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 areĀ bold and italic; if something is crossed out, I did it!

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At Great Sand Dunes National Monument (now a National Park) in Colorado.

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 trip
  • Be location independent – earn an income by working online + have the freedom to travel as far and as frequently as I want
  • Travel solo overseas for several months
  • Volunteer at the Women In Travel Summit in Boston, March 27-29
  • Attend 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
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This is the first gun, well, the only gun I’ve ever shot. Under the bridge in Fernbridge, California.
  • 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 week
  • Give 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
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I raised a glass of champagne with around 16,000 other revelers ringing in the New Year on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • 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 Godmother
  • Continue to go to counseling for my PTSD
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I am so happy to call this little angel my goddaughter!
  • 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-stitch project
  • 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
Mighty Life List
I hopped on a one-way flight to California with one suitcase to do environmental service with AmeriCorps.
  • 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