40 things + 10
One of the very first entries on my original blog was titled, “40 Things to do Before 40.” I composed this list at the tender age of 30 while freezing in my tiny Neustadt apartment in Dresden. As I struggled with my big move from New York City to Germany, I made a list of fun, silly and serious things to look forward to in the newest chapter of my life. It is fun to look back and see what I’ve accomplished and now it’s time to update the list for the big 5-0, which is just around the very, very, very, very big corner. Far away. I can’t even see it.
Items in BOLD - complete
Items in italics - lifelong goals
2010
Ride a horse
Go to an “island vacation destination” for a weekend
I had to work part of the time but that still counts, right?
Next time, I’ll try NOT to visit an “island vacation destination” that is also a destination for hundreds of Germans.
Learn how to make sushi
Run a marathon
Crushed this. Four times. See the “Bonus Features” on my main page.
Go on a cruise
Thank you, Viking Line Cruise.
This is somewhere in the Baltic sea in between Sweden and Finland.
Become trilingual <fluent>
Grow or plant a tree with my own hands
Visit all 7 continents - 3 down, 4 more to go...
Take a dance class
Ride in a hot air balloon. <Cappadocia, please.>
Learn how to swim
Thank you, Fitness SF Fillmore Location and to the most patient teacher, ever.
I learned that it is very difficult to laugh and swim at the same time.
Go to Disney World. <Never been...>
Learn how to make pottery
Learn not to take what others do or say personally
Learn to stop worrying about things that are not within my control
Audition for a broadway musical - or community theater
Learn how to forgive
Start a journal and write in it everyday for a year
Start & finish a 365 photography project
Thank you, Instagram. I learned a lot from this photography project. It forced me to look around -
everywhere. I discovered a love for architecture and street art.
Learn how to drive a standard transmission car
I learned when I was 18 but I forgot. It makes it very difficult to rent (or steal) a car in Europe.
Ski. Just once
Play the lottery
Be able to do a “pull up” without help
Go find that place in Alaska where you can see Russia. Yell “Привет!”
Memorize and be able to recite an entire Mozart opera from memory
I might be able to do with this Figaro and Giovanni.
Buy a piano
I purchased a hybrid piano a few months ago that I adore. A grand piano is on the list for the
upcoming decade.
Attend the Olympics
Witness a birth
Be an extra on a movie. Or an opera.
Good thing I added, “or an opera.”
Here is a picture from my costume fittings for my role in Pique Dame, an opera by Tchaikovsky. The picture on the left was my original costume but it ended up being switched to photo on the right.
Be a mentor
Walk the Great Wall of China
Knit a scarf
Hug a real koala
Do a Bikram Yoga 60 Day Challenge
I completed a 30 Day Challenge before 30 so I thought this would be a fun goal.
Donate blood
Get CPR certified
Spend a night in a castle
Fly in the air with the greatest of ease...
Finish War and Peace or Anna Karenina
It’s on the Kindle…waiting…
Make my own kimchi
Visit the birthplace of my ancestors
~~~~~~~~~
Time to do the math.
10 complete — 30 left.
For the next “Bucket List” for 50, I have to add 20. In 2020.
~~~~~~~~~
2020
Learn all the Bach Preludes and Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier
Run a race for a charity
Paint something to hang on a wall
Improve my engraving skills on Sibelius, the music notation program
Master a complicated recipe and learn it so well that I can recreate it without a recipe
Get a dog. Adopt a rescue. Or foster one. And volunteer at an Animal Rescue
I traveled to 22 countries in the last decade. Let’s add another 22 NEW countries to the list
Learn a new instrument. Why not?
Last decade, I tried the Wagner tuba, cimbasso and attempted the bagpipes when I
was traveling in Scotland.
Introduce myself to all of my neighbors
Reach out to people who have made a difference in my life
Write and send more handwritten letters
See the Northern Lights - aurora borealis. Laura wants to see the aurora…borealis…
Donate my hair at least two more times
Perform a one-woman show, yep, just me
Buy a real camera and improve my photography skills
Walk the Spanish El Camino de Santiago de Compostela
Ride a bike
Help an endangered species
Complete a 365-day gratitude journal
Plan an epic 50th birthday party
So here is to the next 10 years of life.
I look forward to reading this post in 2030
and hoping that I will be able to BOLD
a few more things on the list.