Everyone has been posting bucket lists for the 2013, but that’s a bit too much pressure for me! I’d rather just make a more ambitious list and give myself the deadline of, well, my entire life to get it all done. I can’t do these all in one year without spending a ton and having to quit my job, but I want to do 1 or 2 of the items on the list ever year. That said, there is at least one item I do NOT want to get to this year….

I’m not ready to start a family yet. Part of the reason I’m trying to do so much travelling now is that I know it will become more difficult when we have kids in a few years. Not impossible – plenty of people travel with their children – but definitely more challenging, expensive, and anxiety-inducing. As long as I’ve known my husband, I’ve always said “When I’m 30″ as the date we’d start to have kids. Well, I’m only 26 (and a half)! That means I still have at least 3 1/2 more years of blissful, childfree existance. Hopefully, that will be followed by a lifetime of blissful, child-full existance, but we’ll see how blissful that really is (I have my doubts).

Disclaimer: Obviously, I have the right to revise this list at any time. I am always discovering new things that I would love to do, but clearly there is a theme to my list. With the exception of a few items, all of the things on my list center around seeing new places, and learning new things.  I suppose that is the point of a bucket list, though. These are in no particular order:

Bucket List for Life

1. Start a family
2. Become a licensed engineer
3. Create a detailed family tree
4. Finish visiting all 50 states (2 left!)
5. Visit every continent (minus Antarctica)
6. Climb the Statue of Liberty
7. See the Eiffel Tower
8. Swim in a bioluminescent bay
9. Go to the Galapagos Islands
10. Go to Octoberfest in Germany
11. See the Great Wall of China
12. Try surfing
13. Visit my countries of heritage: Ireland and Poland
14. Visit the pyramids
15. Visit the Taj Mahal
16. Attend the Olympics
17. Go to Ayers Rock
18. Climb to Machu Picchu
19. See the Northern Lights
20. Stay in one of those fancy hotels over the water in Fiji or wherever
21. Run a marathon
22. Go snorkeling
23. Go ziplining
24. Go to the Super Bowl
25. Go to Mardi Gras
26. Take a hot air balloon ride
27. See the tulips in bloom in Holland
28. Visit Santorini, Greece
29. Hike (part of) the Appalachian Trail
30. Hike (part of) the Incan Trail
31. Climb a volcano
32. Write a book
33. See those crazy skull-lined tunnels in Paris
34. Become fluent in a second language
35. Learn the basics of a third language
36. Go on that rollercoaster at the Strasphere, Las Vegas

There are a few things I’ve found on other bucket lists that I’ve actually already completed! I think it’s fun to look at other lists and remind myself just how much I’ve actually done in my life. One of the reasons I started this blog is because I’m worried that someday I might forget my experiences.

For example – until I reviewed the list below, I had forgotten that we’d gone whale watching! Now that it’s in the back of my mind again, I can remember all of the details – being a scared little 9 year old, thinking that the boat was going to tip over when everyone went to the same side of the boat to see the whales – the salty spray of the air – the churning water behind the boat as we sped through the water.

I’ve kicked the following off of the 225 item list over at Life’d:

1. Solve a Rubik’s Cube
2. Become a Lifelong Collector of Something That Fascinates You (my post card collection is definitely fascinating!)
3. Watch a Space Shuttle Launch
4. Get a Deep-Tissue Massage
5. Visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial
6. Ride All of the Roller Coasters at Cedar Point (though they’ve added new ones since then, so I need to go back!)
7. Attend a Blue Man Group Show
8. Work for Tips
9. Attend a Murder Mystery Dinner
10. Visit Hershey’s Chocolate World
11. Tour the White House
12. Attend the Midnight Screening of a Blockbuster Movie on Opening Day (I’ve also stood in line for a book at midnight the day it came out)
13. Participate in a Polar Bear Plunge
14. Get Married
15. Go Whale Watching
16. Forgive and Let Go of Grudges
17. Learn to Paint
18. File Your Own Taxes
19. Attend a Cirque du Soleil Show
20. Visit Walt Disney World Resort
21. Take a Cooking Class
22. See a Lunar Eclipse and a Solar Eclipse
23. Connect With Teachers From Your Past
24. Build a Bonfire and Make S’mores
25. Read At Least Five Books From Modern Library’s Best Novels List
26. Take a Photography Class
27. See Old Faithful
28. Create a Bucket List!

Categories: Daydreaming, Musings

Tags: 2013, brainstorming, bucket list, Motivation, travel