Writer’s Workshop: My Bucket List
by Jenners • 07/07/2010 • Life • 46 Comments
This week, I’m choosing Prompt 5: Write a list of 100 things you want to do before you turn 100. Otherwise known as a “bucket list.”
Well, I’m not going to commit to a list of 100. I’m just going to list the things I really want to do before I die. This prompt was particularly timely as I just crossed off an item that was on my “unofficial” bucket list. (This post now constitutes my OFFICIAL bucket list). While on the boardwalk in Ocean City, MD this past weekend, I managed to convince Mr. Jenners and the Little One to get a photo taken at one of those Olde Time photo places. (I never said I dreamt big!!!) I’ve always wanted to do that … and it was so fun dressing up in the costumes. The Little One looked so cute in his little gangster suit! I wish I could show you the photo but Mr. Jenners prohibits me from using the Little One’s photo on the blog. (Boo, Mr. Jenners. Booooo!)
I actually thought really hard about this list. (No joke ones like “kill a hobo with a hammer.”) And if I’ve learned nothing else from my dad’s death last year, it is that you shouldn’t wait to do the things you really want to do in life. For this reason, I’m highlighting the items I’m going to try and accomplish before the end of the year in red.
So, with no further ado, I present:
- Visit all the states I haven’t visited yet, which includes: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma. (Wow … I only need to visit 11 more!!)
- Visit the Taj Mahal. (Mr. Jenners told me in no uncertain terms he won’t go to India with me. But the Little One is game.)
- Stay in one of those huts that are over the water in Fiji or Tahiti.
- Trek in the Himalayas and see Mt. Everest. (Not climb Everest or even visit Base Camp. Just see it.)
- Visit the spot where my dad died in the mountains.
- Visit Peru. (A new addition … I blame it on Paige at Life Is A Phoenix and her recent photos of her Peru trek.)
- See where Anne of Green Gables lived on Prince Edward Island.
- Visit Russia. (For ancestry purposes.)
- Visit Poland. (For ancestry purposes.)
- Travel in Italy … specifically the Lake District.
- Visit Paris.
- Travel in Japan. I lived there when I was a little but remember nothing.
- Travel through the Alps.
- Travel in Africa. I’m thinking safari here.
- Go to Antarctica.
- Travel in Australia and see the Great Barrier Reef. (And get out alive. There are lots of dangerous things in Australia!!!)
- Stay in a 5 star luxury hotel for 2 nights (minus the Little One).
- Go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
- Drive across country with the Little One. (Perhaps I can combine this with my “visit all 50 states goal.”)
- See the Northern Lights.
- See a real volcano … or lava. I think you can see this in Hawaii.
- Travel in an RV for a year. (I suspect I might not have Mr. Jenners’s company for this one either.)
- See Mayan ruins.
- Revisit Eugene, OR where I went to college.
- Visit Angkor Wat.
- Reduce my breast size to a size B. (Either via weight loss or breast reduction. I think I would have to lose a whole lotta weight to get to a B so ….)
- Get laser eye surgery so I don’t need my glasses. (I just can’t imagine waking up and being able to see!!!)
- Run a mile in 10 minutes. (Talk about the Impossible Dream.)
- Get off my antidepressants permanently.
- Achieve and stay at my ideal body weight.
- Grow at least 50% of my own fruits and veggies.
- Complete a 5K race.
- Swim 20 laps in a pool without dying or drowning.
- Grow my hair long so I can have a pony tail.
Things I Want to Experience/Try (Or … The List I Hope My Insurance Company Doesn’t Read)
- Achieve 100% on a Lego game. (OK … this is lame but I’m at 99% on the Lego Batman game and it would be cool to completely finish the damn thing.)
- Beat Mr. Jenners in something definitively. (Anything!!)
- Ride a Segway. COMPLETED 4/11/12
- Go helmet diving.
- Go skydiving.
- Swim with dolphins for REAL and for a long time. (I did this once but it was really rushed and I felt like I didn’t get to experience it fully.)
- Gallop full speed on a horse.
- Go whitewater rafting.
- Drive a race car on a race track.
- Go in a real cave.
- Make pottery using one of those pottery wheels like in Ghost.
- Go scuba diving with sharks in an aquarium. (You can do this at the aquarium near us so I’m not just making this up.)
- Go skinny dipping.
- Be in a play.
- Go in a real maze that is really hard to get out of.
- Go on one of those big “drain-like” water slides. COMPLETED
- Get a full makeover at one of those Glamour Shot places.
- Go to a really fancy New Year’s Eve party where I have to wear a ball gown.
- Attempt surfing on a Flow Rider.
- Try snowboarding.
- Go hang gliding.
See … no worries about weight limits!- Experience zero gravity (without getting sick).
- Ride behind a dog sled.
- Golf on a real golf course. And drive the golf cart. (That should go without saying.)
- Sing karaoke in public.
- Join a book club (that I actually enjoy).
- Attempt to write a book/memoir.
- Attempt to write a children’s book.
- Have my own business.
- Live somewhere where I can walk to work, the grocery store, a restaurant, a bakery and a library and that has nice places to walk nearby.
- Befriend a wild animal. (I’m just talking a bird or a squirrel … not a bear or anything.)
- Make a quilt.
- Milk a cow.
- Go on a zipline course.
- Stay in this treehouse place I once saw.
- Be covered in mud.
- Read all the Harry Potter books with the Little One.
- Participate in a role-playing weekend.
- Go in my childhood home and see it once more.
- Be paid to write about all these experiences and travels as a magazine writer
Pingback: My Adventures: 4 – Parasailing
Jenners, this is wonderful. I recently did this as well but not on my blog. It's a great list! Congratulations on taking the time to think about the things you really want out of life!
You and I need to take a trip together to Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska as those are two states on your list I have yet to visit.
Can I come with you?
What the heck. My fingers aren't that heavy. You'd think that elephant was somehow related to me.
Excellent list. I love the tree house. Do you think we could do a time share?
Excellent list. I love the tree house. Do you think we could do a time share?
I'm thinking this would take a lifetime to complete! It's a great list full of fun and learning and sounds very adventurous! But wow, the $$$ that would all cost and the time it would take. I really don't know if you could complete it in one lifetime, lol.
Wow, you sure like to travel! There are a lot of things you want to do yet–better get busy!
Visiting from Mama Kat's writer's workshop.
Great list, Jenners. I particularly like making pottery like in Ghost. And grow a ponytail. Hope you get to do those, darlin'.
I think you'd be a great travel writer.
If you come to KY anytime soon, you'd better let me know.
Awesome list! I never really thought I had a bucket list but after reading some of yours I realize that I do!! There is still so much I want to do!
Ah, so many things to try
before I die . . .
Great list!! You were right in saying that you had I have some of the same dreams… and you were also right in saying that I was very specific about my travel wishes. I subscribe to Travel and Leisure, Islands and Coastal Living… and I bookmark or tear out the pages that have places or things I want to do. I've kind of been saving my idea file for awhile… and it's growing constantly.
As far as the states go — you could come see me in Alabama! Then you'd only have 10 left
What a great list! This should keep you busy – and broke – until you are at least 100!
Love the list.
Nearly all the things on your list are on my list.
Hey there are lots of dangerous things in Oz.
But all things considered, grizzly bears sound much scarier than most.
And like salt-water crocs (which I think are scarier than grizzlies) you can avoid them pretty easily.
The only times I have been covered with mud it wasn't fun, but I guess you didn't mean pushing a Jeep out of a bog.
You are going to be so busy! I think you should move back to Oregon, then we can both work towards those goals of running & swimming together (followed by eating lots of chocolate of course, because if I'm burning off that many calories I can afford to eat lots of chocolate).
Oh and I would totally want to be in your book club!
I've always wanted to go para-sailing myself. It's really the only crazy scary thing other than zip-lining that I'd be willing to do.
I've used a pottery wheel and I have to say that I thought it was great fun (although I didn't have nearly as much fun as Demi Moore did, but then I was in a high school art class at the time).
That's a great list full of travel, adventure and fun. If you figure out that Lego Batman game, can you give my 10 year old some hints? LOL. I think being in a play would be awesome. Piece of advice: Don't go skinny dipping with those sharks
I think about the laser eye surgery too. I think I over worry about it.
Love all your travel plans. Hope I get to do a 1/4 of those destinations
Your list makes me happy because it reminds me of all the great adventures and learning opportunities that are still out there for me. Hey Jenners, add blogger life coach to your list of things completed!
Really enjoyed your bucket list. We share several items. I didn't write about mine this week but several of mine are on your list!
How timely! The hubby and I watched The Bucket List the other night (which was really good, I have no shame in saying it!) and it made me think about a bucket list too. Some of yours I've completed, and a good many I haven't. Now I want to make one too!
And by the way…swimming is waaaaay easier than running on the joints and the body. Give that a go before the 5k!
Now what's wrong with admitting you want to rub out a hobo w/a hammer?
I enjoyed your list. I also would love to see PEI. The Anne of Green Gables books are longtime faves of mine.
I started a bucket list but never got around to finishing it. It's HARD work. LOVED reading yours!
I made the blog! I feel famous and important! Yeah. Sorry about adding to the bucket list. Well, I'm not really.
It's amazing that I've been to several of the places you listed and I've got several more on MY bucket list. Great minds, ey?
Gallop full speed on a horse – that's a good one I'll have to steal now.
We have several other things in common on our lists, too! Meet me in London and I'll go to India with you. It's near the top of my "places" bucket list. Oooo, hang gliding! I'm adding that, too.
Oh and I highly recommend the zip line thing. They have tons of them here. We can do that before we go to India.
I think maybe we're the same person.
You're brave choosing this one. I knew better because my post would have been mad EPIC.
Excellent list. Galloping full speed on a horse was much scarier than I thought it would be.
Stopping by from Mama Kat's.
I love all the places you want to see (will see!)
My husband and I went to Italy for out anniversary – we decided then to live smaller day-by-day to save for more trips.
Fantastic list! You've got some wonderful places to visit there. As long as you post about them after achieving each of these goals would make me happy. Have a good week and happy dreams!
You went to college in Eugene???? So did I, at least for the first year, then I transferred to Willamette U. in Salem.
When were you at the UofO?
How absolutely inspiring! As someone who has, in fact, taken a pottery class and had a brief "ghost moment" with someone else in the studio who was trying to show me the right technique (while keeping as much distance between us as possible)…it was not all that it's cracked up to be. I hope your experience goes better and is sexier. The way it should be.
Okay 1st of all BOOO Mr. Jenners for not letting us see how adorable the gangsta is!
2nd I KNEW we got along famously for some reason, I'm 1/4 Russian, I can't wait until I can go there!
You think if we find the right plastic surgeon he'd give us a two-fer on the breast reduction? I'm game for a size B too!
And Milk a cow? Awesome, I'd love to try that!!!
I didn't count, but it looks like you have close to 100 things to me! It's a very impressive list.
I'm hoping to clean my bathroom before I die.
Fantastic post and an amazingly inspiring list. I thought about doing this and decided not to as my list would have included so many travel aspirations but clearly you are a woman after my own heart as your travel wish list is wonderful. I too long to have lasik surgery but am not sure I am brave enough!
I hope you get to do these things – if so, well then that will be just incredible.
Awesome. Just awesome. This is admirable. I like it.
good grief, honey, you have wander lust
as bad as anybody i have ever known.
i really hope you get to see all those
wonderful places, especially oklahoma!
destination spot of the world.
we are the home of the worlds' largest
tall grass prairie ecosystem, and we
have lots of cows to milk.
love,
lea
Such a cool list! A long list at that. I wonder what my list would look like. That may be something I post on one day! Thank you for inspiring me!
Holy cow you must have come pretty close to 100! Great list.
You were a Duck? I didn't see that one coming!
I have always wanted to go to Prince Edward Island. And some of your other picks are definitely on the top of my list too – Russia and Japan (Japan especially during cherry blossom season).
That's quite an impresive list! I'm gonna go out on a limb & say you like to travel.
I've always dreamed of visiting Prince Edward Islance just b/c I loved Anne of Green Gables so much as a young girl.
Good luck on the list. You better get started!
Assuming you take I-70 on your cross-country trip, you'll come pretty close to my neck of the woods in MO.
I'd hope you'd stop at least for a gas fill up.
I didn't see bungee jumping along with the other dangerous items…have you done that one already?
Oh, and once I hit 50, I lost my desire and/or nerve about a lot of this stuff – I'm just sayin', you might want to get right on this list.
Great list! You are very brave and adventurous. If you ever make it to Kentucky, you better look me up.
I can not believe that we wrote on the same topic again (mine won't be up until tomorrow). And I really, really wish I had thought of the race car one.
I see you didn't choose Canada as a place to visit, though I'll sorta forgive you because you did say PEI, which is part of Canada, so I guess it counts. lol. I've never been there either, but it's on my list too, not Anne's House, but the province.
I really want to see the Northern Lights too. I went north one year but not quite far enough. But hey, you come this way, I'll make a point of going up north. (Just. not. in. winter.)
Btw, I've been thinking of my own Bucket List lately… maybe I should write it all down too.
I was thinking you have some pretty expensive travels coming up, but if you get paid to do it that would ve awesome.
You don't have time for blogging. You don't have time for anything but this list. It will take you the rest of what you've got to get it done.
The part about your dad touched me, Jenners. I hope you at least realize that. (((hugs)))
Awesome list! I think I need two lists really — one of things that cost little or nothing and the other one of things that are real dreams.
Of your list, I've stayed in 5 star hotels, been to Hawaii (lived there even! and got married there), galloped full speed on a horse (and it scared the poop out of me) and gone skinny dipping. Not the most illustrious list but I guess it's a start at making the most out of life!
If you come to Oregon this year, we are finding a way to meet up!
Wow, that's a really adventurous list!
A lot of travel. I'd have to think about my list.
Now that is what I call a bucket list.