This is my ongoing and ever-changing list of things to do, places to go, and sites to see.
After stumbling upon Maggie Mason’s list on her Mighty Girl blog, I created this list (and wrote about how to create your own).
I add to the list often and delete things with equal frequency as I accomplish things on the list or develop new ideas. Newly added or updated items are bold and italic; if something is crossed out, I did it!
Things I’m Working On
This section is dedicated to the quests that I’m working on.
- Visit as many National Parks in the US as I can
- Cape Cod National Seashore, MA (I practically grew up here)
- Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO (2003)
- Mesa Verde National Park, CO (2003)
- Bandelier National Monument, NM (2003)
- Canyon de Chelly National Monument, AZ (2003)
- Arches National Park, UT (2003)
- Muir Woods National Park, CA (2004)
- Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, MO (2007)
- Redwood National Park, CA (2008)
- Point Reyes National Seashore, CA (2008)
- Cabrillo National Monument, CA (2011)
- Gulf Islands National Seashore, MS + FL (2015 + 2018 + 2019)
- Acadia National Park (2021)
- Shenandoah National Park (2022)
- Annual reading challenge: I increased my goal to 50 books in 2023. I track my progress on the Story Graph if you’re curious.
- Visit and/or camp at all Massachusetts State Parks
- Scusset
- Nickerson
- Otter River
- Wellfleet Hollow
- Shawme Crowell
- Wells
- Wompatuck
Things I Want to Do or Have Accomplished
- Live in New Mexico
Do a cross-country road tripBe location independent – earn an income by working online + have the freedom to travel as far and as frequently as I wantTravel solo overseas for several monthsVolunteer at the Women In Travel Summit in Boston, March 27-29Attend the Women In Travel Summit in Irvine, CA, March 18-20, 2016. *As a travel blogger!- Take a ride in a hot-air balloon
Restore a piece of furniture- Visit the Hunger Games: The Exhibition in San Francisco
- Be a tourist on Cape Cod – do all the things that tourists come to the Cape to do!
- Live in Italy – learn how to speak the language
- Visit Ofena, Italy – where my great-grandparents grew up
- Take French lessons – in France!
- Visit the gravesites of my grandparents & friends
- Stay in a penthouse suite
Take a train ride across the US(Boston > Chicago > New Orleans in 2015)- Ride a train from Anchorage to Fairbanks, Alaska
- Own a great piece of art
Create my own great piece of art- Go on a LOST tour in Hawaii
Shoot a gun
- Visit every US state (33 so far!)
- Attend Loy Krathong, the sky lantern festival in Thailand
- Work on a movie set
Take an overnight solo trip once a year- Spend New Year’s Eve at the International Dateline and be the first in the world to welcome the New Year
- Be in 4 states at the same time at Four Corners
- Adopt a Maine Coon
- Adopt a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel & a Golden Retriever
- Display photographs I have taken at a gallery
- Do something secret
Be prepared for an emergency- Go a day without speaking. Then try for longer. Perhaps a silent retreat.
Have fresh flowers in the house every weekGive a signature gift to newly wedded friends- Drink a Guinness in Ireland
- Write more thank you notes
- Throw a big 40th, 50th, 60th, etc. birthday party for me
- Drive Highway 1 up the California coast in a convertible
- Visit Roswell, New Mexico
Get in the Guinness Book of World Records
- Date a guy from Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Australia – I just want 24/7 access to those gorgeous accents
- Go to the Super Bowl when the Patriots are playing
- Float in the Dead Sea
Learn how to play chess- Milk a cow/goat
- Have pet goats
- See a tornado
- Leave a $100 tip for an unsuspecting waiter
Ride a cable car in San Francisco- Go to Grad School
- Ride in a helicopter
- Hold a Koala
Have bangs- Participate in Burning Man
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge- Take a watercolor painting class
- Go to a World Series game when the Red Sox are playing
- Go to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC and Japan
- See Wicked in NYC!
Be a GodmotherContinue to go to counseling for my PTSD
- Visit the 9/11 Memorial in NYC
See a lunar and solar eclipse- Read a Jane Austen novel
- Write a letter to me and read it ten years later
- Join a bowling league
- Take a sailing lesson
- Ride a horse again
- Plant a tree to visit every year
Complete a cross-stitchproject- Fold 1000 origami cranes
- Learn how to can and preserve food
- Get a matching tattoo with a close friend
- Go to a psychic/palm reader/tarot card reader
- Participate in a fantasy football league
- Go to a rodeo
Move across the country with only a suitcase
- Fly first class
Make homemade candies- Go scuba diving (even though I hate being underwater)
- Live on a tropical island
- Go to a ballet
Be a Maid of Honor
Hey, I got to your list via The Budget-Minded Traveller. There are some great things on this list… some parts of it remind me of my bucket list! You’ve also inspired me to re-visit my list and see if there’s anything new I can add to it 🙂
I had to laugh at ‘date an Australian’ coz as an Australian myself that sounds a little bizarre! Just a note though: Koalas are not ‘koala bears’. They are just koalas. They’re not remotely related to bears 🙂
Wow. You’d think that I would have known that about Koalas! Thanks for the correction! I also have to update my list (and maybe write another post or two) thank you for the reminder!
And, feel free to send any eligible Australian bachelors my way! =)