The Bucket 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
Jerusalem
Montreal – DONE but I will be back
Toronto
Ottawa
Vancouver – DONE 11/2014 – Lovely city. I could live there.
Chicago
Paris
Hong Kong
New York – DONE – 2/17/2012 – I spent most of four weeks here and had the time of my life. I heart NY.
London
Rome
Tokyo
Barcelona
Washington, D.C.
San Francisco
Seattle
Long-term trips to take
Being away for months gives you an entirely experience than being away for a week or two. You start to normalize to the new place and the “on the road” feeling. These trips could last anywhere from a month to a year.
Finally tour Eastern Canada — Visit Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and Newfoundland
Take a road trip through many of the western US national Parks, including Yellowstone, Death Valley, Zion, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Crater Lake and Glacier National Park
Take a Rocky Mountain snowboarding tour, spending a whole winter visiting different ski resorts in the Canadian and American West
Spend 4-12 months in a cosmopolitan city working on a writing project (NYC, Montreal, Seattle, etc)
Spend 3-6 months living in a beach town where I can surf all the time
Do a homestay in a French city, to learn French in an immersive environment (either in Quebec or France)
Countries/regions to explore
To “explore” means to spend at least a few weeks traveling overland in these areas.
Thailand – DONE – 11/20/09 – Had a blast, will be back one day.
New Zealand – DONE – Spent six months exploring this wonderful country from Nov ’09 to May ’10. I visited so many beautiful places and am determined to return one day.
France
England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales
Nepal and India
Scandinavia
Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
Skills and knowledge
Learn French to fluency
Learn conversational Spanish
Understand the implications of Plato’s Cave
Learn photography – DONE – 1/2012 – I am proficient with the operation of a DSLR camera, the basics of composition and exposure. I can take pictures that make people go wow. There is an endless amount to learn and I want to learn more, but I’ve achieved enough to impress myself, which is all I ever wanted.
Learn a comprehensive history of the land known today as Canada
Learn to boost a car without worrying I might zap myself – DONE – 12/13/10
Learn to surf – DONE – Took a four-day surf camp in May 2010. Learned to stand up and surf right away, and now I am in love with surfing. I want to surf all over the world.
Learn first aid and CPR – DONE – 5/12/11 – This had been on my conscience for a long time. I am now certified in level C first aid and CPR.
Learn to dance comfortably – DONE – 2012 – I do dance now — I was afraid to for years. I’m not good at it but I do have fun and that’s enough.
Learn to throw a tight spiral with a football
Learn to swim properly – after all these years I really don’t know what I’m doing
Master a workflow system, like GTD
Learn to swing a golf club properly
Develop a nice, consistent signature (I’m 34 and haven’t done this yet)
Achievements
Become self-employed – DONE – 10/14/13
Become financially independent – This means I am living off the returns of my assets and do not have to work.
Play guitar in a working band
Own a house
Speak in front of a large audience (500+)
Become debt-free – DONE
Try a vegan diet for 30 days – DONE – 3/24/11 – This became Experiment No. 10 and it changed my dietary habits forever.
Become a millionaire
Have my own website – DONE – 3/15/09
Own a suit I feel great in
Make my living doing work I love – DONE – 7/31/14 – “Work I love” income in 2014 will exceed living expenses for the first time.
Get into physical shape I would describe as “outstanding”
Go 21 without complaining once (as per A Complaint Free World) – DONE – 4/3/10 – Had to restart a few times, but I made it. I learned a lot — the final report is here.
Achieve a “location independent” full-time income – PROGRESS – Essentially I’m here now, but I’m not going to check this off until I take my first major “non-vacation” trip, where I do self-employed work and earn while I’m abroad.
Get my Gmail inbox to zero – DONE – 4/16/10 – This is actually super easy, because of Gmail’s brilliant “Archive” function. I just selected them all and archived them. You should do it.
Write my will – PROGRESS
Earn a university degree – PROGRESS – Begun classes as of 6/2015.
Books/films to read/see
NOTE: I don’t believe in finishing books I’m not enjoying. So if I end up not liking it and quitting, it’s still “done” in my mind. Of course I hope I like them all.
Schindler’s List – DONE – 9/13/09
Dr. Strangelove (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) – DONE – 3/19/13 – I appreciate the political significance of this film but I found it really boring after the beginning. The same joke went on for hours. I wanted to like it, and I’m not saying it wasn’t good. But I didn’t like it. Felt the same way about Catch-22 when I read it. Everyone else seemed to really like both, and they are certainly classics.
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.
Walden – Henry David Thoreau
Vagabonding – Rolf Potts DONE – 7/2011
Roughing It – Mark Twain- DONE – 12/2011
Dune – Frank Hebert
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert Pirsig – DONE – 3/19/13 – Did not finish. I expected a novel, with background themes of zen and living in the present moment. But it came off like a diatribe. There was no subtlety at all to the philosophical lessons. Philosophy can be incredibly boring when it’s discussed in the abstract, and it doesn’t take long to discover that that’s what the author really wants to do. Was turned off very quickly, but I think it’s because my expectations were so different from what it was.
The Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth – Douglas Harding
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet
The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Les Misérables – Victor Hugo DONE – 5/2015 – Loved it.
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Experiences to have
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. Pictures here.
Hike the Tongariro Crossing – DONE – 12/8/09 – Incredible experience.
Have an article published in The New Yorker
Go to an NFL game – DONE – Saw the Vikings and Packers in Minnesota on October 27/2013
Visit the Sagrada Familia
See the Statue of Liberty – DONE – 1/23/2012 – I was exhausted from a day of walking around lower Manhattan, and suddenly felt a bit crowded out by the busy streets. So I went walking down by the water around Battery Park City. It was drizzly and suddenly quiet, and then I saw her still figure in the distance. Heart almost stopped. Just like the Sydney Opera House — the best way to see world-famous landmarks is by accident.
Visit the Museum of Modern Art, New York – DONE – 1/?/12 – Wandered the galleries for a few hours and had a transcendent meeting with my favorite painting, Des Moiselles d’Avignon. I didn’t know it lived there.
Orbit the earth in a spaceship
Look at the heavens through a huge telescope – DONE – 4/1/11 – I visited the huge observatories on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii and looked at several nebulae and planets with a 11″ reflecting telescope. Now, that’s not quite “huge” — I did not get to view the heavens through the enormous (some 20m-plus) telescopes in the observatories for two very good reasons: a) they are extremely exclusive and you have to have a lot of academic clout to even have a chance of using them, and b) modern telescopes do not have eyepieces — you can’t look through them. They are operated remotely and the heavens are viewed as high-res digital images. They are basically big cameras, and the images are freely available online.
See the Northern Lights in person – DONE (twice now) but I want to do it again!
See Radiohead live – DONE – 3/9/12 – Saw them in St. Louis. Beautiful, beautiful show. “Reckoner” and “Lucky” were transcendent moments for me.
Travel by train through the mountains – DONE – 2/4/10 – Took the TranzScenic across the New Zealand Southern Alps from Greymouth to Christchurch.
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
Dine at a ridiculously fancy restaurant
Stay at a ridiculously fancy hotel
Share a ridiculously fancy bottle of wine with someone
Go to a movie by myself – DONE – 6/2015 – Done twice now. Saw Jurassic World, which was terrible, and Mad Max: Fury Road, which is amazing.
Participate in the making of a documentary
Fire a pistol
Get a massage from a professional – DONE – 10/14/09 – (There will be many more.)
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. Pictures here.
Do a ten-day vipassana retreat
Go on a multi-day hike (with a few other people) and sleep rough
Get a quality barrel while surfing
See Cirque du Soleil – DONE – 7/24/10 – Saw “Allegria” at the MTS Centre. Incredible show, exceeded my expectations. Want to see more Cirque shows.
Attend South by Southwest
Live in New York City (for a little while)
Watch a sports game from a luxury box
Try training in boxing – DONE – 9/23/2014 – Went to my first boxing class last night, so officially I have “tried” it. I really liked it and will continue.
Float in a sensory deprivation tank – DONE – 1/2015
“Lift for the cycle” (Reach 1, 2, 3, and 4 plate weights for the overhead press, bench press, squat and deadlift respectively [135 lbs, 225 lbs, 315 lbs, 405 lbs])
Reach the “1000 pounds” club (Bench press, squat and deadlift totaling 1000 lbs.)
Total goals: 114
Total complete: 40
Last updated: July 12, 2015
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Photo by Dudu Viana
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