The list...is life

Life lists have quickly become a cliché. While a few years ago they were an unusual way of looking at a person’s life, now they’ve just become trendy. I knew as soon as Men’s Journal had a feature article that not only talked about what should be on every “real man’s” life list, but also had selections of famous people’s life lists, that they have gone from being an interesting idea to being overblown by the mainstream media. I’ve had a life list (or as I always liked to call it, “100 things to do before I die”) for a long time, though my original printed copy (which only had about 30 things on it) got lost years ago. Either way, I’m sure there were things on that list that I would have removed, now that I’ve had a few years under my belt. Also, I’ve added items to the list that I’ve already done (such as climb a Mayan Pyramid), which if I hadn’t done them yet, I would have them on the list. It might be cheating, but oh well. And of course, things you can’t control can not be put on a Life List (i.e., Live to be 100; catch a home run ball at a baseball game). Most of the items on my list are travel related – i.e., Visit Crete. To be honest, these might seem quite boring, but maybe I’m just a boring person. I do want to visit New Zealand, but I don’t have any desire to bungee jump in New Zealand. So “Trek around New Zealand” is good enough for me.

Also, these are NOT in order of most desired to least desired. They are just the way I came up with them. Maybe in the future I’ll post the likelihood of me doing each one, as well as how I would rank them in order of desire. But for now, here’s the top 100. (Note: Subject to change at any time! Also, #'s 1-5 are DONE. 5 down, 95 to go...)

1. Climb a Mayan Pyramid
2. Snorkel in St. John, USVI
3. See a Late Show with David Letterman in person
4. Climb Mt. Washington in NH
5. Touch the Stanley Cup
6. Hike the Appalachian Trail
7. Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef
8. Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge
9. Watch the sunset over Uluru
10. Snorkel in Palau
11. Hike through England/Scotland/Ireland and stay at pubs/inns
12. Bike/Hike around Switzerland
13. Take a hot air balloon ride over the African Savannah
14. Trek through Croatia & Slovenia
15. Watch a mountain leg of the Tour de France
16. Go to a Stanley Cup clinching game
17. Visit every major league ballpark and watch a game
18. See a World Series game
19. Go on an overnight backpacking trip in the Maze District in Canyonlands Nat’l Park
20. Hike the Narrows in Zion
21. Backpack in Yellowstone to an unnamed waterfall
22. Visit Banff Nat’l Park and Lake Louise
23. Go to the Winter Olympics and ring a cow bell
24. Visit Glacier Nat’l Park before the glaciers melt
25. See the sunrise from the top of Half Dome in Yosemite
26. Hike the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim
27. Visit Grand Teton Nat’l Park
28. Canoe/Kayak around Voyageurs Nat’l Park
29. Watch Arsenal at Highbury
30. Go to an FA Cup final
31. See the US in the World Cup
32. Play a round of golf at Pebble Beach
33. Write a book
34. Get a book published
35. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
36. Climb Mt. Whitney in California
37. Go sea kayaking in Baja California
38. Go canyoneering in Grand Staircase-Escalante, UT
39. Play in the World Series of Poker
40. Play golf at St. Andrews – Old Course
41. Cross the Straight of Gibraltar on a boat
42. Trek up to Machu Picchu
43. Bury a time capsule
44. Visit the Pyramids of Giza
45. Be an extra in a movie
46. Finish reading “Ulysses”
47. Learn to play “Nightswimming” on the piano
48. Learn to play “Linus & Lucy” on the piano
49. Visit Denali Nat’l Park, but don’t even attempt to climb Denali
50. Travel to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before it becomes a giant oil rig
51. See a hockey game at the Montreal Forum/Molson Center/whatever it’s called now
52. Go scuba diving at Stingray City in the Caymans
53. Go scuba diving in Bon Aire
54. Visit the Galapagos Islands
55. Golf at Shadow Creek, Las Vegas
56. Visit the Normandy Beaches in France & Bastogne in Belgium
57. Travel around the Croatian Islands in the Adriatic
58. Go on an African Safari
59. Visit the Mountain Gorillas in the wild
60. Visit the Seychelles and do nothing
61. Trek around the island of Crete
62. Play golf at Death Valley
63. Raft the Rio Grande in Big Bend Nat’l Park
64. Mountain Bike the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands
65. Raft down the Green River, Utah
66. Canoe the Everglades
67. Camp on the Dry Tortugas
68. Camp on Mona Island, Puerto Rico
69. Visit an active volcano at Hawaii Volcanoes Nat’l Park
70. Visit Belize and go snorkeling
71. Visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia
72. Visit Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park and attempt to climb Longs Peak
73. Golf at TPC Sawgrass, Stadium course
74. Sit on a beach in French Polynesia
75. Check out Tokyo and go to a karaoke bar
76. Be a bartender for at least 1 night
77. Spend a night walking around Vienna
78. Visit Auschwitz
79. See Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial
80. Visit the Amazon Rainforest
81. Plant a tree
82. Drink beer at Oktoberfest in Germany
83. Learn to juggle
84. See the Northern Lights
85. Ride the Orient Express from London to Istanbul
86. Trek to Everest Base Camp
87. Visit Churchill, Manitoba and see the Polar Bears up close (but not too close)
88. Visit all 50 states and all Canadian provinces/territories
89. March in a protest rally
90. Learn to ice skate better than I can now
91. See every Virginia Tech football game in a single season, in person
92. Watch a round of golf at the Masters
93. See a fjord in Norway
94. Visit Poland – the motherland
95. Eat a pasta meal in Italy
96. Check out the geysers in Iceland
97. See Victoria Falls
98. Visit a National Park in Gabon
99. Trek around New Zealand
100. Throw a dart at a world map and travel to wherever it hits