The Life List
I decided to put together my own Life List after reading quite a few others online. Reading the list of others was inspirational and I thought it would be good to get mine down on paper (or virtual paper).
What is a Life List?
Some call it a Bucket List, which is a list of things you want to do before you die or kick-the-bucket. I prefer to call it a Life List. It is basically a list of the things you want to accomplish, achieve or experience throughout your life. It’s supposed to be a positive list that gives you direction, reminds you of what you deem important in your life.
Making Your List
I figured this exercise could be interesting. At first I thought it would be easy. But as I got into it I realized it would be more difficult than I anticipated. Did I really know what I wanted to do with my life? I took some time to dig deep within myself and discover whatever might come to the surface. I think we all have some generalized ideas of what we would like to do should all the perceived obstacles and roadblocks suddenly be lifted. But when it comes to actually putting them down on paper I think we tend to struggle a bit. In my case I got a few good ideas down and then just went blank. To break through this mental block I asked myself a few pointed questions:
- If I had a year left to live, what would I do with that year?
- If money was unlimited where would I go and what would I do?
- What do I really want to be doing?
- What can I offer the world that will make a difference?
- What do I want to experience?
- What will leave me feeling fulfilled?
So I started to really think about the things in this world that I am really passionate about. Things like preserving the environment and its wonders; working to provide clean drinking water for everyone; eliminating poverty; sharing my vision of the world through photography to hopefully inspire others to live more fully. I thought about places I wanted to see, events I wanted to experience and people I wanted to meet.
I removed the limitations I had set on myself. You might be familiar with a few of them:
“I’ll never be able to do that.”
“I don’t have the money”
“Where would I find the time?”
Without these and other limitations in place we become free to think of the possibilities. I truly believe that all goals are obtainable in some form or another once we realize that in most cases the only thing holding us back is ourselves.
Making it Public
So why am I publishing this list? I want to make this list public so that there is a level of accountability, because without accountability this list is…well…it’s just a list and nothing more. But if I put my dreams and intentions out there in a public forum then there is a bit of accountability that pushes me a bit more to strive to obtain these goals. As I mentioned before, any dream or goal is obtainable if we allow ourselves to be open to the possibilities.
I’ll continue to review this list and on occasion add further clarity, cross out completed items or add new ones to the list. Now that I have this list I intend to pursue every single one of these items. What do I have to lose? The door is open and the path is now laid out before me. So without further ado I give you…
My Life List
Places I want to travel to and photograph:
- Indonesia
- Bali (completed September 2005)
- Lombok
- Manado
- Borobudur (completed September 2005)
- Prambanan (completed September 2005)
- Mt. Bromo
- Lake Toba
- Jakarta (completed April 2001 and August 2005)
- Bandung (completed April 2001 and August 2005)
- Yogyakarta (completed August 2005)
- Malaysia
- Kuala Lumpur
- Perhentian Island
- Singapore
- Vietnam
- Ha Long Bay
- Ban Gioc waterfalls
- Cambodia
- Prasat Angkor Wat
- Nepal
- Photograph Mt. Everest and Great Himalayan Range
- China
- Great Wall of China
- Photograph rural China
- Mongolia
- Photograph the landscapes of the Country
- New Zealand
- Thailand
- Costa Rica
- El Salvador
- Russia (USSR)
- South Korea
- Lebanon
- The Philippines
- India
- visit my good friend Mark
- Bhutan
- Cameroon
- Italy
- Liberia
- Iceland
- Japan
- Experience the Cherry blossoms
- United States
- Zion National Park (completed 1999)
- Arches
- Death Valley (completed 1999)
- Organ Pipe Cactus National Park (completed 1999)
- Alaska
- Maine
- Climb Mt. Bromo in Central Java, Indonesia to take a sunrise photograph
- Take a sunrise photo at Borobudur
- Complete a photographic journal of the plight of homeless in America
- Produce a photo book with photos from unique perspectives of everyday life
- Start a blog on the subjects of photography, travel and lifestyle design
- Have 50 RSS blog subscribers
- Have 100 RSS blog subscribers
- Have 250 RSS blog subscribers
- Have 500 RSS blog subscribers
- Have 1000+ RSS blog subscribers
- Have one of my photos published in a book or magazine (National Geographic)
- Teach a photography class to kids
- Write a book(s)
- Live in Indonesia for 1-2 years
- Write a book on living as an expat in Indonesia
- Get a photo published in National Geographic
- Eat every variety of mango in the world
- Travel to every National Park in the US and document it through visual images. Produce a photo book on each park that details some of the “off-the-beaten-path” things to see and inspire people to continue to protect these unique areas. (to start after my Dad retires)
- Purchase a house near the beach in Manado Indonesia and live in it for a year.
- Travel with missions to Cambodia and Nepal and photograph the trip. (Scheduled for August 2010)
- Drive the length of the Western US coastline on motorcycles and document the trip through photographs
- $1 a day for 30 days – give a stranger on the street a dollar and take the time to learn a bit about them. Blog the experience.
- Get an article I’ve written published
- Travel from London to China via the Trans-Siberian Railway
- Travel across China on the Beijing-Lhasa Express
- Run The Amazing Race with my sister
- Learn and speak fluent Indonesian
- Be completely debt free
- Climb one of the Three Sisters in Oregon
- Photograph 100 strangers
- Mountain bike in southern Utah/Arizona
- Be self-employed
- Walk on a tropical beach at sunset
- Learn to surf
- Read the entire Bible
- Drink a beer with Anthony Bourdain (see people I want to meet below)
- Try kite-surfing with my good bro Mark (yo Mark, let’s do it bud!)
- Give a speech to a group of 1000+ people
- Experience the aurora borealis
- Fly in a helicopter
- Take a cruise with just my wife
- Tour a Guinness facility in Ireland (drink a pint with a local)
- Do a photo shoot with a celebrity
- Be an extra in a foreign film
- Get certified to teach English as a Foreign Language (completed January 2010)
- Teach English abroad
- Walk the Great Wall of China
- Take the train across Indonesia (so far been between Bandung and Yogyakarta)
- Ride the Rocky Mountaineer Train in Canada.
- Take an African safari
- Help drill a clean water well for people that don’t have clean water
- Buy a round the world ticket
- Ride a motorcycle around Bali
- Ride the Venice Simplon-Orient Express
- Ride the Sunlander train in Australia from Brisbane to Cairns
- Ride the 4500 mile Canadian train between Toronto and Vancouver
- Ride the Andean Explorer train in South America to Lake Titicaca
- Ride the Eastern & Oriental Express train between Singapore and Thailand
- Experience Victoria Falls (Africa)
- Produce my own movie
- Discover what makes me truly happy
- Arrange for my wife to meet Duff Goldman – Ace of Cakes (Duff we are available anytime)
- Live peacefully and without worry
- Drive 120 mph in a car(completed in 1991 in my 1969 Pontiac Firebird)
- Change my relationship with money
- Spend much more time with my family
- Complete a Project 365 challenge
- Help my wife with her dream of owning and operating a bakery
- Be kind to everyone I meet
- Tell my kids I love them daily
- Help raise money for causes I am passionate about
- Stop being afraid to live my life in an unconventional way
- Race a car
- Do a Zipline tour in Maui
- Fire walk
- Invent something that helps people
- Buy less, give more
- Meet Chris Guillebeau
- Meet Bono of U2
- Meet Anthony Bourdain
- Meet David duChemin
- Meet Chase Jarvis
- Meet Yorti – our sponsored child through Compassion International
- Meet James Nachtwey
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