaurant
54. Help build a school in a third world country
55. Study French in Montreal for 6 weeks
56. Speak in front of 10,000 people
57. See the Blue Man Group live
58. Go to Vegas for my 21st birthday
59. Get the lawsuit against the BCAP removed
60. Get a job in television
61. Buy a MacBook
62. Be recognized for a journalism-related achievement
63. Write a book
64. Travel to the Middle East
65. Rent a limo for fun
66. Ride a motorcycle
67. Ride the world’s largest roller coaster
68. Research my family tree
69. Buy a piece of art
70. Fly somewhere first class
71. Spend NYE in Times Square/Mardi Gras in New Orleans/Carnival in Rio
72. Eat something exotic
73. Go jet-skiing
74. Watch a movie at a drive-in
75. Cook my way through an entire cookbook
76. Take a hot-air balloon ride
77. Paint a painting on canvas
78. Try the 100 mile diet for a month
79. Attend a music festival in another country
80. Experience a unique cultural festival in another country
81. Step foot on all 7 continents
82. Enter a poker competition
83. Take belly dancing classes
84. Swim in the Dead Sea
85. Build something
86. Throw a huge party
87. Go white water rafting
88. Take tennis lessons from a pro
89. Buy everyone in the bar a drink
90. Milk a cow
91. Ride in a gondola in Venice
92. Run for public office
93. Attend a public screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show
94. Collect 150+ pins
95. Learn how a car works and learn car maintenance
96. Drive a Ferrari/Porsche/Lamborghini
97. Spend an entire day at a spa
98. Take a spontaneous trip somewhere with someone
99. Create a well-rounded journalism portfolio
100. Be successful at something nobody thought I could do
101. Bury a 10-year capsule to open after this list is done