- Have experience of having visited all 7 continents[completed Winter 2008]
- Have the experience of having visited at least 70 distinct territories/countries[completed May 2018]
- Do something significant in all 50 states [as of October 2019] 39 States
- Go to Antarctica[completed Winter 2007]
- Go to Ellis Island[Completed September 2016]
- Do something significant in all five boroughs of NYC [completed 2012]
- Go to Niagara Falls [September 2016]
- Eat New England clam chowder in Boston [completed June 2010]
- Go to Walden Pond and read Thoreau [completed June 2013]
- See the mansions in Newport, Rhode Island[December 2015]
- See Fallingwater in Pennsylvania [completed May 2011]
- Eat a Philly Cheese Steak in Philadelphia[completed May 2010]
- Attend SXSW
- Attend Burning Man
- Drive on Interstate 70
- Take the train from coast to coast in the US[completed August 2017]
- Bet $100 on a spin of the roulette wheel [completed November 2010]
- Visit unclaimed baggage center in Alabama[Completed October 2019]
- Go to Four Corners
- Watch a launch of something from Cape Canaveral
- Drive a red convertible on Route 66
- Attend New Orleans Jazz Festival[completed May 2018]
- Drink a mint julep at the Kentucky Derby[completed May 2019]
- Go to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks [completed October 2008]
- Go to Death Valley
- Attend Pow Wow of Native Americans
- Attend Sundance Film Festival
- Visit the Crazy Horse Monument in S. Dakota
- Help dig for dinosaur bones
- Take an Alaskan cruise[July 2016]
- Explore the route of the Underground Rail Road
- See all the national parks featured in Ken Burns’ series in person
- Attend Space Camp with Teddy
- Attend the Calgary Stampede
- Visit Vancouver, B.C.[July 2016]
- See the monarch butterfly annual migration
- Attend Vernal Equinox at Chichen Itza
- Have a fling in Europe
- Go through the Chunnel[completed November 2007)
- See Stonehenge[completed November 2007]
- Eat fish and chips in London
- Attend Common Ridings in Scotland
- Attend Up-Helly-Aa in Scotland
- Kiss the Blarney Stone
- attend the Bloomsday Festival in Dublin[June 2019]
- Go to Greenland
- Stay in the Ice Hotel in Sweden[March 2016]
- Attend Binche Carnival in Belgium
- Attend the Avignon Festival in France
- Tour a vineyard in France
- Attend Cannes Film Festival
- Drive the Autobahn
- Oktoberfest in Munich[completed October 2007]
- Attend Basel Carnival in Switzerland
- Go to Ibiza
- Attend Festa do São João in Portugal
- See Las Fallas de Valencia in Spain
- Ride on the Orient Express
- Visit the blue grotto in Capri
- See the Palio in Italy
- Attend Venice Carnevale
- See some shows/films/exhibits at Venice Biennale
- Attend the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in Croatia
- See the caves of Cappadocia
- See the Whirling Dervishes at the Mevlana Festival in Turkey
- Climb Mount Olympus
- Enjoy a freshly rolled cigar in Cuba
- Attend Carnival in Trinidad
- Sail a yacht around the Caribbean
- Visit Tikal in Guatemala
- Travel through South America [completed Winter 2007]
- Explore Machu Picchu[completed Winter 2007]
- Take a tango class in Buenos Aires
- See the Argentine Polo Championship
- Go to Carnivale in Rio
- Hang out with seals in Galapagos[completed Winter 2007]
- Attend an Olympics
- Attend Boi Bumba in Brazil
- See the Taj Mahal [completed March 2005]
- Attend Holi Festival in India
- Attend the Pushkar Camel Fair in India[completed October 2019]
- Go to Sri Lanka
- Do a Kora on Mount Kailish
- Go on a trek in Nepal
- Trek in Bhutan
- Attend Great Singsing at Mt Hagen in Papua New Guinea
- Attend Nyepi (Silent New Year’s Eve) celebration in Indonesia
- Take care of baby elephants in Thailand
- Visit Brunei
- Sleep on a junk in Vietnam[completed September 2007]
- Feed the monks in Laos[completed September 2007]
- Visit Ankor Wat [completed September 2007]
- See Pagan (Myanmar)
- Attend Dinagyang in the Philippines
- Ride the Trans Siberian Railway across Asia]
- Go to the Naadam festival in Mongolia [July 2012]
- See the Terracotta Soldiers in Xi’an
- Attend Chung Yuan Ghost Month Festival
- Climb Mt. Fuji
- Attend Winterfestival in Hokkaido [completed Winter 2005]
- Attend Hounen Matsuri
Go to hanabi festival in summer kimono[completed Summer 2005]- Witness the International Dragon Boat Championship in Hong Kong
- See the sights in Taiwan[completed November 2007]
- Have the experience of having been to every country in East/South East Asia [What’s left: the Philippines, Brunei, Myanmar, Christmas Island, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Cocos islands, East Timor, North Korea)
- Watch the sunset on a remote island in Fiji[completed Summer 2007]
- Go on a dolphin safari in New Zealand [completed Summer 2007]
- Go to Uluru
- Go to Vanuatu
- Go skiing in Dubai
- Visit Petra, Jordan
- See the pyramids and cruise down Nile in Egypt
- Go on safari in Africa[completed Summer 2007]
- Climb Mount Kilimanjaro
- See the gorillas in Uganda
- Attend Homowo in Ghana
- Visit Namibia
- See the wildflowers bloom in South Africa
- See Victoria Falls [completed May 2018]
- Witness the wildebeest migration on the Serengeti[completed August 2007]
- Go to the North Pole
- Experience the midnight sun[December 2007]
- Throw a dart at a map and go where it lands
- Do homestay in foreign country[completed November 2007]
- Live in a foreign country[completed September 2001]
- See a lunar eclipse [completed 2008]
- See a solar eclipse[completed August 2017]
- Ride a camel in the desert
- Shower in a waterfall or in an outdoor shower[May 2018]
- Go on a Special Ops simulation adventure weekend program
- Go to a writer’s colony
- Ride a mechanical bull[completed October 2016]
- Go whale watching[July 2016]
- Go to finishing school
- See operas at the top opera houses around the world: La Scala (Milan), Teatro di San Carlo (Naples), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Royal Opera House (London)[December 2011], The Bolshoi (Moscow), the Sydney Opera House, the Paris Opera House, Teatro Amazonas (Brazil), the Metropolitan Opera House (New York) [February 2011] , Bavarian State Opera (Munich)[December 2010] , State Opera Unter den Linden (Berlin), Opera House Zurich, and the Vienna Opera House
- See all the following operas live: The Barber of Seville Dec. 2015]; The Magic Flute; Tosca [January 2013]; The Marriage of Figaro; [[september2014];
Don Giovanni[February 2015]; Carmen; Madama Butterfly[December 2011]Rigoletto[December 2013]; Faust; Turandot; Attila; Paliacci[February 2016] - Go underwater in a submarine[December 2016]
- Walk on a glacier [July 2016]
- Rappel down a skyscraper [September 2012]
- See the Aurora Borealis
- Go on a volunteer vacation
- Go on a Habitat for Humanity build [July 2012]
- Fly in fighter jet
- Experience zero gravity[December 2015]
- Go to space as a tourist
- Take a high performance racing course
- Learn Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere
- Make a documentary about Teddy’s life until age 18
- Finish Paul’s film
- Take a screenwriting class
- Write “GG” movie
- Paint a self portrait
- Complete a full-length documentary
- Complete a film during the 48 hour film festival[completed June 2016]
- Create a bi-monthly film group
- Paint a watercolor picture every day for one year
- Enter a script in a script contest
- Enter a film in film festival
- Complete Dad book
- Complete the “20 Bucks” art project
- Complete the red crane project
- Start and complete EOI project
- Do a Kickstarter project
- Complete Nanowrimo
- Read the Koran
- Read the entire King James version of the Bible
- Read the Bhagavad Gita
- Read all books on Foreign Service Exam recommended reading list
- Read 2 books a week per year off the master book list
- Maintain book journal for all books read
- Take a self portrait photo a day for one year
- Blog at least 3 times a week for one year
- Start and keep a visual journal for one year
- Read the Economist cover to cover (every article) every week for 1 year
- Take a representative photo every day for one year
- Try a new recipe every week for one year
- Go to two new restaurants a week for one year
- Watch only 1 hour of television a day for three months [completed November 2017]
- Go one month without television[completed June 2015]
- Wear a bright color from head to toe for one week
- Build a snowman[completed December 2018]
- See a movie in a drive in movie theater[completed October2016]
- Buy something from a live auction
- Write a letter to the editor on an issue I feel strongly about
- Write ten letters of thank you for a service job well done ( or at least one a year)
- Win at least $100 dollars in the lottery
- Watch all the movies on IMBD Top 250[started January 2009]
- Watch all the movies on AFI 100[started January 2009]
- Watch all the movies on BFI 100[started January 2009]
- Watch all the movies nominated for any Academy Award [started January 2009]
- Watch all the movies nominated for any prize at Cannes Film Festival [started January 2009]
- Watch all the movies on the Village Voice 100 Best Films[started January 2009]
- Watch all the movies nominated for any Independent Spirit Award [started January 2009]
- See all documentary films off list
- Climb a tree and take a photo of the view
- Know the location of every country on Earth
- Enter a short story in a contest
- Use a microphone and make a speech in public
- Build a robot
- Build a computer
- Build a server and host a website
- Knit a blanket
- Make and send postcard in to PostSecret
- Make a soapbox racer with Teddy
- Drive a car in a race (on a course)
- Drive a go kart
- Test drive a Ferrari or Lamborghini
- Take a hot air balloon ride[completed August 2007]
- Skydive[completed Summer 2007]
- Be on a talk show
- Complete a year of 5 for 10 Project
- Get MP3s for all WLIR screamers (if available)
- Make Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies from scratch
- Make a 3-tier fondant-covered cake
- Successfully fly a kite
- Go skeet shooting
- Fire a rifle [completed May 2010]
- Fire an automatic weapon
- Get professional headshots done
- Get over fear of bugs
- Do something that scares the hell out of me [completed July 2010]
- Plant a tree[completed March 2018]
- Bake a loaf of bread from scratch
- Get on a game show
- Memorize the Constitution
- Memorize all the presidents and vice presidents (and their term dates)
- Relearn locations, nickname, flower, bird, and capital of all 50 states
- Make a window garden
- Sew a dress from a pattern
- Buy a Chanel suit
- Learn Japanese wood block printmaking
- Learn how to make stained glass
- Learn how to put on a kimono
- Learn jewelry making and make a gift
- Learn pottery making and make a gift
- Take a woodworking class and build something useful[complete April 2016]
- Take a makeup artistry course
- Learn real estate investment
- Take a sailing course
- Take a photography class
- Learn a magic trick
- Learn a card trick
- Learn mindmapping
- Learn to juggle 3 balls
- Learn to weld – October 2019
- Learn to sculpt
- Learn how to embroider and complete the kanji quilt project
- Learn to knit and make a sweater
- Learn to cross stitch and make a bib for a baby gift
- Take an interior design and feng shui course
- learn how to upholster
- Be well versed in classical musicTake an electrical engineering course
- Take an electrical engineering course
- Take a survival training course
- Take an intro to flying lesson [completed July 2010]
- Learn how to wrap presents Japanese-style (tsutsumi)
- Learn to drive a tractor trailer
- Drive a forklift and bulldozer
- Learn how to drive a speed boat
- Get a pilot’s license
- Take an acting class
- Take self-defense class re: weapons
- Take a defensive driving class
- Take comedy/improv class
- Take a car maintenance course
- Take an art appreciation course
- Learn graphology
- Learn graphic design basics
- Open an internet store
- Learn how to play chess
- Take an economics course
- Learn front end web design [started July 2008]
- Go one week without complaining
- Go one week without wearing any black
- Fire a handgun[August 2017]
- Digitize all old audio cassettes (mix tapes!)
- Go to a ball
- Commission a real artist to paint portrait
- Know how to make 10 origami figures from memory [started March 2010 (so far: crane, elephant)]
- Write a fan letter to one of my heroes/heroines
- Take a memory course
- Take a journalism class
- Take a glass blowing workshop[December 2015]
- Take a dessert making class
- Take a massage therapy course
- Take a raw cooking course
- Learn 3 tricks on a trampoline
- Take a speed reading class
- Learn how to play pool
- Take a helicopter piloting lesson[completed August 2016]
- Take a barista class
- Become a wine aficionado (sommelier certification)
- Learn Japanese calligraphy (shodo)
- Learn calligraphy
- Take a comparative philosophy course
- Learn Astronomy
- Sit on a jury
- Break 100 bowling
- Hit a bull’s-eye with a bow and arrow
- Pass the 1-kyuu level of the Japanese Proficiency Exam
- Read 99% of the Nikkei Shimbun without a dictionary
- Pass spoken JETRO 1-kyuu exam
- Pass JETRO 1-kyuu written
- Make a speech in Japanese
- Be conversational in Spanish
- Be fluent in Spanish
- Be conversational in Mandarin
- Be fluent in Mandarin
- Be conversational in Arabic
- Be conversational in German
- Read and understand Nietsche in German
- Be conversational in Russian
- Read and understand Dostoyevsky in Russian
- Be conversational in French
- Learn Latin
- Be able to play 15 piano sonatinas/sonatas by heart
- Learn 10 songs/pieces on acoustic guitar
- Learn to play the harmonica
- Play drums in a rock band
- Brush up on flute
- Take singing lessons and then sing a great song in front of an audience
- Become well versed in jazz
- Learn how to play jazz on piano
- Relearn Moonlight Sonata
- Learn how to play Flight of the Bumblebee
- Learn how to sight read music (music theory etc.)
- Play flute in a concert
- Play piano in a piano recital
- Learn how to improvise on piano
- Learn how to play the violin
- Play violin in a quartet
- Learn Taiko drums
- Learn how to play craps
- Learn 3-D printing
- Learn backend web development
- Learn how to make apps
- Learn about trading, futures and derivatives
- Take an EMT course
- Learn how to drive stick
- Enter a Texas Hold Em Tournament
- Take regular filmmaking class [complete May 2016]
- Relearn physics to enable me to pass AP exam
- Relearn Biology to pass AP
- Relearn Chemistry to pass AP
- Relearn Earth Science to pass AP
- Do one anonymous random act of kindness that has a significant impact on someone’s life
- Eat 1 pound of local food a week for one year
- Organize an event that benefits a charity
- Donate $ and put Paul’s name on something
- Do 12 random acts of kindness
- Break the bottled water habit for at least six months
- Sponsor a child in a developing country
- Leave a 50% tip[completed May 2016]
- Buy a stranger in a restaurant a meal anonymously
- Teach someone illiterate to read
- Be someone’s mentor
- Run a food drive
- Give blood once every two months for one year
- Pay for the person behind me in toll booth[December 2015]
- Send a care package to a soldier every month for as long as any are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Volunteer with a not-for-profit at least once a month for one year
- Send a get-well package to someone
- Create the CatchtheGood org
- Create Umbrella Underground
- Don’t use plastic bags for six months
- Don’t speak for a week
- Fast for 48 hours
- Vacation volunteering with primates
- Plan and attend at least 2 cousin outings a year for 10 years
- Have or adopt at least two children
- Organize and attend elementary school reunion
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- Plan and attend 30-year high school reunion [completed August 2018]
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- Create a family tradition
- Put together a family tree for both sides
- Reconnect with old friends
- Get Dad’s photo album made into a proper book
- Get dad’s story on film [started July 2009]
- Write a handwritten letter once a month for one year
- Send thank you notes within one day of receipt of gift for one year
- For one year, send birthday cards to friends/family instead of relying on Facebook
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- Be the CEO of a corporation
- Complete business plan for and start “MIH”
- Take all courses required to become Certified Financial Planner
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- Take and pass Customs Broker Exam
- Research VS, INAIKA, TPTD, and HYG business ideas/competition
- Go to bed by 10 PM for 1 week
- Sleep 9 hours a day for one month
- Get a henna tattoo
- Get a facial, manicure, pedicure, and brows done at a salon every month for one year
- Get massage once a week for a year – [Started July 2018]
- Work with a professional stylist
- Take vitamins for 30 days straight
- Drink nothing but water for 3 months [completed March 2018]
- Meditate in morning for six months
- Eat only raw food for 10 days
- No sugar for 30 days [completed March 2018]
- Establish a workout and do it for one year
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- Complete “Couch to 5K” running program
- Run a 1/2 marathon
- Run a full marathon
- Run a 5K
- Run a mile in under 10 minutes
- Be in amazing physical shape
- Do 100 pushups in a row
- Do 200 sit-ups in a row
- Climb to the top of a climbing wall
- Learn to play tennis
- Learn to jump rope
- Learn to play racquetball
- Pilot a kayak
- Go snowmobling[completed March 2016]
- Learn how to downhill ski
- Learn to snowboard
- Learn to skateboard
- Get recertified for diving
- Become a certified personal trainer
- Become certified in Pilates
- Learn to hit a baseball
- Learn to surf
- Win a game of tennis
- Get a black belt in a martial art
- Learn how to do doubledutch
- Try roller derby
- Try fencing
- Learn how to waterski
- Learn how to canter on a horse
- Try luge
- Get and maintain real golf handicap
- Learn to ride a unicycle
- Take a ballet class
- Learn to ballroom dance
- Learn how to swing dance
- Take a tap dancing class
- Milk a cow[May 2016]
- Get pair of custom shoes made
- Go through a day as a brunette
- Go through a day as a redhead
- Skywrite a message to someone
- Be able to explain Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
- Read the Encyclopedia from A through Z
- Learn how to fold a fitted sheet perfectly
- Drive a dogsled[March 2016]
- Drive in a demolition derby
- Roll down a hill in a zorb
- Complete a culinary boot camp
- Get a pair of custom jeans made
- Get into an MBA program
- Teach a class
- Be an extra in a film
- Make a pie with apples I’ve picked [completed October 2018]
- Cut down a tree with an ax
- Start a fire without matches
- Make an igloo
- Take the Mensa test
- Learn Morse Code
- Learn the mechanics of basic household appliances (fridge, oven, vacuum, air conditioner etc.)
- Invent or discover something that changes the world for the better
- Sit on a corporate board
- Sit on a nonprofit board
- Learn Reiki
- Write a novel
- Learn how to salsa dance
- Take a belly dancing lesson
- Complete a S Factor series
- Learn how to do a roundoff/backhandspring
- Learn how to ice skate and do a jump
- Learn Krav Maga
- Learn three tricks on the trapeze
- Learn how to cross country ski
- Learn to do a split
- Learn how to rollerblade
- Learn how to do a trick on rollerblades
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- PRIVATE (A girl’s gotta have some secrets)
- Roll 401K[September 2019]
- Own a house or an apartment free from a mortgage
- Complete one of the documentary projects (EOI, LS, TMIPIK)
- Buy myself a bouquet of flowers weekly for one year
- Organize all memory stuff
- Give away 100 things in a year [Started March 2016]
This page has the following sub pages.
RE: #8 – Come to Boston for the half-marathon in June 2010. Meet me at the finish line with my son, and we’ll all go for chowder.
#11 – I’m in. Let’s make a weekend of it this summer or early fall.
#22 – I’ll put it in next year’s budget.
#108 – When Teddy is 10, let’s go to Uluru and New Zealand That will also help with part of 135 and 138
#133 – Off Montauk, Mystic, Cape Cod — Find out when, and we’ll go too
#215 – A great deal of fun. Say when.
I’ll teach you 249, and I want to go to 283.
RE: #348 – I just happen to have a few charities in mind. Would you like to organize a fundraiser sometime in the next few months?
400 – Me too
413 – TEAM CHALLENGE next season
What was the thing that scared the hell out of you ?