My list to date. Some of these items will simply take time and effort on my part; others will take money .... and some of them will out and out takea miracle! :)
But in all cases, the first step is simply a matter of knowing what you want! So, what's on YOUR list??
Ride in a military-style jet (like with The Blue Angels)
Volunteer to help baby turtles make it safely from nest to sea
Watch a Cubs game at Wrigley Field
Attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans
Spend the night in the Lincoln Bedroom. Preferably with company. Of the opposite sex. (if I'm going to get a night in the Lincoln Bedroom ... I might as well "go for the gold" so to speak. ;))
Swim with dolphins
See the Taj Mahal
Explore areas of the South Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Bora Bora, etc) at my leisure
[Done!] Travel to Boston to see my favorite piece of artwork (Renoir's 'Dance of the Bougival')
See an active volcano
Drive a sports car (preferably a Ferrari) really fast ... like on the highways outside Las Vegas
Meet Ellen DeGeneres and make her laugh
Vacation at a dude ranch
Enjoy front row at a Bruce Springsteen concert!!!!!!!
Attend a space shuttle launch
See Petra in Jordan (maybe while wearing an Indiana Jones hat! ;))
Learn to scuba dive
Celebrate New Year's Eve at least once in Times Square, NYC
Travel to Greece
Be blessed by the pope
Watch a tennis match at Wimbledon
Be a "trainer for a day" (if not make a career of it) of dolphins and sea lions
Attend the Academy Awards
[Done!] Reread the "Little House on the Prairie" book series
See the "sun rise" over earth from up in space.
See the Great Pyramid and Sphinx in Egypt
Learn to play the violin
Go check out Miami at least once
Explore Machu Picchu
See the Northern Lights
Take an eco-tour to the Galapagos Islands
Shop the Mall of America
Go whale watching and actually see whales! ;)
Travel to all seven continents (so far I've been to three: North America, Europe and Asia. Still to do: Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and South America (some folks count North and South America as one ... I don't)
Party in Rio De Janeiro (and maybe even see Christ the Redeemer while there! ;))
Become a member of Mensa
Take a swamp tour to see the gators
View Mount Rushmore
Photo-safari in Africa and see "the big 5"
INSPIRE!
See Niagara Falls
Travel to Ireland
Watch the sun set with the locals in the Florida Keys
Marry the man of my dreams
Stay at a (purposely) underwater hotel (perhaps at the soon-to-be new one in Dubai?)
I'm sure this list will continually be revamped as other ideas pop into my head. So tell me, how clearly does this list reveal my level of insanity??! ;)
Having my name listed in the acknowledgments at the front of a novel
Viewing NYC from the top of the World Trade Center towers
Buying a house all on my own
Taking pictures of Paris from up in the Eiffel Tower
Growing up getting to play frequently at the Happiest Place On Earth (Disneyland)
Sitting and looking at the Mona Lisa
Sunbathing topless on a beach of the French Riviera
Being gifted with a love song written and recorded for me
Lettering in varsity
Riding in a horse drawn carriage through Central Park
Rubbing onto paper a soldier's name off the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC
Watching the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace
Seeing the Grand Canyon
Standing on The Grassy Knoll in Dallas, TX
Being proposed to
Standing in awe at Stonehenge
Seeing a movie at Mann's (Grauman's) Chinese Theater
Touching Jon Bon Jovi!!
Taking the Chunnel under the English Channel
Standing at Shakespeare's grave
Walking hand-in-hand along the Champs Elysees
Being thanked in the acknowledgment section on a cd
Browsing the shops along Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills
Skydiving
Strolling Les Rambles in Barcelona, Spain
Being in 4 states at one time (4 Corners)
Gazing up in amazement at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel
Cruising down the Yangtze River
Riding a gondola in Venice, Italy with the man I loved
Exploring the Kennedy Space Center
Watching Old Faithful erupt
Leaning with the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Being an extra in a movie
Attending an Olympic event (1984 in Los Angeles)
Riding the train from NYC to Los Angeles
Shopping Harrods in London
Hiking to the top of Multnomah Falls in Oregon
Spending time wandering and photographing Claude Monet's gardens in Giverny
Snorkeling alongside sea turtles in Maui
Being tipped by another player for rolling such a great round of dice at a craps table
Visiting the house of Anne Franke in Amsterdam
Seeing the Hollywood Sign
Having my fortune told by Madame Marie in Asbury Park, NJ (a'la Bruce Springsteen)
Sitting in the bleachers for a ballgame at Yankee Stadium
Making strangers laugh so hard they've cried
Touching the Berlin Wall
Walking on the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, AZ
Touring Hearst Castle
Receiving tossed strings of beads in New Orleans
Getting kicked off the train in Spain due to a sudden rail strike
Looking over the harbor from inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty
Hiking in the Swiss Alps
Piloting a boat on Lake Tahoe, NV
Gazing around in awe inside the Library of Congress
Visiting Pearl Harbor
Escaping Alcatraz Island
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
Seeing movie stars out and about in the wilds of Hollywood (and NYC)
Watching the sun set on Waikiki Beach
Graduating college with honors
Climbing to the top of Red Rock Amphitheater in Denver, CO
Riding the bus from all the way across country (California to Massachusetts)
Seeing the Liberty Bell when it was touring the United States by train
Eating Belgium Waffles in Belgium
White water rafting
Watching a Space Shuttle land
Having my picture taken with a donkey in Tijuana, Mexico
Surviving a take-over bank robbery
Figuring out that over time and various road trips that I have driven the entire length of I5 freeway from the Mexican border to the Canadian border
Performing on the field of Dodger Stadium
Being chauffeured around in a Ferrari
Seeing Michelangelo's statue of "David" in Florence, Italy
Taking a weedy patch of dead grass and creating a beautiful cottage-style flower garden.
Gambling in Las Vegas
Touring a Scotch Distillery in Scotland
Helping to sail a sailboat
Exploring the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
Sipping beer in Germany
Watching the live taping of one of the final episodes of the tv sitcom "Cheers"
Celebrating the striking of midnight twice the same night on New Year's Eve (two time zones)
Boogie and body boarding the Southern California beaches
Seeing a bridge lift for Tower Bridge in London
Visiting the Colosseum in Rome
Accidentally stumbling across the most perfect white sandy beach in Oahu
Eating a Nathan's hot dog in Coney Island, NY with my dad
Sleeping overnight on the sidewalk in order to save a spot to watch the Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA
Shaking hands with Rob and Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, Leslie Nielsen
Going to the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago
Successfully knitting a pair of socks (which fit!)
Spelunking
Getting my kicks driving on Route 66
Conversing in a mix of English, Spanish and French with a Spaniard in Barcelona in an attempt to find the post office
Having a wonderful dinner and watching amazing magic at the Magic Castle in Hollywood
Being in a parade
Browsing the fabulous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City
Taking pictures atop Victoria Peak in Hong Kong
Ringing in a new year making love at midnight to the man I loved
Flying in a little Cessna plane (and briefly piloting) on a jaunt from Los Angeles to Catalina Island
Gaining insight into prison life by touring a not-yet-opened (at the time) women's prison in Wilsonville, Oregon
Touring the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland
Driving to Canada just to watch a hockey game
Falling asleep to a show of twinkling lights across Lake Como in Italy
Midnight forays with my sisters to surreptitiously shake presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.
Bruce Springsteen concerts!
Seeing the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, China
Being first place champions of my entire league for high school doubles tennis
Sipping a beer in the original "Cheers" bar in Boston, Massachusetts
Being in 17 countries (so far) (US, Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, China, Hong Kong)
