Life is all about adventure. Adventure can take many forms for different people. For me, it is about exploring your environment, tackling challenges, delving deep into your imagination, and engaging meaningfully with the world. I believe that adventure can be found anywhere: at work, on the way to where you’re going, raising a family, studying, anywhere!

Writing a bucket list involves putting all your dreams and ideas down in one place. It can be inspiring and fun! Googling "bucket list" will yield countless pages providing suggestions for things you can put on your bucket list. Beware of relying too much on these lists, though. Your hopes and dreams are unique and need to come from inside of you.

The term bucket list is controversial for some. For example, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield explains his theory that a bucket list may lead you to view your life as empty or unfilled due to the focus on things that have not been checked off. Instead he recommends filling your bucket everyday.

Good point. Be sure to use your bucket list as a tool for choosing a life rich with adventure for today, tomorrow, and one day. Some people have suggested alternatives to the name bucket list. My favourite is Awesome List. And just in case you’ve forgotten, awesome is a pretty extraordinary word meaning awe-struck and awe-inspiring. The experiences on this list are just that.

This is the first draft of my updated bucket list that lives outside of my brain. My next bucket list project is to have different lists for different parts of me. Most of the things on this list will be part of my Awesome Adventure List, a growing list of all the things I’d like to do and see in the world. Other lists will be more specific to my creativity, livelihood, family, and relationships.

Here’s my Awesome Adventure List. What’s on your list?

  1. Swim with dolphins.Completed, sort of: 2008
  2. Go skydiving.Completed 2007
  3. Stay in an overwater bungalow in Tahiti.
  4. Visit the Eiffel Tour.Completed 1997
  5. Have a television makeover. Completed 2006
  6. Run a marathon.Completed 2004, 2009
  7. Take a ballroom dancing class.Completed 2001
  8. Become a certified scuba diver.Completed 1997
  9. Foster kittens from the animal shelter.Completed 1997, 2017
  10. Learn American Sign Language.Completed 2000
  11. Swim in phosphorescent waters.Completed 2009
  12. Take a massage course.Completed 1996
  13. Walk the West Coast Trail.
  14. Do a triathlon.Completed x4 2006, 2007, 2008
  15. Marry my love.Completed 2008
  16. Shave my head.Completed 2008
  17. Sew clothing from curtains for my family, just like the Von Trapps. Completed 2017
  18. Try shooting with shotgun.Completed 2017 (That clay pigeon is still alive and well).
  19. Try using a bow and arrow.
  20. Take a Thai cooking class.Completed 2009
  21. Go climbing in Krabi.Completed 2009
  22. Hike the long range traverse at Gros Morne National Park. (Borrowed from Ariana’s bucket list).Completed 2009
  23. Visit Angkor Wat.Completed 2009
  24. Visits the Great Pyramids and scuba dive in the Red Sea.
  25. Swim with whale sharks.
  26. Swim with humpback whales.
  27. Walk New Zealand’s 8 Great Walks (and paddle the Great Paddle). 4 completed.
  28. Go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef.Completed 2008
  29. Take a winter mountaineering course.Completed 2008
  30. Have two children, one pink and one blue.Completed and ongoing
  31. Go tramping by myself.
  32. Take the kids tramping on my own. Completed 2016
  33. Knit socks.Completed 2015
  34. Learn Spanish.
  35. Make a pottery mug.
  36. Learn to do a handstand.
  37. Get a tattoo.Completed 2008
  38. Take singing lessons.Completed, and failed, 2008
  39. Harvest 3 different fruits from my own backyard.Completed 2017
  40. Volunteer in an elephant rescue centre.Completed 2009 (Will go again!)
  41. Walk along the Great Wall of China.Completed 2009
  42. Learn to count to 10 in Mandarin.Completed 2009
  43. Climb Mount Kilimanjaro.Completed 2009
  44. Complete an Oceanswim race.Completed x4 2007, 2008
  45. Finish my PhD.Completed 2014
  46. Buy a house.Completed 2015
  47. Publish an academic article.Completed 2003+  Revised goal:  Publish 5 (PhD) academic articles.
  48. Start a blog. Hooray! Completed 2017
  49. Get paid for something I've written.Completed 2017
  50. Become a beekeeper. In progress from 2016.
  51. Bargain the price on something purchased in Asia.Completed 2008
  52. Bargain the price on something purchased at home.
  53. See the Northern Lights.
  54. Try roller derby - fresh meat. Completed 2014
  55. Go on a pilgrimage.
  56. Bike the trans-Canada trail.
  57. Volunteer in a soup kitchen.
  58. Grow tomatoes in my garden.Completed 2017
  59. Grow a whole meal in my backyard.
  60. Become a Kiwi.Completed 2014
  61. Do an adventure race.Completedx3 2016, 2017
  62. Do 5 consecutive chin-ups.
  63. Go vegan for a month.
  64. Take a yoga teacher training course in India.
  65. Visit the Galapagos Islands.
  66. Travel to Easter Island.
  67. Tramping in Patagonia.
  68. Skate at a rollerdisco.Completed 2016
  69. Foster a seeing eye puppy.
  70. Meet some lemurs in Madagascar with my family.
  71. Visit Samociazek.
  72. Walk the Te Araroa Trail.
  73. Weave a kete.
  74. Run the Goat Tongariro.Completed 2017
  75. Learn Te Reo
  76. Try snowshoeing.Completed 2006
  77. Paddle down the Colorado River.
  78. Visit Mexico.
  79. Fly in a hot air balloon.
  80. Stand up paddle board around the mount.
  81. Go for a helicopter ride or take a flying lesson.  
  82. Take piano lessons (again).
  83. Learn a martial art.
  84. Build a tiny dream home.
  85. Give a TED talk.
  86. Go 1 week screen free.
  87. Go 1 week without talking.
  88. Try downhill skiing.
  89. Sleep in a bivy on a mountain top.
  90. Visit Tibet.
  91. Invite Ice’s children to stay with us.
  92. Cycle the Ocean to Alps trail.
  93. To have an action figure made in my likeness. 
  94. Volunteer to help sea turtles.
  95. Help with a little blue penguin count.
  96. Scuba diving at White Island.
  97. Experience zero gravity.
  98. Homer nude tunnel run.