Chasing my dreams off a cliff in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Oh, the bucket list. Such a strange beast that somehow, as I have more and more experience in life, just keeps on growing. I don’t think I will ever cross everything off of this list, because there is so much lurking in the pockets, sea beds, alley ways, and caves of the world waiting to be found- and I will never stop digging.

• Skydive in New Zealand.
• See koalas and kangaroos face-to-face in Australia. Oh, and see the great cities and Great Barrier Reef.
• Rock climb in the great outdoors, possibly in Colorado, US, Vietnam, or Mexico.
• Write and complete a novel. (I now wish to focus on writing a non-fiction collection of travel stories.)
• Have an art exposition of my own art.
• Paint the streets of Cuba (on my own canvas).
• Live in Barcelona, Spain.
• See the Northern Lights and dramatic landscapes in Iceland or Alaska.
• Eat a gluttonous amount of pasta and drink copious amounts of wine in Italy, while learning the language.
• See why everyone says people are snobs in Paris, France and decide if it’s true or not.
• Visit Ireland in part because of my Irish heritage. (My lineage is also derived from  England, Scotland, Wales, and Mexico.)
• See the vast, lush green beauty of Scotland and get lost in it. Try to understand the locals’ accents.
• Drink heaps of beer in England, meanwhile mastering the accent.
• Volunteer somewhere in the mideast of Africa- Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, or Tanzania, with refugees AND track gorillas in the wild.
• Visit Johannesburg, South Africa and absorb the multicultural atmosphere, not to mention the music scene, and witness the country the late Nelson Mandela led to freedom.
• Experience the craziness of Mardi Gras in N’Orleans, Louisiana.
• Go back to the Yucatan in Mexico and visit the fabled Chichen Itza while the snake can be seen crawling up the steps.
• Bask in the sun on the beaches of Bali, Indonesia.
• Return to Borneo and hike into the forest to see Orangutans in the PURE wild.
• Take part in Carnaval in Salvador, Brazil.
• Travel throughout the Amazon in Brazil, Peru, and maybe even Venezuela.
• Witness Angels Falls in Venezuela.
• See Bob Dylan live in concert- ANYWHERE!  I saw him on 10/21/14 in PDX!
• Return to Buenos Aires, Argentina, see how much the city has changed since I lived there in 2004-2005, and see the parts of the country I missed the first time around.
• Live in a treehouse for a month. Anywhere, in any forest.
• Ride the Siberian Highway from St. Petersberg to Vladivostok, Russia. Also, learn as much of the language as possible.
• Spend a few months in India meditating, backpacking, and joining an ashram. Obviously, see the Taj Mahal in Agra as well. Explore the delicious vegetarian/vegan dishes they offer.
•  Go back to Thailand, explore the north, such as Chiang Mai; spend more time in Bangkok, and get a certificate in scuba diving on one of the many precious islands (like Koh Chang or Koh Tao).
• When in Spain, walk the Camino de Santiago.
• Return to Japan and scale Mount Fuji.
• Touch ground in Antarctica and take many photos. Avoid frostbite.
• Spend a month or two in the Philippines, see what the phonetical and semantical differences are between Spanish and Tagalog (not to mention other dialects in the Philippines.)
• Run a marathon. Anywhere, anyhow.
• Go cage-diving with sharks.
• See all seven wonders of Oregon (Three and a half yet to go, if you count Brightwood as the base of Mt. Hood)
• Also see the seven wonders of the world (Only four more to go!)
• See all 50 states in the U.S.: (42 more to go…)
• Take my mom and dad to see the Mediterranean and the UK (A life-long dream of my mom’s, and the place where my dad’s ancestors originated)