Bucket list

Today, I’m thinking about the world, how many amazing experiences there are to have out there. I feel called to so many places. I want to raft the Colorado, stand in solidarity with activists from every corner of the world, learn to play guitar and go to Juarez so I can stand unflinching in the face of our culture’s killing fields. I’m in Ecuador now, trying so hard to be place-based. But I still have to daydream, so I thought I’d take a minute to make an updated version of my bucket list. Here’s my official list of things I want to do or learn before I die.

1 go to every state in the US (still need: alabama arkansas georgia illinois indiana iowa kansas kentucky lousiana minnesota mississippi missouri nebraska northcarolina northdakota ohio oklahoma southcarolina tennesee westvirginia wisconsin)

2 go to every national park in the US (not the monuments and historical sites, just the real parks)

3  spend at least a month or two working on the border and trying to understand the politics, economics, cultures and people that exist in that space

4 stay up all night inside the Arctic Circle during the summer

5 catch, kill, cook and eat a wild mammal

6 learn to play guitar and sing well enough to lead a campfire

7 go on an absurdly long walking trip, whether it’s the PCT, the Appalachian Trail or maybe just across the country, Forrest Gump style

8 write a (nonfiction) book, even if I’m the only one who ever reads it

9 have an amazing garden based on permaculture principles, even/especially if I’m living in the middle of the city

10 become passable (not quite fluent) in at least two languages besides English

11 engage in meaningful activism, in a long-term, bottom up sort of fashion

12 do a meditation retreat

13 go to Burning Man

14 spend a week completely alone in the wilderness. this could also be a Vision Quest type thing.

15 go on a completely spontaneous road trip

16 mentor someone for a substantial period of time (like, longer than a year)

17 work/volunteer at a domestic violence shelter or hotline

18 learn to sew and knit

19 travel to every continent except Antarctica

20 do something concrete to fix/improve our food system