I first heard about the Life List concept via Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl. It’s not a bucket list: there’s a real sense of impending doom about those. The Life List is positive. It’s about embracing freedom and adventure and doing the things I want. These are the collective experiences I would love to achieve in my lifetime.

MY LIFE LIST

(In no particular order)

1. Visit India for the Holi Festival
2. Ride bikes around Gotland, an island off the coast of Sweden
3. Take in a match at the Nou Camp in Barcelona
   Update: Completed (December 2011).
4. Make one night a week ‘Date Night’
5. Start my own business
6. Attend a cooking class
7. Be the only person on a desert island (for a few hours)
8. Host a fabulous birthday party for someone
9. Become a dual citizen
10. Learn how to surf
11. Live downtown in San Francisco
    Update: Completed (2010 -2012).
12. Make a bouquet for a bride
13. Climb Croagh Patrick
14. Buy a porch swing
15. Learn how to play bass
    Update: Started.
    

    Learning how to play bass on a Hoffner violin bass. #PaulMcCartney

16. See Paul McCartney perform live
    Update: Completed (July 2010).
    
    

    Sir Paul in concert: Tick!

17. Sail somewhere on a boat
18. Take German classes
    Update: Started. I’m not anywhere close to fluent, but I’m learning.
    

    Ich habe studiert.

19. Live in Europe
20. Be a contestant on Jeopardy!
21. Become an ‘expert’ in something
22. Make an article of clothing
23. Fly on one of the world’s most dangerous airlines
    Update: Completed. We survived our Lao Airlines flight fom Luang Prabang to Phnom Penh and lived to tell the tale.
24. Make a cake/cupcakes from scratch (including the icing!)
25. Compete in a triathlon
26. Spend an afternoon getting a pedicure and a manicure
27. Take tea in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony
28. Spend an afternoon in a European cafe, enjoying Kaffee und Kuchen
29. Have my own study/work space
30. Live and work on a beach in Thailand
31. Write a song
32. Borrow a puppy for a day
33. Sit for a portrait
34. Live off the grid in New Zealand
35. Pick fruit from the source
36. Go camping in Yosemite
37. Try Nackt wandern (you only live once!)
38. See the Aurora Borealis
39. Walk the entire length of Geary Boulevard, from Market Street to the ocean
40. Take a photography class
41. Hug a penguin
42. Sleep in a treehouse (like in Sweden’s Treehotel)
43. Pick wild flowers from a field
44. Take a creative writing class
45. Learn how to make sushi
46. Have a cuppa tea with: Maggie Mason, Megan Hunt, Katherine Hull-Kirk, Jens Lekman,
    Darren Hanlon, Paul Gilmartin, Maria Bamford
47. Host my own High Tea with fresh sandwiches, pots of tea and good conversation
48. Go on safari in Africa
49. Gather the courage (despite my horrendous physical aversion to them since school) to try brightly coloured tights
    Update: Completed. And I haven’t worn them since!
50. Get married again! (to the same bloke)
51. Adopt a puppy
52. Write a book
53. Treat myself to something beautiful from Miette in San Francisco
    Update: Completed (2012). 
    

    YUM!

54. Get paid to write for a living
55. Jump off a waterfall
56. Attend a Sound of Music singalong
57. Milk a cow
58. Be a Jedi for a day
    Updated: Completed (2012).
59. Experience a ride in a hot balloon
    Update: Completed (2009).
60. Learn how to throw pottery
61. Paint a picture
62. Grow a plant from a seed
63. Run a 5km race
64. Take a lesson on the trapeze
65. Go on a Star Gazing tour
66. Find an artistic/creative partner
67. Attend a Ballet Gala
68. Make my bedroom the perfect place to rest and recharge
69. Go back to school
70. Walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela
71. Visit Germany (again)
72. Learn how to sail
73. Take a personal finance class
74. Learn to code
75. Make a small quilt

Watching Roman Holiday in Union Square, SF.

What would be on your Life List?
What are types of things that inspire you and that you hope to achieve in your lifetime?