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I just read the book The Next Thing On My List which was a book about a woman who is in a car accident with another woman, who dies. The dead woman had a list of 20 things to do before her 25th birthday, and the woman who finds the list decides to do everything on the list as a way to get past her grieving. It's a pretty good book, if you don't mind some raunchy language (which I usually DO mind, so I feel obligated to warn you about). It'll never be one of my favorites, but it did inspire me to start my own list of things to do before I turn 40 (1 1/2 years from now). What would you put on your list?
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posted
It was in the news recently that this woman had "rob a bank" on her "things I always wanted to do" list---and did it.
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The List log line: A woman who survives a car crash completes the wishes of young passenger who died in that crash and ends up transforming her own life.
Starring: Tina Fey, Thomas Jane, Brie Larson, Mos Def and Lisa Lampanelli. Directed by Rob Reiner.
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If I knew for sure the world would end in 24 hours, there are certain things I would do if I could arrange them before the end. But for normal circumstances, where I and the world are still there after all is said and done, I think it best to stick to legal activities.
Back in high school, we had to attend a Meeting once a week. (Think "chapel," but in a Quaker context). Everybody is utterly silent, except when the Spirit moves them to speak. Once a guy stood up and said, "I've always wanted to speak at a Meeting, and now I have." About two years later, at my last Meeting, I did the same.
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In response to the original question (ahem!), some of the things I want to do include:
tour Ireland tour Australia go back to Bruges, Belgium see more of England take a cruise to Hawaii see the stone forests (aka dragon's teeth) of China go back to Israel go back to the Isle of Man learn how to do Japanese drumming find out where my great grandfather Dalton was born and what his real name was (yeah, right, in my dreams!) visit New York City with my daughter (who knows her way around and loves the place) see Angkor Wat tour India
Do I have to come up with 20 things? Some of the things I'd like to do will have to wait until I'm dead because they include meeting people who are already dead. (Maybe there should be a 20 people I'd like to meet after I die list, too?)
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And maybe there should be a list of things that are impossible right now, such as train a dragon, and walk on the moon (and Mars) (science fictional and fantastical things).
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AND, maybe it would be fun to list things that we've done that most people are not likely to be able to do, such as ride an elephant, pet a Florida panther, hold a kinkajou (all of which I have had the privilege of doing).
Also, I've climbed the steps of the Pyramid of the Sun at Chichen Itza (without losing my breath), and I've heard that people are not allowed to do that any more.
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I've ridden an elephant at a zoo. I have climbed the Great Wall, seen a night time space launch from the causeway, swam with dolphins (park setting though), got lost in a foreign country, got horribly sick on the Yangtze river (and did the river pre-dam so no one can do same trip now), went scuba diving on a resort certification and went down nearly 50 ft and in under 5ft visibility (and lost my group, but not my buddy), in Shanghai we went to this interesting low class opera place where I was the only white person in attendance (and no, I don't speak Chinese).
Things I want to do- I really want to go to Greece and Russia, get my book published. Right now, that is all I can think of, but I am sure there are more things but most of my focus right now is getting through the next 6 months (and the first 6 weeks after that won't be pleasant either).
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I've heard that a woman fell on the steps of the Pyramid of the Sun and didn't survive, and so no one is allowed to climb them at all any more. They are very steep, so I can imagine someone falling on them. We had to be careful going back down (it required stepping sideways because the steps are narrow as well).
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posted
I had a "To Do" list like this a while back, but regrettably let it go by the wayside. Here are some of the items I can remember:
* Drive in a rally
* Record an album of my original music
* Drive the Nürburgring in Germany
* Visit all the countries that represent my heritage: Germany, Ireland, Holland, France, and the Cherokee Nation...and those are just the ones we know about.
* Drive in a stock car race (came close two seasons ago, but I wasn't able to secure my funding in time)
Here's how the Universe loves to play games: I put "visit the Playboy Mansion" on my list to amuse people; lo and behold, I was there two springs ago. I would like all my other completed "To Do"s to be that much fun.
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I think that 'ahem' was directed at me Sometimes the train goes off the rails...
Ok what would be on my list?... Sigh. Sadly the things that I actually want to do are impossible or nearly impossible. And I mean that literally. I can't wait for Holodecks...
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There are "to do" things I have in mind, where fulfillment is entirely out of my hands---"sell something to a science fiction magazine" being chief among them. (I've accomplished "getting published in a science fiction magazine"---in the letter columns---long ago now.)
Then there are those things I'd like to do but are physically impossible. Remember the scene in WALL-E where he reaches up and touches the rings of Saturn? I'd like to do do that...but how would I?
I can't think of any place on Earth I particularly want to travel to, that I haven't already been. I haven't been to a lot of places, but it just doesn't attract me the way it attracts some other people.
Most of the things I can conceive of doing, if they're not terribly expensive or require great uninterrupted amounts of time or are terribly dangerous, I'll go out and do them without waiting. Say, any time I get an urge to try to play any musical instrument...well, I can pick up one and give it a try. (I played baritone horn in school and when you learn to play one brass instrument you can play them all, though not necessarily well...I've tried my hands at recorder, guitar, and harmonica over the years...the urge doesn't burn as brightly these days, but I did come out of the experience with renewed appreciation and ability for listening to music...)
(There's the obverse of it---there are things I've sworn I'll never do again---things like going bowling and visiting New York City. I can only think of one of these that I violated---applying for unemployment compensation.)
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Learn to play the violin well enough to perform
Get published and see my book on the shelves of a big book store
See my children grow into happy adults
Learn the guitar
Go to Europe
Play with my granchildren
Learn to paint
Have a summer cabin in the woods
Things I have done that are probably unusal - Play in an African drumming ensemble, Put together school musicals, Get published at age 8 and get paid for it(I got paid 1 dollar)
Things I would never do again - sing at a baby funeral, that's all I can think of for now.
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Rode a camel partway to the top of Mount Sinai (in Egypt) to see the sunrise (walked the part I didn't ride), so that's something I never have to do again--in fact, I figure I never have to do another "sunrise" hike of any kind again because that has to be the Mother of all Sunrise Hikes, right?
Something else I'd like to do: tour Alaska's Inside Passage.
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Kathleen, there are numerous parks in Mexico and one in Florida (at least) -Discovery Cove- where you can pay to swim with dolphins. Not quite as cool as like swimming in the actual ocean with them, but easier to arrange.
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posted
Hmm, don't know that I could come up with twenty off the top of my head.
Publish a novel. Actually see my book on the store shelves.
Publish a second novel to prove the first wasn't a fluke.
Visit the Canadian Rockies
Hike some portion of the Pacific Crest Trail
Hike some portion of the Appalachian Trail
Visit New Zealand
Visit Australia
Visit Hawaii (theoretically, that could all be one trip, but it would have to be a very long trip.)
Visit Europe (Um, somewhere in here I guess I really ought to get a passport. )
Just one time actually get all of the yard cleaned up and looking nice at the same time. (Having a big yard is nice, but it can be really hard to keep up with.)
Learn to scuba dive. (Just because I always wanted to when I was a kid and nobody would let me.)
See the Aurora Borealis. (I missed that when I wasn in Alaska--couldn't stay up until it was dark enough after hiking and exploring all day. The crew was supposed to wake us up one night, but it didn't happen. )
I've done the Alaskan Inside Passage. My advice: Go on one of the smaller ships. They really get you out where you can see it--and touch it. The downside is, you are more likely to get seasick.
I've actually been on a very small portion of the Pacific Crest Trail, too. But too small to call a hike.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited April 15, 2010).]
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If I do the Inside Passage, it will probably be on ferry boats and not on a cruise.
As for seasickness--I've been on the English Channel in a storm (really rough water), and it didn't bother me. I've also done rockfish fishing in a small boat on the ocean just off of the Olympic Peninsula (in a storm and on a nice day), and it didn't bother me. But there's always a first time.
quote:If I do the Inside Passage, it will probably be on ferry boats and not on a cruise.
That'd be cool, too. The cruise ship I was on (MV Sea Bird) wasn't any bigger than the ferry boats. But we did get to land some places the ferry boats would just sail past and walk around. I don't know whether the ferries go into Glacier Bay or not.
Oh, and seeing some of the glaciers by air is fun, too. There are sea plane tours out of some of the "cities" (mine was out of Petersburg). And there is (or was, it's been a few years) a company that did helicopter tours up onto Mendenhal Glacier (outside of Juneau). Walking on a glacier is a whole different experience.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited April 15, 2010).]
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Wow you guys are really well travelled. I've been to Rocky point, California, Idaho, Utah and the farthest I've ever gone is Michigan. I've never even lived outside of Arizona.
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I'm not sure I've done anything that most people will never get a chance to do. Well, most people that frequent this site anyway.
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1. Dive the Great Barrier Reef 2. Dive with Great White Sharks 3. Visit the Pyramids 4. Visit Macchu Picchu 5. Visit Teotihuacan 6. Tour Ireland 7. Dive the Galapagos 8. Take the Baltic Cruise 9. Cruise to Alaska 10 Transit the Panama Canal 11 Get a Work of Fiction Published 12 Spend a month on an Oceanic Research Vessel 13 See a Ballgame in all baseball parks 14 See a football game in all football Stadiums 15 Cruise the Aegean 16 Visit the site of Troy 17 Visit Ephesus 18 Do a Barefoot cruise of the Carribbean 19 Visit Tahiti 20 Walk on the Moon (OK I realize that's unrealistic)
Things I've Already done
Visited Stonehenge and spent the evening inside the circle Visited England Crossed though Checkpoint Charlie (when it was still operating) Visited Niihau (the forbidden Island) Visited the Napali Coast Hiked Kauai, Maui and Oahu Visited Pearl Harbor Lived in Germany Been to England, Italy, France, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Sweden, Scotland, Australia, Mexico, Canada (East, West and Center) Flow in a Helicopter (a lot) Driven a Tank, Shot a Tank, you name it. Been in a submarine Dove on a shipwreck (several in fact0 Seen most of the 50 states