The Bucket List

While the movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman didn't exactly live up to the hype, at least in my opinion, one cannot deny the impact it had on the masses.  After its release, I challenge anyone to find someone who didn't sit down and formulate their own "bucket list."  

While death doesn't seem to be anywhere near my doorstep, a birthday of an unnerving age does.  This year marks a quarter-century of life for me, twenty-five years worth of loves, friendships, and a myriad of "interesting" experiences.  And after caving to a bit of nostalgia, I rifled through some old journals and came across a few lists I made the summer before I left for college.  I'd written about the places I would go after graduation, the stories I would be able to tell my grandchildren, the legacy I would leave behind for my kids to marvel over after my passing.  Having read through those lists and realizing I've accomplished only a few items, paired with the upcoming branding of "mid-twenties," I've proclaimed this year as "The Bucket Year."  This is the year that things get done.  And with that, I give you, in part, my own Bucket List.

1. Travel through Europe

2. Drive across the country

3. Learn Italian

4. Learn Spanish

5. Learn Portuguese

6. Go skydiving

7. Go bungee jumping

8. Learn how to bake...properly

9. Run a marathon

10. Compete in a tri-athalon

11. Watch the sun rise and set in the same day

12. Learn the constellations

13. Learn how to sail

14. Buy a house

15. Run through a town square causing all the pigeons to fly up en masse

16. Play paintball

17. Play lasertag

18. Go bowling in a prom dress

19. Make my own pickles

20. Make my own wine

21. Knit an entire blanket 

22. Learn to crochet

23. Write a book

24. Learn to play the guitar

25. Learn to play the piano

26. Learn to play the violin

27. Meet the President

28. Go to Africa

29. Travel through Australia

30. Spend a week on a yacht

31. Travel through Ireland

32. Start my own business

33. Read the Top 100 Most Influential Books of All Time

34. Help 10 random people each day for a year

35. Go a year without any alcohol

36. Try being a vegetarian for a year

The list goes on...