Reverse Bucket List

People spend a lot of time talking about all the things they want to do with their lives, and I am one of those people. I could go on forever about each and every little experience I’d like to enjoy one day. But I think that today is a good day to take stock of the many adventures we’ve already had. To that end, I am making a Reverse Bucket List. These are things that I’ve already done or which have already happened to me, and which I find at least moderately interesting. Many are things you might find on a bucket list, and many are not. I guess they’re just all things that made enough of an impression on me to merit being added to this list.

1. moved 16+ times
2. gone to Ireland, twice
3. spent a week in Bosnia
4. flown over the Alps
5. learned to play chess from 2nd graders
6. seen a dead person come back to life
7. hiked the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi
8. had a poem published when I was in 6th grade
9. gone to boarding school in a foreign country
10. graduated university, gotten my BA
11. gotten my nose pierced
12. lived alone
13. owned 2 cars
14. gotten a job in China
15. ridden an elephant
16. gone surfing
17. spent spring break in Key West
18. been on a ferry-boat
19. jumped off of a bridge
20. driven the country North to South
21. driven the country East to West
22. road tripped alone for 25+ hours without sleeping
23. swam in a water fall
24. gotten my flight upgraded to first class (international as well!)
25. spent 24 hours on a train
26. gone skinny dipping in lakes and oceans
27. slept all night on a beach
28. ridden a motorcycle
29. gone snorkeling in Key Largo
30. accidentally swam with a shark
31. flown in a personal plane
32. gone to 2 concerts in Dublin
33. climbed Croagh Patrick mountain
34. volunteered in a foreign country
35. gone to the ballet
36. been in a castle
37. been at Mt. Rushmore
38. swam in Sioux Falls
39. ridden a Segway
40. learned to play piano
41. eaten shark, cow heart, cow brain,
42. seen the aurora borealis
43. knit a hat and a scarf
44. done the polar bear plunge
45. done a fire walk (barefoot, coals, the whole thing)
46. milked a cow
47. visited every city I’ve ever lived in, via road trip, in one year
48. been an extra in a music video
49. made home made candles
50. designed, made, and auctioned off some spiffy jewelry
51. won a beauty pageant (as a kid, relax)
52. been to a masquerade ball
53. gone to the races at Saratoga
54. gone to dinner theater
55. won a street race. in a prius.
56. beaten a video game or 5
57. been a live audience in a sitcom
58. driven a tractor and bailed hay
59. designed and run a haunted house (on a boat)
60. been a mentor
61. grown a vegetable garden
62. raced a horse, sort of
63. gone on a beer tasting tour
64. save a life
65. coded a computer game
66. played bocce ball
67. ridden a bus across the US
68. dyed my hair (black, red, blue – not all at once)
69. tended bar
70. smoked hookah
71. witnessed human birth
72. researched family history until hitting a dead-end (pun intended)
73. donated blood (like 8 times)
74. learned the alphabet in sign language
75. paid it forward
76. taught a class (many, many classes)
77. climbed a rock wall
78. shot a gun
79. learned fencing
80. learned to play 2+ instruments
81. stayed in hostels (after watching Hostel…)
82. toured a vineyard and attended a wine tasting
83. won pub trivia
84. learned to change a flat tire – from experience
85. memorized the periodic table
86. memorized pi to 35 places
87. built a shed with my dad
88. learned to make sushi
89. built a desktop computer from scratch
90. made a surprise visit to someone 3000 miles away
91. been Associate Editor of my university newspaper
92. been my sister’s bride’s maid
93. jumped out of a moving car
94. touched a moving train
95. run away from home countless times
96. picked up a hitchhiker
97. been accepted to peace corps
98. become an aunt
99. seen a moose verrrry close up
100. started a blog I love writing for

 

I know a lot of this isn’t really a big deal. But most of it, if you’d told me 3 years ago, or 5, or 10 years ago that I’d do them, I’d have laughed and told you you had the wrong gal. But I’m the right gal. I am the gal. I’ve done these things and I’m quite pleased with most of them.

I’m sure we all have these things. We all have a mental list of things we’ve done that we’re glad we did. You probably don’t think of it often, if ever, but you should. Sure, I’m going to write a real Bucket List eventually, but today this means so much more.