Bucket List

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“What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.” –Hugh Mulligan

As a family, we never went on vacations or did anything super fun in the summer. We always stayed home and I can count the times I’d left the state of Texas on my hand.  I had always dreamed of traveling when I was younger, but never really thought it would happen.  As a kid I was promised two trips abroad (Australia and France), but they never panned out for whatever reason.  I was 18 when I wrote a bucket list of places I wanted to see in the world… but it was just a dream that would never happen.

When I graduated college I got to go on a celebratory Caribbean cruise with my mom. Since all I had ever known was Texas I didn’t realize how beautiful the rest of the world was. I was shocked to discover that all those photos I’d seen of the world, were actually real and way more beautiful in person. It was on the island of St. Martin that the seed was planted and my wanderlust began.

I remember finding The Global Trip blog back in 2003ish.  The Global Trip documented Erik’s 16-month around the world backpacking trip. What? 16 months of traveling around the world. Are you serious!?! Who does that?  At the time Erik was at Iguassu Falls, a beautiful waterfall on the border of Argentina and Brazil. I was extremely intrigued by not only the picturesque waterfall, but the trip itself. I realized that seeing the world didn’t have to be a 2-week vacation; It could be a lifestyle on a budget I could afford. I remember taking out my bucket list that I had written when I was 18 and adding Iguassu Falls to it. I was also inspired to write more items on my bucket list as I found things I wanted to accomplish in life.

When I found myself in Iguassu Falls on my 5-month backpacking adventure through South America I had a moment of realization.  Up until that point I felt like I hadn’t really accomplished my dreams. I remembered that moment 5-years prior when I pulled out my bucket list and added Iguassu Falls.  I had come full-circle from the moment I was inspired to work towards extended travel, adding Iguassu Falls and actually achieving my goal. That moment felt amazing; like I had just crossed the finish line in first place.

This is my Bucket List / Life List that I continue to add to as inspiration hits… What’s on yours?

Professional Goals

1. Do something newsworthy
2. Generate $3,000/month in passive income ($5,000/$10,000)
3. Speak about my extraordinary life to inspire others to live their own dream life
4. Be a well known resource and expert for Freedom Working
5. Make $25/$50/$100 per day in stock photo sales
6. Write a manifesto
7. Reach 500/1,000/5,000/10,000 followers on twitter
8. Speak at a design conference about Freedom Working
9. Have a photo of me riding motocross in a national magazine
10. Have a photo of me skateboarding in a national magazine
11. Get 1^st in a skateboard competition
12. Build a successful blog with 100/500/1,000/5,000/10,000+ subscribers
13. Launch an ebook or digital product that generates $5,000+
14. Write a book / Be a published author
15. Get an article published in a print magazine
16. Be a source of inspiration for those who want to live an unconventional life and break out of the 9 to 5
17. Be interviewed for TV
18. Forgive
19. Become a citizen of another country and get a 2^nd passport
20. Take the MENSA test
21. Change someones life for the better

Things to Learn

1. Achieve fluency in Spanish, French, and Sign Language
2. Be competent in surfing
3. Get PADI Open Water SCUBA certification
4. Get PADI Advanced Open Water certification
5. Wind Surfing
6. Hanggliding
7. Snowboard
8. Skateboarding
9. Attend a cooking course
10. Take a printmaking course
11. Learn to sail
12. Learn how to kite surf
13. Learn how to skate the Mega Ramp
14. Learn to fly a plane
15. Learn more about my grandmother while she’s still here
16. Learn to dance

Adventures to Have and Things to Do

1. Sky dive
2. Kayak in the sea
3. Jump off a cliff higher than 40 feet.
4. Go white water rafting
5. Bungee jump
6. Ride a jetski
7. Try wakeboarding
8. Participate in Post Office Bay – Galapagos, Ecuador
9. Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu – Cuzco, Peru
10. Ride a bicycle down the World’s Most Dangerous Road – La Paz, Bolivia
11. Take fun photographs at Salar de Uyuni – Uyuni, Bolivia
12. Spend a night in the Amazon jungle
13. Whale watch
14. Swim with dolphins
15. Hike Colca Canyon (Deepest canyon in the world) – Cuzco, Peru
16. Climb a volcano
17. Go on a safari in the Serengeti and take photos of the wildlife
18. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and watch the sun rise – Africa
19. Fall in love
20. Stand under a waterfall with my clothes on and get soaked.
21. Get spooked at a haunted house
22. Drive across America coast to coast
23. SCUBA dive in the Great Barrier Reef – Coast of Australia
24. Sing karaoke in a bar
25. Take a tour on a camel in Egypt
26. Take a tour on an elephant in Africa
27. Visit a tribal village and live with them for longer than a month
28. Visit a winery
29. Spend New Years eve in Times Square New York, New York
30. Celebrate Chinese New Year in China
31. Go shark baiting
32. Volunteer in Vanuatu with Project MARC
33. Spend a month or longer on a Caribbean Island
34. Have a real snow experience
35. Ride the Trans-Siberian across Asia
36. Be an extra in a film
37. Send a message in a bottle
38. Receive a postcard from every country
39. Ride in a hot air balloon
40. Adopt a child
41. Play roulette in Las Vegas – Nevada USA
42. Go deep sea fishing
43. Participate in a food fight
44. Drive a Lamborghini (or similarly awesome car)
45. Eat at one of Gordon Ramsey’s restaurants
46. See a real igloo (possibly sleep in one)
47. Jump in a random train with only my backpack and see where I end up
48. Go on a long roadtrip without a map or GPS
49. Eat at White Castle
50. Ride in a open 2-seater plane
51. Find a long-lost friend
52. Volunteer in an orphanage overseas
53. Shoot guns on a shooting range
54. Milk a cow
55. Ride in a helicopter
56. Have a picnic under the Eiffle Tower – Paris, France
57. Get into a fist fight
58. Sleep under the stars
59. Participate in a kava ceremony – Vanuatu
60. See a Dugong (sea cow)
61. Jump off a tall ships yard arm into the ocean
62. Shower in the rain
63. Catch a fish over 20 lbs
64. SCUBA dive Million Dollar Point – Santo, Vanuatu
65. SCUBA dive The Coolidge Wreck –Santo, Vanuatu
66. Feel an earthquake
67. Climb an active volcano and watch it erupt – Mt Yasur – Tanna Island, Vanuatu
68. Be in the eye of a hurricane
69. Live in a tree house and live off the land for a month
70. Climb an active volcano at midnight and watch it erupt throughout the night
71. Experience the traditional way of life in Vanuatu
72. Carve my name into a tree
73. SCUBA dive the supermarket in Fiji (sharks)
74. Go cave diving
75. Learn to backflip & frontflip
76. Tube down the Brazos River
77. Ride an ostrich
78. Go strawberry picking
79. Collect honey from a beehive
80. Float in the dead sea
81. Do a work exchange at the Mana Retreat in New Zealand
82. Go zorbing in New Zealand
83. Gibbon Experience in N. Laos
84. Go to the airport with no preconceived idea where to go and board a plane
85. Skate Woodward East
86. Skate Woodward West
87. Skate with a top female skateboarder
88. Fly in a private jet
89. Crew a yacht to cross the ocean
90. Teach English in Asia
91. Be on the TV show Survivor
92. Get a meaningful tattoo
93. Kiss passionately in the rain
94. Ride the train from Riobamba to Alusi – Ecuador
95. Complete the 365 photo project
96. Sail on a boat for 2+months
97. Try the crazy bug food in Asia
98. Live abroad for 6+months (in one place)
99. Visit the Amish – Pennsylvania, USA
100. Hike to Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City) – Colombia
101. Try Ayahuasca
102. Hike on a glacier
103. Experience a futbol game in South America (soccer)
104. Catch a piranha and eat it
105. Take a tour through a favela (slums) – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
106. Firewalking
107. Ride a mechanical bull
108. Fly in a blimp
109. Visit every country in the world
110. Visit all 7 continents
111. Mush a Dog Sled
112. Help turtles hatch and make it to the ocean
113. Visit The Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
114. Cross the Hangzhou Bay Bridge – Hangzhou Bay, China
115. Shave my head
116. Ride a raft down the Mekong river through Thailand
117. Roast marshmallows on lava in Guatemala. (I LOVE volcanoes!)
118. Live somewhere with a real ‘Fall’ and watch the leaves turn colors on the trees.
119. SCUBA dive an underwater volcano (Halmahera, Indonesia)

Places to Travel and Landmarks to See

1. Statue of Liberty – New York City, New York
2. Visit Easter Island, Chile
3. Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia
4. Austin, TX USA
5. New York City – New York, USA
6. Iguazu Falls – Argentina/Brazil
7. Ciudad del Mundo (Middle of the World) – Quito, Ecuador
8. Iquitos, Peru
9. Seattle, Washington, USA
10. San Francisco, California, USA
11. Portland, Oregon, USA
12. Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
13. Los Angles, California, USA
14. Florida Keys, Florida, USA
15. Atlanta, Georgia, USA
16. San Agustin Archaeological Park – San Agustin, Colombia
17. Pyramids and Sphinx – Cairo, Egypt
18. Luxor and Karnak temples – Luxor, Egypt
19. Table Mountain – Cape Town, South Africa
20. Timbaktu, Mali
21. Dracula’s Castle – Transylvania, Romania
22. Great Wall of China – China
23. Ayers Rock – Australia
24. Mount Everest – Nepal/Tibet
25. Grand Canyon – Arizona, USA
26. Victoria Falls – Zambia/Zimbabwe
27. Great Barrier Reef – Australia
28. Meteor Crater, Arizona, USA
29. Buddhist Temple – Asia
30. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
31. Hoover Dam – Nevada, USA
32. New Zealand
33. Singapore, Malaysia
34. Laos
35. Buenos Aires, Argentina
36. Santiago, Chile
37. London, England
38. Zipaquira Salt Cathedral – Bogota, Colombia
39. Australia
40. San Antonio, Texas, USA
41. Romania
42. Eiffel Tower – Paris, France
43. Leaning Tower of Pisa – Italy
44. Forbidden City – Beijing, China
45. Guggenheim Museum – New York, New York, USA
46. Walt Disney World – Orlando, Florida, USA
47. Millineum Cave – Santo, Vanuatu
48. Eastern Caribbean Cruise
49. Western Caribbean Cruise
50. Stonehenge – England
51. Hawaii, USA
52. Nazca Lines – Peru
53. Venice, Italy
54. Spain
55. Myanmar
56. Venice Beach, California, USA
57. Thailand
58. Medieval City – Carcassonne, France
59. Nasouri Highlands – Vita Levu, Fiji
60. Petra (ancient ruins) – Jordan
61. Galapagos Islands – Ecuador
62. Cartagena, Colombia
63. Iquitos, Peru
64. Amazon Jungle – Peru/Bolivia/Colombia/Brazil/Ecuador
65. Potosi Mines – Potosi, Bolivia
66. Tierra del Fuego – Argentina/Chile
67. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
68. Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) – Hotel Igloo Village Kakslauttanen, Finland
69. Sydney Opera House – Australia
70. Taj Mahal, India
71. Chichen Itza – Mexico
72. Antartica
73. Angkor Wat, Cambodia
74. Acropolis & Parthenon – Athens, Greece
75. Petronas Twin Towers – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
76. Banaue Rice Terraces – Philippines
77. Niagara Falls – New York, USA
78. Helix Bridge – Singapore
79. The Tower Bridge – London, England

Cultural Celebrations

1. Attend the Berlin Love Parade – Berlin, Germany
2. Participate in Carnival – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3. Art Car Parade – Houston, Texas, USA
4. Burning Man – Nevada, USA
5. World’s Biggest Water Fight – New years Eve – Thailand
6. Mardi Gras – New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
7. Oruro Carnival – Oruro, Bolivia
8. Oktoberfest – Munich, Germany
9. La Tomatina – Valencia, Spain
10. Carnival – Venice, Italy
11. New Years Eve in Times Square – New York City, New York – USA