ride an elephant.
I finally got the opportunity to do this last fall, and took Cristian along for the ride! That’s me at the back, hugging my kiddo and trying to get him to look at my mom (the photographer)! I highly recommend it… Being on the back of such a massive animal and having NO control is phenomenal and a bit scary!
…summit Mt. Whitney.
This unassuming-looking peak is the highest point in the lower 48 states, at 14,505 feet above sea level. The 22-mile round trip hike to the top is challenging, and it will require a lot of training. It’s doable though, and in the next two years or so I’d like to make the trip!
Quick Tips for Winning At Life
1) Don’t give up.
2) Strive for epic awesome.
3) Never grow up.That is all.
(Source: feralhuman)
…live abroad.
Preferably South America. Preferably Colombia. More specifically, preferably Bogotá.
I’ve wanted to spend a year there since I was 20, and have friends from there as well as several friends currently living there. It’s a beautiful metropolis, alive with culture and history. When I go on my trip next year, I will be scoping out potential areas of town to live, researching some options, and expanding and strengthening my contacts in the city. There’s something about Colombia that pulls me right in!
It’s never too early to start beefing up your obituary.
– The most interesting man in the worldGoals are great, but you have to DO something about them.
What are you doing right now to accomplish your goals? What have you done today? The last week? The last month? I have a lot of balls in the air at the moment, and am making actual measurable progress in achieving the many lofty goals I’ve made for myself.
•Right now? Today I got a copy of Cien Años de Soledad, and started reading it from the beginning. I just put it down and am one chapter in. If I read a chapter a day, by the end of the month that’s another item crossed off my list.
•In the last two days, I have made great strides in planning and budgeting a huge transcontinental voyage. I would achieve at least three major goals on this trip alone—leaving the continent, seeing the Amazon, and visiting Machu Picchu. It will also be a stride toward a huge item I haven’t yet revealed on this blog… That will come later. I have a set budget and savings goal now, and I am getting ready to start a new job to finance the trip.
•In the last month, I have started the process of getting my GED. This is another bucket list item of mine (although it hadn’t yet been posted on here) toward which I am working to accomplish. I left high school three credits shy of graduation and have been putting off getting my GED for 8 years. I recently aced the preliminary assessment test and can start formal pretesting as soon as I can pay for 12 hours of babysitting, which I will need in order to pretest.
So I am making measurable steps toward FIVE of my life list items… ‘Someday’ is closer than ever.
What steps will you take today?
…visit Iguazu (or Iguassu or Iguaçu) Falls.
Straddling the border between Argentina and Brazil lie 275 waterfalls spilling 452,000 cubic feet of water per second. It’s breathtaking to view pictures of Iguazu… I can’t imagine actually standing in the midst of the roar and the spray. Phenomenal.
…visit Auschwitz.
Most of my bucket list items involve amazing beauty and adventure, but unfortunately the world isn’t always so grand. Over one million innocent people were systematically executed in this hell on earth. We can’t forget about the holocaust. When it fades away into the back of our collective memory, it becomes less real, and that is a tragedy in and of itself.
I visited the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. when I was 14, and it left an indelible stain on my heart. Since that day, I have wanted to visit Auschwitz. It is always important to be grateful for the life we’ve been given and the opportunities we have, and visiting sites where unspeakable atrocities are committed serves not only to memorialize those that suffered but to show us how fortunate we really are.
…see the Grand Canyon.
I once spent a day in the Carolina mountains at the peak of the brilliant autumn foliage, and described the sight to a friend of mine as the most beautiful natural thing I had ever seen. She asked if I had been to the Grand Canyon.
Now, I’ve not always been interested in visiting it for some reason… It seems so cliché. Thousands of retirees flock to Arizona each year in their RV’s each year to see the canyon, snap a few pictures with a disposable camera, and ride a mule. It’s overdone and predictable.
I don’t do clichés… I do adventure. I may have to make an exception for this site, but if it is as beautiful as they say, it will be worth bending my own rules.
About me
All the things I plan on accomplishing before I die. My bucket list, if you will. I hope that I can not only inspire others to chase their dreams, but maybe glean a bit of inspiration from readers and commenters as well. What mark do you want to leave on the world before you die?
