The List
As promised, here is what I plan to do before I die. It will be kept current.
If you want to make your own list, here is the comprehensive guide to making one that you will honor.
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Cities to tour
To tour a city means to spend at least a few days there exploring.
Istanbul
Florence
Venice
Montreal - DONE but I will be back
Quebec City
Toronto
Vancouver
Paris
New York
London
Rome
Prague
Cologne
Geneva
Washington, D.C.
Dublin
Amsterdam
San Francisco
Zermatt, Switzerland
World treasures to visit
Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris
Chateau de Versailles
Pyramids of Egypt
Cairo Museum
The Eiffel Tower
The Statue of Liberty
The Louvre
Machu Picchu
Hagia Sophia
Taj Mahal
Chateau Frontenac, Quebec
Windsor Castle
Town of Annecy, France
Countries/regions to explore
Visiting only one city in these regions doesn’t count. One week minimum, must include overland travel
Thailand - DONE – 11/20/09 – Had a blast, will be back one day.
New Zealand – PROGRESS – I’m here at the moment, but I still plan to travel a lot more. If I died today I could call it “done” but for now I’m still exploring this wonderful country.
France
Czech Republic
Italy
Switzerland
British Isles (including Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales)
Scandinavia
Nepal
The Maritime Provinces, Canada
Skills and knowledge
Learn French to fluency
Learn conversational Spanish
Learn Jujitsu until it’s muscle memory
Learn photography
Learn my wines
Learn to boost a car without worrying I might zap myself
Learn proper etiquette for a full formal dinner, and use it
Become a respectable chess player; learn to play the most common openings without guesswork
Achieve a comprehensive knowledge of the events of the Second World War – PROGRESS
Learn to surf
Learn first aid and CPR
Learn to do one-arm pushups
Learn to dance well
Learn to drive a stick
Learn to throw a tight spiral with a football
Learn to swim properly - after all these years I must say I really don’t know what I’m doing
Master the GTD system
Learn to swing a golf club properly
Achieve a general understanding of the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Marcus Aurelius, Machiavelli, Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Thomas Hobbes, Blaise Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jean-Paul Sartre, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Paine, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Darwin, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Albert Einstein, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Ayn Rand
Read about the lives of Napoleon Bonaparte, Albert Einstein, Marco Polo, Helen Keller, Benjamin Franklin, Michelangelo, Adolf Hitler, Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo da Vinci, Ernest Hemingway, Augustus Caesar, Jean d’Arc, Ferdinand Magellan, Lewis & Clark, Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, Genghis Khan, Henry VIII, Mark Twain, Horatio Nelson, Peter the Great, Louis XIV, Elizabeth I and John Lennon
Achievements
Become self-employed
Complete the Secret Service Snatch Test in 200 reps
Play guitar in a working band
Get a university degree
Own a house
Speak in front of a large audience (500+)
Become debt-free - DONE
Assemble a comprehensive family tree
Sponsor a successful entrepreneur in a developing country (through kiva.org) – DONE – 12/11/09 – Julia Maria Vega of Nicaragua received her loan for expanding her food store.
Try a vegan diet for 40 days
Become a millionaire
Have my own website - DONE
Do 20 pullups in one set
Own a suit I feel great in
Make my living doing work I love
Achieve a physique I’m proud of
Go 21 days without complaining once – PROGRESS - Experiment No. 5 is underway and aims to do this.
Adopt a sustainable lifestyle
Achieve a “location independent” full-time income
Get my gmail inbox to zero
Write my will
Books/films to read/see
Schindler’s List – DONE – 9/13/09
Dr. Strangelove (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb)
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad - DONE – 11/16/09 – Finished it on the beach in Ko Phi Phi. Fantastic book, everyone who loves the English language should read it.
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand – PROGRESS – Found a copy of it staring at me from a hostel book exchange shelf. I left Heart of Darkness for another traveler. I’m on page 150. Update 2/10/10: I lost the book on the bus! I was on page 300. Will have to resume later.
Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Stranger – Albert Camus
Roughing It – Mark Twain- PROGRESS – Currently reading it.
Beyond Good and Evil – Friedrich Nietzsche
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert Pirsig
Experiences to have
Become a parent
Plant and harvest a vegetable garden
Walk the Milford Track- DONE – 2/1/10 – Unforgettable hike. Some of the most dramatic landscapes I’ve ever seen. Had perfect weather.
Snowboard in the European Alps
Hike the Tongariro Crossing – DONE – 12/8/09 – Incredible experience. Took no less than 228 photos.
Explore Yellowstone National Park
Go to an NFL game
Stay as a guest at one of the high-end hotels I toiled in as a housekeeper (in Panorama, B.C.)
Fly first class
Drive a 300+ horsepower muscle car
Drive a 500+ horsepower sports car
Swim in the Mediterranean
Float in the Dead Sea
Orbit the earth in a spaceship - Yeah that’s right
Drink Irish beer in an Irish Pub
Fly in a hot air balloon
Look at the heavens through a huge telescope
Go rock climbing
See the Northern Lights - DONE but I want to do it again!
Take an epic multi-day hike in the Alps
See Radiohead live (in England if possible!)
Go snowboarding somewhere only accessible by helicopter
Travel by train through the mountains – DONE – 2/4/10 – Took the TranzScenic across the New Zealand Southern Alps from Greymouth to Christchurch.
Live in France for at least a few months
Live in Montreal for at least a few months
Walk the Abel Tasman Coastal Track – DONE – I had planned to walk the entire length of the track on December 23-27, 2009. When I got to the first hut, I found myself to be the only solo traveler at a beach full of vacationing families. I had left friends behind at the beginning of the track, and decided I’d rather spend Christmas with them than do the rest of the track with all of these couples and families. So I went back the next day. I did not walk the whole track as I intended, but I’m calling it done. I saw everything I wanted to see. It was beautiful, I just didn’t need five days of it at that particular time.
Take a round-the-world trip
See an opera in a grand opera house
Dine at a ridiculously expensive restaurant
Stay at a ridiculously expensive hotel
Share a ridiculously expensive bottle of wine with someone
Go to a movie by myself
Participate in the making of a documentary
Fire a pistol
Play a song I wrote in front of other people
Get a massage from a professional – DONE - 10/14/09 – (There will be many more.)
Have a picnic on a green rolling hill with a checkered blanket
Eat a baguette and drink wine in France
Hike in a rainforest – DONE - 1/24/10 – Hiked through the rainforest at Franz Josef, NZ, up to the top of 1300m Alex Knob. I am so sore.
Sit on a beach with no trace of any people other than me
Order in French at a French restaurant
Hike in the Himalayas
Tour Medieval villages in Provence
Take a road trip via motorcycle
Record an album of my own music
Tour Le Marais in Paris
Tour a region famous for wine, and sample a lot of it
Work for room and board in the WWOOF program
Take an overnight camping trip by canoe
Take a coast-to-cost road trip across the US South, visiting Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nevada and California
Snowboard at Vail, Colorado
Go kayaking
Summit a mountain (10,000+ ft)
Attend Toastmasters
Ride a Harley Davidson
See Cirque du Soleil
Total goals: 152
Total complete: 14
Last updated: Major Revision on Feb 14, 2010 — I eliminated a 14 items that were added prematurely. After having traveled for a few months now, I’ve adjusted my priorities a bit. There are some countries (China comes to mind) that I no longer feel compelled to go to. I would still love to go to some of these places, but they don’t quite call me strongly enough to deserve a place here. I am knocking off list items steadily, and I want to made sure they really are important to me.
Photo by Dudu Viana
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wow.
That is a Great List and a Long one too.. All the Best…Just a few More to Go….
David- Your site gets me jazzed; thank you sir. Might I suggest adding a book called Man’s Search for Meaning (Frankl) to your list. You of all people will find it profoundly inspiring, I am certain.
New to the site, good stuff!
Just wondering though, what are you doing for income in all your travels? I’d like to do this too one day, but I want to be financially secure before hand (by 40).
Cheers, Sam
On my current trip, I am living on my savings at the moment, which will not hold out forever. I will spend some time (probably in January) working for room and board in the WWOOF program (http://wwoof.org) as much for the experience as the room and board. After that I will find a paying job, and will be experimenting with internet marketing projects.
Long term, I plan to develop a location-independent self-employed income, so I can work while I travel via internet.
Hi David,
Sounds great man. I truly have always wanted to do what you do, but I’m afraid that once I leave my job and location in San Francisco, I’ll never be able to get it back. I have a fear that I truly do have a good thing going, and will regret my departure.
How do you know when it’s the right time to pack your bags and go solo? Was there an aha moment? How do you know when it’s the right time to come back and work at a traditional job? Never?
Finally, what about trying to montize your blog? It seems to get good enough traffic to earn perhaps $1,000+/month.
Best,
Sam
Maybe it’s not such a bad thing if you never get your job back. It sounds like it is keeping you from doing something you really want to do.
You may be able to negotiate a leave of absence or something, you just have to take the steps. If you want to travel it can be done. I don’t think I’ve never met anyone who has said they regret traveling, but I’ve talked to plenty who have regret not traveling.
I was ready to change jobs anyway, so it was rather easy for me to just get up and go. I was also nearing the age limit for a Working Holiday Visa, so it was sort of a now-or-never thing for me.
I will probably begin to monetize my blog soon. It does get good consistent traffic, I just want to make sure I choose the right way to do it.
David – It’s one of those things where I want it all, but obviously, that can’t happen. I’ve actually lived in 6 different countries for 2-4 years at a time and it was wonderful.
I’m thinking, why not plant my seed now (my site), and when I’ve got the financial wherewithal to really walk away and never return in 8-10 years, use the site as medium for supplemental income and as a hobby.
It’s not like I’m locked in a cage, as my firm provides 6 weeks a year vacation, which probably sounds like a joke to you
Perhaps i’m looking for just balance. We get a 1-3 month sabbatical every 5 years, so perhaps I’ll take on next year for a month at least.
The ultimate scenario is probably to just have a healthy passive income stream from interest on cash, and then obviously a fantastic website to supplement so you’re never held down. One day!
Hi David,
I somehow stumbled onto your site when I was searching life lists. I teach health & am teaching a high school elective called “fit for life”. I am very impressed with Raptitude and your ability to articulate. I just finished a unit on life direction & I will print your article on “What Were Your Highlights in 2009?” and have my students read it. Thanks for providing an invaluable service. Best wishes on all of your adventures! I will definitely continue reading!
Sincerely,
Susan
Sag Harbor, NY
Hello Susan,
Wow, thank you. I am humbled that you think my work is fit for the young minds in your classroom.
Thank you for the best wishes, I hope to hear from you again.
very inteesting its a long road i should say a wonderful road good luck to you.
Truly remarkable site. I stumbled upon this site using the website StumbleUpon (hah imagine that). But I thought I might suggest Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck to your list of books. Though you may have already read it and not quite consider it on the level of “The List,” I figured I’d at least suggest. It just touched me when I read it. Hope your current job search goes well! (With the exclamation point, too. Look at that.)
Best
HG
Thanks Hunter. I have seen the play of Of Mice and Men. I remember being quite affected by it (but also a bit disturbed.) I will definitely read some Steinbeck one day.
Robert Pirsig wrote a sequel to ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance’ called ‘Lila’ which I think is a must read if you’re considering Pirsig.
Hi Aaron. I’ve got a copy of ZAMM waiting for me when I get home. I’ll check out Lila when I’m done.