If you are a regular reader, you know that I’m a compulsive list-maker. I can’t take action on anything without a clear plan.

And this list? It’s the most important one of my life. It’s existed in various incarnations since I was 12 years old. This specific one I compiled at my biggest “Holy shit, time is flying and I need to make the most of it!” moment in 2013, around the time I started this blog.

I regularly add to it, and I look at it every time I need a kick in the ass to start taking action. It reminds me there is still so much to do and see in this world, and I can’t allow myself to become complacent or comfortable.

LAST UPDATE (3/26/2024): I crossed a handful of things off, added some hikes and took some things off that no longer appeal to me.  

Non-Location Specific

1. Sky Dive
2. Bungee jump over water
3. Swim or Dive with a humpback whale (from a safe distance)
4. Surf a wave on my own
5. Stay in an ashram for 2 weeks.
6. Visit all 7 continents. (have been to 6 of the 7 – Antarctica is my last one)
7. See all 7 Wonders of the World (I’ve seen 5 of the 7 – the Great Wall, Colosseum, Chichen Itza, the Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu)
8. Become fluent in Spanish.
9. Learn to speak a third language.
10. Go skiing or snowboarding (Big Bear in January 2021)
11. Go on a backpacking trip at least 7 days/6 nights long.
12. Learn how to rock climb
13. Take a backcountry skills course
14. See the Northern Lights
15. Live on a tropical island paradise for at least 1 month (Fiji in May/June of 2016)
16. Learn to scuba dive (October 2014 in Utila)
17. Get my PADI Advanced Open Water scuba certification (Playa del Carmen October 2015)
18. Stay in a treehouse (April 2014 in Thailand)
19. Spend 6 full consecutive months abroad (December 2015-June 2016)
20. Ride in a hot air ballloon (February 2016 in Myanmar – and again at Teotihuacan in 2024)
21. Go zorbing
22. Attend a World Cup match where the US is playing
23. Attend an Olympic event in which the US is competing
24. Go to the Superbowl
25. Visit all 50 States (been to 37 of the 50)
26. Visit over 100 countries (current count is 46)
27. House sit for at least a week in a gorgeous location
28. Write a book
29. Go to a music festival abroad (Primavera in Barcelona in 2023 & Axe Ceremonia in Mexico City 2024)
30. Learn how to kite surf
31. Bathe an elephant (April 2014 in Laos)
32. Go paragliding (December 2015 in Guatemala)
    

    Paragliding in Guatemala in December 2015.

33. Go hangliding
34. Finish an adventure race that is 3 days long or more.
35. Go blo-karting.
36. Learn a musical instrument (enough to play a song that I really like perfectly)
37. Spend 72 hours alone in the wilderness
38. Bike across an entire country.
39. Ride a jet ski (Lake of the Ozarks 2018)
40. Try wakeboarding
41. See bioluminescent water (and paddle/SUP/boat through it).
42. Sleep in an igloo.
43. Ride in a helicopter. (March 2017 in Charleston, SC)

Diving Want-to-Sees

1. Whale Shark
2. Great Whites (from a cage!)
3. Mola Mola
4. Manta Ray
5. Hammerhead
6. Bull shark (May 2016 in Pacific Harbour, Fiji)
7. Dive in a cenote (October 2015 in Playa del Carmen)
8. Go diving for treasure
9. Thresher Sharks
10. Dolphins

Bull sharks in Pacific Harbour, Fiji.

Asia

1. Visit Angkor Wat (May 2014)
2. Learn to make Sushi in Japan
3. Go nightclubbing at neon Japanese nightclubs in Tokyo
4. Climb Mount Fuji in Japan
5. Do the Tateyama-Kamikōchi hike in Japan
6. See the Xi’an warriors in China
7. Yangtze river cruise in China
8. See the Banuae rice fields in the Philippines
9. See at least 5 beautiful islands in Philippines
10. Visit Tibet
11. Let go of a floating lantern in Thailand (New Years 2015-2016 in Koh Lanta)
12. Lounge on the beach in Phuket, Thailand (May 2014)
13. See Mount Everest (March 2014)
14. Bike around all the temples in Bagan, Burma (February 2016)
15. Cycle down the coast of Vietnam
16. Do a week of daily yoga classes in Bali
17. Climb Mount Kinabalu
18. Get lost in the jungles of Borneo (and see an orangutang)
19. Hike the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal
20. Climb Island Peak in Nepal
21. Visit Chitwan Park in Nepal
22. Visit Phraya Nakhon Cave in Thailand
23. Visit the Taj Mahal at sunrise or sunset in India (did both! March 2016)
24. Take an Indian cooking class (March 2016 in Udaipur)
25. Take a Thai cooking class (April 2014 in Chiang Mai)
26. Do the Rickshaw Run in India
27. Attend Holi in India (March 2016 in Jaipur)
28. Learn about Hinduism in Varanasi (March 2016)
29. Do yoga in Rishikesh
30. Dive in Raja Ampat in Indonesia
31. Dive in Sipidan Island, Malaysia
32. Attend the Kumbh Mela in India (world’s largest spiritual festival)
33. Attend a wedding in India
34. Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway
35. Horse trek in Mongolia
36. Visit Bibi-Khanym Mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan
37. Visit the Door to Hell in Turkmenistan
38. Visit the Maldives
39. Climb to the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan

Holi in Jaipur, India in April 2016

Europe

1. Hike the Fisherman’s Trail in Portugal
2. Attend La Tomatino festival in Valencia, Spain
3. Visit Alcazar of Segovia in Spain
5. Hike the Tour du Mont Blanc
6. Hike the Grande Randonnée Cinq (GR 5)
7. Explore the Craco ghost medieval village in Italy
8. Hike the Haute Route
9. Hike the Cinqueterre in Italy (April 2018)
10. Swim in the blue grotto in Capri
11. Visit Pompeii
12. Visit Auschwitz in Poland
13. Take an Italian cooking class in Italy
14. Kayak the Amalfi Coast
15. Kayak the Dalmation Coast, Croatia
16. See the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia
17. Drink beer in Prague
18. Visit Lake Bled in Slovenia
19. Kayak in Bohuslän archipelago in Sweden
20. Go reindeer sledding in Sweden
21. See the Berlin Wall
22. Go to Oktoberfest in Germany (October 2022 in Munich)
23. Visit Neuschwanstein in Germany
24. Visit the Christmas markets in Germany
25. Visit St. Petersburg and go on a vodka tour
26. Celebrate Hogmonay in Scotland
27. Hike the West Highland Way in Scotland
28. Hike across England
29. Lock myself in a cabin and write for one week in the English Lake District
30. Party in Amsterdam (October 2016)
31. Go to Transylvania and sleep in a creepy castle
32. Visit Meteora, Greece (April 2018)
33. Track Polar Bears in Svalbard
34. Kayak in the Fjords in Norway
35. Stand on the Troll’s Tongue in Norway (and try not freak out)
36. Hike the Karhunkierros (week long hike) in Oulangan Kansallispuisto park in Finland.
37. Hike Hornstrandir in Iceland (Bolungarvík to Ísafjörður)
38. Dive between techtonic plates in Silfra, Iceland.
39. Do a cheese tour in France
40. Bike the Route de Cidre in Normandy
41. See the famous horse races in Siena
42. Go Hang-Gliding in Interlaken, Switzerland
43. Verzasca Dam Bungee Jump, Switzerland
44. Visit Blagaj in Boznia and Herzegovina
45. Visit Procida, Italy
46. Visit the Popeye Village in Malta
47. Rave in Ibiza
48. Drink wine and eat truffles in the Piemonte region of Italy (November 2021)

Central America & Caribbean

1. See the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza and Tikal (Chichen in October 2015, Tikal in November 2015)
2. Dive the Blue Hole in Belize (November 2015)
3. Hike to a volcano in Costa Rica
4. Hike the Uran Chirripo Loop in Costa Rica.
5. Go diving at the Islas de Coco from Costa Rica (liveaboard necessary!)
6. Attend Day of the Dead in Mexico (October 2015)
7. Visit Ometepe, Nicaragua
8. Go volcano boarding in Nicaragua
9. Spend a week in Bocas del Toro
10. Sail between island countries in the Caribbean (on an actual sail boat, not a cruise ship)
11. Spend one week drinking rum every day in the Caribbean and lounging on a beach. (AKA be a pirate for a week) (Royal Caribbean cruise October 2017)
12. Listen to St. Lucia on St. Lucia (October 2017)
13. Visit Cuba
14. Sail the BVIs
15. Dive in Bonaire

At Tikal in Guatemala, November 2015.

South America

1. Trek the Inca Trail to see Machu Picchu at sunrise. (although technically I didn’t do the Inca Trail proper, I did the Quarry Trail to Machu Picchu in December 2021 and it was incredible and I don’t feel the need to go back for the more crowded Inca Trail.)
2. Trek the Torres del Paine W circuit.
3. See the Perito Moreno Glacier
4. Hike in the Monte Fitz Roy region in Argentina
5. Visit the Atacama Desert in Chile
6. Check out the street art in Valaparaiso, Chile
7. Learn to Tango in Buenos Aires
8. Take a wine tour in Mendoza
9. Do a boat tour down the Amazon
10. Hike the Cordillera Real near Huaraz, Peru
11. Attend a San Pedro or Ayuhuasca Ceremony in Peru (Did both December 2021)
12. Visit Rio and complete a hike to the top of the Christ the Redeemer statue.
13. Visit Lençóis Maranhenses, Brazil
14. Go to Huacachina in Peru, an oasis in the middle of the desert
15. Visit the Galapagos
16. Go diving at Darwin and Wolf in the Galapagos
17. Visit the Salt Flats in Bolivia
18. Attend Carnival in Rio
19. Visit Lake Titicaca
20. Visit Colombia (Cartagena, Cali & Medellin) 

Antarctica

1. Go kite skiing in Antarctica
2. Visit a penguin colony on South Georgia Island

Oceania

1. Volunteer in Tonga (my step-father is Tongan and I grew up around this culture, and I’ve always dreamed of visiting)
2. Diving with humpback whales in Tonga
3. Visit Fiji (worked there for 2 months in April-June 2016)
4. Stay in a cabana/hut over the water in Bora Bora.
5. Scuba Dive in Palau
6. Snorkel in the jellyfish lake in Palau
7. Hike and camp in the outback in Australia
8. Visit New Zealand and spend a month doing all things active and adventurous!
9. Visit “Middle Earth” in New Zealand: Mount Sunday, Mount Aspiring National Park, Matamata, Glenorchy
10. Heli-hike in Franz Josef New Zealand
11. Visit the Waitomo Caves and see the Glowworm Grotto
12. Hike the Tongariro Crossing in NZ
13. Kayak in Milford Sound
14. Visit Papua New Guinea and see a remote village
15. Scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef
16. Climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge
17. Rent a camper van in Perth and drive up the coast of Western Australia, visiting all the gorgeous beaches there.
18. Dive on Ningaloo Reef

At the top of Kili in October 2016.

 Africa

1. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (October 2016)
2. Volunteer in marine/wildlife conservation in Madagascar
3. Walking safari in Zambia
4. Volunteer with a non-profit working for female equality through education in Africa
5. Go on a camel safari in Morocco. (March 2018)
6. Visit the blue city of Chefchaouen, Morocco. (March 2018)
7. Visit Timbuktu, Mali
8. Visit Zanzibar
9. Climb Table Mountain in South Africa
10. Tour Ethiopia to see the dug out churches
11. Go Gorilla tracking in Rwanda or Uganda.
12. Bungee Jump at Victoria Falls
13. See the Great Whites in Cape Town
14. Visit Mauritius – the furthest place on earth from Bedford, Texas (my home town)
15. Visit the skeleton coast in Namibia
16. Climb Konigstein (King’s Stone) mountin in Namibia
17. Go on a safari in Kenya at Amboseli and Maasai Mara National Parks

US & Canada

1. Visit all 63 US National Parks (I should add up how many I’ve been to but I’m thinking it’s around 10?)
2. Sea Kayak with Killer Whales in the Pacific Northwest
3. Climb Mt. Whitney
4. Go on a multi-day backpacking trip in Yosemite (June 2021)
5. Go fishing in a remote part of Yellowstone
6. Thru-hike the PCT
7. Hike and camp in Denali National Park
8. Complete the Seven Sisters Hike in Oregon
9. Hike the Wonderland Loop in Washington
10. Hike the Grand Loop in the Rocky Mountains
11. Visit villages in Nova Scotia with beautiful lighthouses
12. Kayak around the Channel Islands
13. Kayak in Prince William Sound, Alaska
14. Fly in a seaplane in Alaska
15. Attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans
16. Visit Big Sur (January 2021 – though I want to go back because it was too short!)
17. Visit Zion, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks in Utah. (Visited Arches in 2018)
18. Attend Burning Man
19. Float the entire Grand Canyon
20. Hike the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim
21. Hike and Camp in Jasper and Banff National Parks in Canada
22. Climb Half Dome in Yosemite
23. Night dive with manta rays in Kona, Hawaii

Middle East

1. Visit Petra in Jordan
2. Camel safari in Wadi Rum desert
3. Float in the dead sea
4. See the Dome of the Rock in Israel
5. Go diving in the Red Sea
6. Visit the great pyramids and Luxor/Aswan in Egypt.
7. Visit Istanbul, Turkey.
8. Visit the hot springs on terraces in Pamukkale, Turkey
9. Ride in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia.