Greg's Bucket List

Last week, my wife, my daughter, and I saw the movie The Bucket List. It is about two men who were diagnosed with terminal cancer at approximately the same time. One of the men was talking about an assignment his college philosophy professor gave him, an assignment to make a list of all the things that he wanted to do before he kicked the bucket: a bucket list. The two men set off to complete the things on their list in the short time they had left to live.

I like the idea of having a bucket list, so I made up my own. A lifetime is a long time, so I'm sure some of these items will change before I kick the bucket. Here's the list I came up with for now.

Key

Completed goals will be displayed in lavender

Goals that are in progress will be displayed in gray

The List

Career

001. Build my own businesses large enough that they are providing enough income that I don't have to work for anyone else.

Travel

002. Visit each of the 7 continents. [1/7]

003. Visit each of the 50 U.S. states. [30/50]

004. Visit each of the U.S. National Parks.

005. Take a cruise to Alaska.

006. Visit New Orleans.

007. Visit New Zealand.

008. See the northern lights.

009. Visit Cairo, Egypt to see the Great Pyramids

Outdoor Recreation

010. Thru hike the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail. (This is the triple crown of United States distance hiking.)

011. Thru hike the Wonderland Trail.

012. Thru hike the Tahoe Rim Trail.

013. Take a cycling tour of Europe.

014. Ride my bike across the United States.

015. Climb Mount Ranier.

016. Trek to the Everest Base Camp.

017. Go winter camping.

Just for Fun

018. Get my pilot's license.

019. Go skydiving. (Actually, this may not be fun. I'm afraid of heights. But it is a stretch, and I think it'll be good for me to face this fear.)

Education and Culture

020. Read all of the recommended literature listed in the appendix of How to Read a Book.

021. Attend an opera.

022. Learn to play the saxophone.

023. Take an ethnic cooking class in the native country.

024. See Diana Krall in concert.

025. Own recordings of all the works listed in The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection

026. Learn to play golf.

Fitness

027. Train for and complete a triathlon.

Photography

028. Build a large format camera from scratch.

029. Complete a 365 photo project.