The List

One day this past July, I found myself upset about turning 30, which did not make any sense; I turned 30 in November. At the time of my actual birthday, I did not want to think about the mile-marker I was passing. I even jokingly told someone "If I don't celebrate turning 30, then it doesn't happen."

A few years ago, a close friend of mine turned 30. His celebration was a spectacle. A yacht was rented. Friends from across the country were flown in. Caterers were hired. There was an open bar. It was the equivalent of a wedding reception, for a single person.

While it was a great party, I wanted to celebrate in a different way. My primary focus at the time was on repairing my ankle and my health; I did not have the energy or desire to turn my birthday into a large event. I wanted to do something small, yet big. I wanted to do something with a small group of close friends; something from my list of things to do in this lifetime — my "Bucket List."

Skydiving.

It was exactly what I wanted to do, but there was a problem. On the day I had scheduled to jump out of an airplane, it snowed. Apparently skydiving and snow do not mix, so the outing was rescheduled for the spring.

Eventually the snow thawed and the make-up date approached. Then there was another problem: the friend who was crazy/brave enough to go with me needed to reschedule, multiple times. I began to think that my friend would never go, that the nerve had been lost. My thoughts snowballed.

I began to think about what I had wanted from life. I had everything I asked for. I had the job, the home, the car. From the superficial checklist, I had everything but the relationship. In dinner-party-small-talk, I could call my life a success. The problem was, my life was nothing like what I had envisioned. It was boring. I thought it would be different. I thought there would be more.

Do you remember when you reached this point? 30 is not a magic number. You may have reached this moment earlier in your life, or later. What did you do?

I became fixated on skydiving, and may have bullied my friend in the process. I had talked about doing this for so many years; it was time to take action. How could I move on with my life, if I couldn't call my own bluff and jump out of that plane? Life may not be what I imagined, but if I rolled over now, it never would be. I was prepared to jump on my own.

While I was prodding my friend to either commit to a make-up date or to bail out now, I started thinking about my list. It had always existed in my head. Now was the time to commit it to paper; to make it a reality. 50 Things to do Before You Die. At first, I couldn't think of that many. I looked for inspiration online. As I was collecting ideas, I found one that changed my thoughts.

Attend a concert.

Initially, I felt pity. Who was this unfortunate person who had never heard live music? I had gone to my first rock concert when I was a teenager, and had been exposed to live music in general before that. Then I realized, I could be reading the list of a teenager who lived on a farm in Iowa. Someone who, due to age and geographic restrictions, had limits to what they could achieve. But someday, this person would be old enough to drive.

Suddenly I realized it would be impossible to limit my list to 50 items. There had been a point in my life when I dreamed of attending a concert. I dreamed of moving to a large city. I dreamed of skydiving. Life may not be all that I had envisioned, but looking back at the road I've traveled, it was anything but boring.

My friend did eventually reschedule the skydiving adventure, so I did not have to jump alone. I do regret not taking any pictures, but film can never truly capture an experience like that. Since turning 30, I have not only gone skydiving, but I have also completed a triathlon, participated in Bay to Breakers, and visited the Seattle Space Needle.

Here is my list. The goal is to complete at least one item per year, and to also add at least one item.

• Learn to surf.


• Visit Stonehenge.


• Visit Paris.


• Visit the Colosseum in Rome.


• Sleep under the stars.


• Ride a horse.


• Run a marathon.


• Complete a triathlon.


• Participate in Bay to Breakers.


• Ask a stranger for a date.


• Drive on Route 66.


• Ride a rollercoaster.


• See the Grand Canyon.


• Visit San Francisco.


• Visit Las Vegas.


• Get a tattoo.


• Get something pierced.


• Join a protest.


• Donate blood.


• Get kicked out of a bar.


• Crowd-surf at a concert.


• Sing on a stage in front of people.


• Live/work in a high-rise building.


• Visit the Seattle Space Needle.


• Visit Ankgor Wat.


• Set foot on each of the seven continents.


• Climb one of the world’s Seven Summits.


• Ride an elephant/camel.


• Travel India by train.


• See the Taj Mahal at sunrise.


• See elephants/tigers in the wild.


• Participate in a Carnival parade in Brazil.


• Visit the statue of Christ the Redeemer.


• Dive the Great Barrier Reef.


• Climb Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney, Australia.


• Catch sunset over Ayres Rock, Australia.


• Visit the source of one of the world’s great rivers.


• Climb an active volcano.


• Participate in Burning Man.


• Attend the Olympics.


• Partake in a Japanese Tea Ceremony.


• See wild game on an African safari.


• Drink beer at Oktoberfest in Munich.


• Attend a football (soccer) game in a country where it matters.


• Visit every capital city in Europe.


• Sip a mint julep at the Kentucky Derby.


• Stroll along the Great Wall of China.


• Walk the Inca trail at Macchu Picchu.


• Run with the bulls in Pamplona.


• Visit a concentration camp.


• See the Northern lights.


• Drive a husky sled.


• Get a dog.


• Swim in the Dead Sea.


• Visit the pyramids of Teotihuacan.


• Visit the pyramids of Chitzen Itza.


• Visit the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx of Giza


• Climb 1,652 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower.


• Read "Anna Karenina" and explore Moscow.


• Ride a cable car in San Francisco.


• See a Redwood tree.


• Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.


• Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.


• Visit the top of the Empire State Building.


• Visit the top of the Sears Tower.


• Visit the top of the CN Tower.


• See the Ruins of Pompeii.


• See the Parthenon/Acropolis in Greece.


• Swim with a dolphin/shark.


• Go deep sea fishing and eat your catch.


• Learn to speak a foreign language and use it.


• Buy a boat and learn to sail.


• Grow a garden.


• Skydive.


• Participate in Escape from Alcatraz.


• Bungee jump.


• Bike the Pacific Coast Highway.


• Raft through the Grand Canyon.


• Fly a plane.


• Drive a race car.


• Watch the launch of the space shuttle.


• Travel into space.


• Complete an Ironman race.


• Participate in Ironman World Championship - Hawaii


• Float in a hot air balloon.


• Visit a nudist colony.


• Create your Family Tree.


• Restore a classic car.


• Drive across America from coast to coast.


• Ride a motorbike on the open road.


• Ride a mechanical bull.


• Volunteer/teach.


• Publish an article.


• Write a book.


• Be someone's mentor.


• Get a masters degree.


• Find a job you love.


• Be free from debt.


• Buy your own house and then spend time making it into exactly what you want.


• Attend a service for every major religion.


• Make a list of your five weaknesses/most annoying qualities and work on them.

What things on your list have you already done? What are you still hoping to do?