Bucket list

I started a bucket list in the summer of 2007 with 100 things on it. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason for the order. The goal was to complete 5 things and add 10 new ones each year. I have added each year but the completion thing is a little behind track. (Mostly because they involve spending more money than I care to right now)

As of publishing this post, I can cross #1 off the list! Click the links to read about the completed ones.

First 100 compiled in the summer of 2007:
1. Publish this list on my own website and put photos and stories of the completed ones [completed]

2. Graduate college [complete]

3. Get Married [complete]

4. Become a Professional Engineer [test scheduled for April 2013; similar to the Bar exam for lawyers or the Boards for doctors]

5. Obtain a six figure salary

6. Swim with dolphins [complete]

7. Swim with sharks [complete]

8. Deep sea fishing and eat my catch

9. Go hunting and eat my kill

10. Ski in the Alps

11. Go Heli-skiing

12. Play poker in Las Vegas

13. Go all in (see #12)

14. Make a Final Table (see #13)

15. Give my mother a dozen red roses and tell her that I love her

16. Buy my father a beer and tell him that I love him

17. Ride the Bullet Train

18. Play Pachinko in Japan

19. See the Great Wall of China

20. Shower in a waterfall

21. Drive from NY to LA via the Cannonball route

22. Drive the Autobahn in an exotic car

23. Spend Christmas on the beach drinking pina coladas

24. Raft through the Grand Canyon

25. Buy my own house and then spend time and money making it into exactly what I want [semi-complete: I bought a house. Now I just need to spend the time and money... slow process.]

26. Scuba dive off Australia's Great Barrier Reef

27. Scuba dive in the Blue Hole, Belize

28. Visit the Pyramids and the Sphinx

29. See the Northern Lights

30. Take a trip in a hot air balloon

31. Visited all 50 states [semi-complete: 15 of 50] (excluding the ones I have just driven through)

• Virginia
• Maryland
• Pennsylvania
• West Virginia
• Delaware
• New Jersey
• New York
• Connecticut
• Rhode Island
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Ohio
• Indiana
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Minnesota

32. Get fit: 50 push-ups, 10 pull-ups, six-minute mile, and bench my own weight

33. Run a 10K (under 60 minutes)

34. Swim five laps

35. Ride a gondola in Venice

36. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge

37. Visit Alcatraz

38. Go on an African photo safari

39. Live on a boat for a week

40. Visit a volcano

41. Take a stunt driving class

42. Apply it while avoiding police (see #41)

43. Climb Mount Fuji

44. Have a car for each day of the week

45. Restore a Mustang

46. Get it published (see #45)

47. Auction it off (see #45)

48. Spend New Year's in an exotic location

49. Go to Disney World with my kid(s)

50. Spend a day in Disney being a kid

51. Surf the waves in Hawaii

52. Spend $500 on dinner for two

53. Take gourmet cooking classes

54. Prepare a 7 course meal (see #53)

55. Float in the Dead Sea

56. Ride a leg of the Tour de France

57. Solve a Rubik’s Cube

58. See Niagara and Victoria Falls

59. Drive a steam car

60. Go parasailing

61. Get an autograph of someone famous

62. Drive the Bonneville Salt Flats

63. Watch all 23 (and counting) Bond films [semi-complete]

64. Set off a fire extinguisher [complete]

65. Set off a chemical shower

66. Watch the launch of the Space Shuttle (missed out on this one)

67. Witness Old Faithful Geyser

68. See the Redwoods

69. Go on a whale watching tour

70. Go skinny dipping

71. Drive a jet ski

72. Learn to drive a bus

73. Organize an event with over 1000 people

74. Organize a family reunion for at least three generations

75. Fell a tree [let me clarify: a Christmas tree doesn't count. I mean a huge tree using a chainsaw. Or least a decent size tree using an ax (like johnny appleseed)]

76. Start a bonfire without matches or accelerant

77. Go on a fishing and camping trip with my son(s)

78. Dance with my daughter(s) on her wedding day(s)

79. Attend a PBR rodeo

80. Go sled dogging

81. Collect sea shells/glass from around the world  [semi-complete] (I don't know if this has a completion point)

• Vieques, Puerto Rico
• Top Sail Island, North Carolina

82. Stay in an over water bungalow

83. Rent a limo and be VIP for a day

84. Relax in a natural hot spring

85. Fire a Desert Eagle and M-16

86. Fire a 50-cal sniper rifle

87. Help a stranger change a flat tire

88. Sail a boat across an open body of water

89. Hot wire a car

90. Ski and sit on the beach in the same day in Chile

91. See the Taj-Mahal

92. Watch the sun set of the west coast

93. Watch the sun rise on the east coast

94. Wish on a shooting star

95. See the Redskins play beat the Cowboys in person

96. Go hang gliding

97. Go ice climbing

98. Jump off a bridge

99. Picnic in the middle of the lake while drifting

100. Learn to dive

 

The next ten were added in the summer of 2008:

101. Cruise on the Odyssey

102. Snorkel the pier in Vieques, Puerto Rico

103. Be an extra in a movie

104. Drive a jeep on a beach

105. Off-roading with lots of mud

106. Sail a catamaran

107. Play 18 holes of golf

108. Build a custom poker table

109. Win the construction cost  (see #108)

110. See a kangaroo in the wild

 

The next ten were added in the summer of 2009:

111. Go caving

112. Visit Luray Caverns

113. 100 mile bike ride

114. Learn Spanish

115. Plant a tree

116. Grow a garden

117. Cook dinner for a week straight

118. Learn to Juggle

119. Attend a Rascal Flatts concert

120. Donate my whole paycheck 

 

The next ten were added in the summer of 2010:

121. Celebrate New Year’s twice in one night

122. Ride a camel

123. Ride an elephant

124. Cliff diving

125. Snow shoe adventure

126. Learn one song on guitar

127. Learn one song on piano

128. Live in a hotel for a month

129. Become a regular

130. Give everything to a panhandler

 

The next ten were added in the summer of 2011:

131. Walk 20 miles

132. Save something from the dump and fix it up  [complete]

133. Pass something down to my son(s)

134. Coach a team

135. Write “Just in Case” letters to my family and loved ones

136. Become debt free

137. Call Dave Ramsey and scream, “We’re debt free”  (see #136)

138. From Financial Peace Plaza  (see #137)

139. Buy a car with cash  (see #136)

140. Visit Lake Tahoe

 

The next ten were added in the summer of 2012:

141. Visit the all the Great Lakes
142. Take a homeless person to dinner

143. Take the kids and grandkid(s) on to the beach for a week

144. Pay for someone’s groceries

145. Take a vacation on a train

146. Take a vacation on a bus

147. Work a labor job

148. Work a food service job

149. Work a retail job

150. Be a contestant on a game show

 

Then pinterest came along and I added another 50 to make the list a cool 200:

151. Become a season ticket holder

152. Go to a monster truck rally

153. Get a commuter car and a weekend car

154. Customize the weekender (see #153) with:

• Paint job
• Wheels and tires
• Custom seats
• Tinted/Mirrored windows
• Body Kit
• Lights
• Exhaust

155. Grow fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, etc.)

156. Watch a meteor shower

157. “Hold up” the Leaning Tower of Pisa

158. Carve initials in a tree

159. Revisit 10 years later (see #158)

160. Walk into the airport and buy a ticket on the next flight

161. Attend the Summer Olympics

162. Attend the Winter Olympics

163. Rent a glass igloo

164. Stay in the Ice Hotel

165. Pull the fire alarm (should have thought of this when I added #64 and #65)

166. Camp in the snow

167. Visit all the continents [semi-complete]

• North America
• Asia

168. Swim in the Oceans [semi-complete]

• Atlantic

169. Sail the seven seas (Adriatic, Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, Persian, Arabian, and Red)

170. Learn to ride a motorcycle

171. Commute with it (see #170)

172. Attend all 3 Triple Crown Events

173. Pick the winners correctly (see #172)

174. Bet on the long shot (see #172)

175. See Stonehenge

176. Build a tree house

177. Order 1 of everything (i.e. girl scout cookies)

178. Visit Dubai

179. Go a week without technology

180. Create an App

181. Eat clean for a month (no processed food)

182. Leave a $100 tip

183. Participate in St. Baldrick’s

184. Be in the audience of a TV show

185. Go on a second honeymoon

186. Ride in a helicopter

187. Own a pinball machine

188. Be in a parade

189. Go on an unplanned vacation

190. Photograph lightning

191. Take a month of vacation

192. Cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge

193. Have 1,000 followers on twitter (follow me here)

194. Prepare dinner for a month at once (i.e. freezer meals)

195. Create a cookbook

196. Create a family recipe

197. Create a lemonade stand with my kids

198. Complete an extreme race (i.e. Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, Spartan race, etc.)

199. Build a computer

200. Build a bike

 

My goal is this list to evolve as I add more items and complete others. Ideally, this will become a list of links to other blog posts that summerize each completed item.

Have you started a bucket list?
What is on your bucket list?
What should I add to mine?
Which one should I complete next?