As I mentioned in the Fearless . . . Ruthless post, “I have a list of life goals that I say I’m going to accomplish . . . a neverending bucket list of places to see, percussion instruments to study, educational materials to produce, languages to be at least passable in.” Inspired by similar lists made public by fellow bloggers Joel Runyon and Sean Ogle, it’s time to post mine. Joel, Sean and I all agree that telling other people about goals makes us hold ourselves more accountable to them. For years, The List has been viewed by my eyes only, existing as merely a memo file on my old Palm PDAs. No more.
Keep in mind that there’s not much order to this list. Parts of it might seem a bit crazy. Parts are just plain silly. A few might seem impossible. Some are time consuming. Stupid to some. Potentially dangerous. There is no real rhyme or reason, other than the fact that each entry is something that has, at one time or another, crossed my mind along with the thought, “yeah . . . I wanna do THAT!”
This post will certainly change and be edited over time. I’ll cross entries out as they’re accomplished but, just as often, new things will probably be added. Every trip I take; every person I meet; every adventure I set out on . . . they each expose me to more of the world’s amazing offerings, and add additional items to the list. My CouchSurfing profile states that, “while I am quite aware that I will NEVER check everything off of that list (which is constantly added to), I have vowed to live my life as if I were going to.”
Enough explanation . . . on with the list:
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1. skydiving
2. bungee jumping (completed May 22, 2011)
3. Muddy Buddy (completed Oct. 17, 2010)
4. travel to study, perform and/or teach percussion in: Bhutan, Brazil, China, Congo, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Madagascar, Mali, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, Swaziland, Thailand, Tuva, Uganda, Zimbabwe (mbira of the Shona people)
5. learn to ride unicycle (almost had it at one time)
6. learn to juggle
7. learn to fly: paragliding (working on it as we speak!), airplane (private pilot license)
8. learn welding
9. learn braille
10. learn sign language
11. scuba certification (did a Discover Scuba Dive in Thailand- March 2010; but not a certification course)
12. fencing (took a class Jan/Feb ’08)
13. Reiki (Reiki 1 class completed)
14. martial arts (dabbled in Taekwondo, but way too long ago)
15. audition for Blue Man Group or Stomp
16. laser eye correction
17. see all seven continents: North America, South America - Europe (just being in airports there doesn’t count), Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica
18. Mt. Everest
19. hike Mount Hua (Hua Shan) in the Shaanxi Province of China
20. visit Timbuktu
21. visit Jerusalem
22. Uzbekistan
23. visit the Sahara
24. Ethiopia/ Namibia/ Morocco
25. hot air balloon ride
26. teach (ie. clinic, etc.) at my old alma mater, McNally Smith College of Music
27. fly Mom in plane (Ha! Can’t get her in a commercial aircraft, much less one that I’M piloting!)
28. learn to swim (that’s right- I still suck at it)
29. play guitar, bass, piano & mallets
30. play tabla, steel drums
31. become fluent in: Spanish (working on it), French, Mandarin
32. dabble in other languages (Greek/ Thai/ Aramic/ Latin/ etc.)
33. learn Morse Code
34. kayak, sail, snowboard, windsurf
35. sprint triathlon (with Australian drummer buddy Jarrod Marks, when we both turn 35)
36. zipline (did in Costa Rica)
37. perform in all of the 50 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, ldaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri (?? may have), Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode lsland, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
38. bulk up (at least a bit; I’m a scrawny punk)
39. horseback riding (other than the poor beat down ones in Costa Rica)
40. learn small engine repair (motorcycle?)
41. visit Jarrod Marks in Australia
42. Have a Guinness in a bar in Dublin
43. zero gravity room (Space Camp?)
44. Zorbing
45. eat Pho with Anthony Bourdain in Hanoi, Vietnam
46. get invited to join A Small World
47. go rappelling
48. motorcycle across Indonesia with Matt Koenig
49. perform a several-month cruise ship gig
50. develop my own iPhone app from scratch
51. create/publish a Kindle book
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There’s my list. Care to share yours? Comment below!
{ 19 comments }
Wow…most impressive and inspiring! I have been thinking of things similarily lately now that I am creeping (okay…zooming) up towards the 50 year mark. It is one thing to make such a list that you keep in private and look at longingly once or twice a year with “if only I had time/money/blah” BUT it is another thing to share with people, have some accountability, and opening up like that. My hats off to you!
Thanks, Ken! You’re totally right . . . keeping such a list private often doesn’t create quite the same results. But once it’s out there for all to see, now you’ve got to get to it! So, we’ll be seeing yours soon then?
Thanks for the shoutout Mark! Love your list as well. Can’t wait to see you check some of those things off and hear the stories you’ll have as you do! Keep it up!
Ditto, man! Dig that your Impossible List is separated into categories- much easier to keep track of them. Perhaps one day we’ll have to team up and knock out a couple travel and adrenaline rush goals!
I am totally down with that =)
Just let me know when!
Mark! I’ve done most of the things on YOUR list. (right) Including horseback riding WITH YOU. (Sort of). Juilliard would be terribly offended to know you don’t consider her a horse. Great list.
Mark, love your list…am working on one of my own!
Excellent! And we’ll be reading that on DonnaDonnaJazz.com?
I loved your list Mark! You’ve inspired me to write one too.
Hi, Ruth- thanks for checking out the blog and my list! It’d be great to hear what’s on yours!
Come on over and we’ll help you with #29–well, everything except the mallets. We’ll give you the lessons and a roof over your head in exchange for some hand drum lessons. (How’s that for a deal!?!)
Plus, if you want to even up the score, I could use a hand drum player at church, here and there.
Wow- what a deal! Even a place to stay? Oshkosh, here I come!
I have been thinking about my bucket list and I have a handful. Here are the ones I lust after the most:
1. Ride a racehorse. (Not in a race, but alone on a track)
2. Row a racing skull. (Again, alone….I hope this isn’t a theme.)
3. Become fluent in German and Spanish
4. Deliver a baby. (This one can not be done alone!)
5. Visit Scotland, India and all places tropical.
6. Adopt a retired racing greyhound. (again)
7. Swim with a dolphin.
8. Hold a monkey like a baby.
Patti, that’s a fantastic list! Any particular plans to knock any of those out sometime soon? For #8, you might want to check out The Jungle Place, a bit south of Cancun!
Hi Mark,
that’s a great list you have.
here is my first attempt at the list. I enjoy this blog
MY BUCKET LIST
1. Travel to Thailand, Greece, Turkey, Jerusalem, Norway, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Kenya, Namibia, Portugal, Scotland, Ireland, Morocco, Egypt, India, New Zealand
2. Perform on all continents (I guess except Antarctica), more Asian countries, the Middle East, South America, more Caribbean countries, more African countries, big halls in the US.
3. Become an almost-master drummer
4. Become a good enough organist to play all the Bach I want (the complete Orgelbüchlein)
5. Learn Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese, be really fluent in Fanti and Ewe.
6. Become very fit and strong
7. Cruise around the world
8. Drive from North Africa to West Africa through the Sahara Dessert
9. Water skiing, wind surfing
10. Be a pilot/ fly a plane
Nyaho- very cool that you took the time to write this up and share it! I would really like to work on my Ewe at some point, as well; it’s difficult to find ways to study here in the States. Perhaps we’ll have to team up one day for that Sahara trip!
Great list – the languages definitely resonate with me. And Muddy Buddy! – I’ve thought about doing one those myself. They do one in Chicago every year which is only a couple of hours from me. I’d also add: Doing a Ragnar Relay (hoping for January in Key West), running across China on foot (my running aspirations outpace my acumen), and doing the Adventurist’s Mongolian Derby.
Hey, thanks for stopping by, Trever! The Mongol Derby is another I would seriously consider, if I had any horseback riding skills. My Muddy Buddy race (in Portland, OR) is this coming Sunday . . . can’t wait to check that one off the list!