I expect this to be a list in progress. It's something I've wanted to compile for quite some time but had trouble getting started. I found inspiration from several websites when I simply typed in "things i want to do before i die" on Google.
These are not in any particular order. I have tried to categorize the items and in some cases clarify the meaning. For instance I would like to visit all 50 states. However just driving through or laying over at an airport does not count. At any rate here it goes. I hope you enjoy reading it and perhaps it will inspire you to make your own list.
ATHLETICS/HEALTH
001. Get my percentage of body fat down below 20.
002. Recommit myself to a 45 minute brisk walk nearly every day.
003. Spend 3 months getting my body into optimum shape.
CAREER/VOLUNTEERING
001. Teach someone illiterate to read.
002. Get published. Currently I write erotic short stories but would like to write my autobiography.
003. Get passionate about a cause and spend time helping it instead on just thinking about it.004. Find a job I love.
FAMILY/LIFE/PERSONAL
001. Have my portrait painted.
002. Make love in the forest.
003. Learn how to accept a compliment gracefully.
004. Send a message in a bottle.
005. Write a fan letter to my all time favorite hero/heroine. (I'm narrowing down the list)
006. Fall deeply in love - unconditionally.
007. Sit on a jury.
008. Be a mentor.
009. Tell someone my life story sparing no details no matter how unpleasant. (Therapists don't count)
010. Develop a personal mission statement and follow it. Revise it from time to time.
011. Re-write my will.
012. Forgive my parents. DONE!
013. Accept myself for who I am. Wow, this is a tough one!
014. Reflect on my greatest weakness and realize how it is my greatest strength.
015. Express gratitude daily for what I have.
016. Be comfortable doing nothing.
017. Get a tatoo. I'm designing it. I want it to be unique to me.
018.
019. Read the Bible. DONE! 2003
FINANCIAL
001. Create a scholarship fund.
002. Become debt free. Very close.....I just have a small mortgage.
PARTIES/FESTIVALS/EVENTS
001. Attend the Olympics
002. Attend a live taping of a TV show.
003. Marti Gras
004. Not sure of the official name, but would like to see the "pirate festival" in Tampa in Feb.
005. Spoleto in Charleston, SC
SKILLS
001. Brew my own beer (being alergic to several grains, this is a must!)
002. Learn to dance: ballroom, waltz, swing, 2 step
003. Create my own website.
004. Learn to fly a helicopter.
005. Build a treehouse. Not just the kind some of you had as a kid. I'm talking livable cabin!
TRAVEL/ADVENTURE
001. Swim with a dolphin.
002. Skydive.
003. Visit all 50 states as an adult:
Alabama:
a. Suggestions are welcome.....
Alaska:
a. See the Northern Lights.
b. Experience the extremes of the lengths of days.
Arizona:
a. Raft the Grand Canyon.
b. Tour the Navajo Rez. DONE! 5/02
Arkansas:
a. Lost Valley,Buffalo Nat'l River. DONE!
b. Spend a few days at a nice hot spring spa.
c. Visit Hope.
California:
a. The Readwoods on the NoCal coast.
b. Ride a trolley in SanFran. DONE! 3/07
c.
Colorado:
a. skiing (Monarch Pass) DONE!
b. Colorado Springs area (Pikes Peak, garden of the Gods,Royal Gorge, 7 Falls) DONE!c.
Connecticut: 6-7/98
a. Traffic jam north of NYC at 5pm Friday. DONE!
b. Mystic DONE!
Delaware:
a: suggestions anyone?
Florida:
(I've been to Tampa)
a. watch a space shuttle launch.
b. spend Christmas on the beach drinking pina coladas
c. drive out to Key West.
Georgia:
a. visit Plains.
b.
c.
Hawaii:
a. All suggestions welcomed.....for any state.
Idaho:
a. eat a potato DONE! (05/96)
Illinois:
a. Chicago.
b. See the Oprah show.
c. take the Frank Lloyd Wright tour.
Indiana:
a.
Iowa:
a. Now what Town will Capt. Kirk be born in?
Kansas:
OK, WAY OVER DONE!
Kentucky:
a. visit the town where Johnny Depp was born.
Louisiana:
a. New Orleans - post Katrina volunteering
b.
Maine: DONE! 7/98
a. L.L. Bean store. DONE!
b. Bar Harbor whale watching tour. DONE!
c. Acadia National Park. DONE!
Maryland:
a. (I only drove through a little sliver so it doesn't count)
Massachusetts: DONE! 7/98
a. Boston on the 4th of July. DONE!
b. Salem. DONE!
c. Ferry to Nantucket. DONE!
Michigan (upper & lower):
a.
Minnesota:
a. Remember all kind suggestions appreciated.....
Mississippi:
a.
Missouri:
a. Lexington Civil War Reinactment. DONE!
b. The Arch in St. Louis. DONE! 6/98
c. The Ozarks.
Montana:
a.
Nebraska: DONE!
a. Carhenge DONE!
b. Henry Doorly Zoo. DONE!
c. Spend a week there (western) one day. DONE!
Nevada:
a. Las Vegas.
New Hampshire: DONE! 7/98
a. Old Man on the Mt. DONE!
b. White Mt Nat'l Forest. DONE!
c. Drive all over the state & visit the little towns. DONE!
New Jersey:
(we drove the turnpike but didnt stop anywhere so it doesn't count)
New Mexico:
a. Area 51 (Roswell)
b. Albuquerque (Old Town, Botanical Gardens). DONE! 5/02
c. Carlsbad Cavern and WhiteSands Nat'l Monument ( I know one is in AZ )
New York:
a. Adirondacks. DONE! 7/98
b. Niagra Falls
c. NYC! - David Letterman, Ground Zero, a Broadway show,....
North Carolina:
a.
North Dakota:
a. help me here.....
Ohio:
a. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Oklahoma:
a. Tulsa. DONE!
b. Okmulgee. DONE!
c. Pryor (Bill Rabbit's Studio).
Oregon:
a.
Pennsylvania: DONE! Beautiful! 6/98
a. Hershey DONE!
b. Lancaster DONE!
c. Philly. DONE!
d. Falling Water. DONE!
e. Ft. Necessity. DONE!
f. Laurel Highlands. DONE!
Rhode Island: DONE! Little state, big beauty. My daughter's first touch of the Atlantic. 6/98
a. many light houses. DONE!
b. highway 1 w/ several side trips. DONE!
c. Newport. DONE!
South Carolina: DONE! But more to see.
a. Myrtle Beach. DONE! 1980
b. Visit Friends in Columbia. DONE! 8/2004
c. Columbia, State Capital where Sherman fired on the building. DONE! 8/2004
d.Charleston
South Dakota: DONE! 1994
a. Black Hills and the Badlands. DONE!
b. Mount Rushmore. DONE!
c. Wind Cave. DONE!
Tennessee:
a.
Texas: DONE!
a. Corpus Christi. DONE! 4/97
b. Sea World. DONE! 4/20/97 My daughter's 10th birthday. Great fun!
c. San Antonio (the Alamo) DONE! 4/97
Utah: DONE!
Would still like to see the southern half.
a. The Great Salt Lake. DONE! 5/96
b. Dinosaur Nat'l Monument. DONE! 5/96
c. There was a cool cave and hiking just south of SLCity. DONE! 5/96
Vermont: DONE!
a. Drove all over that state & stopped at many little towns. DONE!
Virginia:
Many places to see. More research needed.
a. Monticello
Washington ,DC:
a. The Mall.
b. Several Smithsonian Museums.
c. The Capital and White House.
West Virginia:
(Just drove through Wheeling to get to PA.)
a. Would like to see where "October Sky" took place.
Wisconsin:
a. show me the cheese!
Wyoming: DONE!
a. Devil's Tower. DONE!
b. Yellowstone. DONE! 5/96
c.Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons. DONE! 5/96
004. Be an extra in a film.
005. Take a tourist shuttle to the moon.
006. Experience weightlessness.
007. Caribbean Cruise
008. Move away from Topeka. (43 years in prison is enough!) I did for a year but returned recently. I still would like to live in a different part of the country.
009. Go up in a hot air balloon.
010. Kiss the Blarney Stone.
011. Sit in a parked car with dark sunglasses and point a hairdrier at passing cars.
012. Learn to play every day.
013. Travel past the speed of sound.
014. Visit all seven continents:
North America: DONE!
South America:
Austrailia:
a. Scubadive off of the Great Barrier Reef.
Asia:
a. Tibet
Europe:
a. England (Stoke-on-Trent)
b. Drive the Autobahn.
Africa:
Antarctica:
Maybe the tip closest to South America. Burrrrr!
017. Sit on a beach of all the seas:
Pacific:
Atlantic: New England 7/97
Mediterranean:
Arctic:
Indian:
MATERIAL ITEMS WISH LIST
001. Own a room with a view.
002. Own a convertable.
003. Own a car made in the year I was born. Maybe I could combine this one with 002.
