Life's "To Do" List

Ok, so on a little break I started making out my "before I die" list. Adventure-wise, I only really climb and paddle, hence the short list, but I'm curious what the other potential goals out there are. Please feel free to add anything, any sport, either the best of something in the US or worldwide. Extra credit for being somewhat realistic...for instance, climb route X on Ranier or maybe even Denali instead of Everest or K2.

Anyway, here's a short start:

Climb El Capitan
Paddle the Grand Canyon
Climb a non-commercial route on Ranier

Some things on my list...

- Hike the Huayhuash circuit in the Cordillera Blanca
- Go *back* to Machu Picchu, hike up Huayna Picchu
- Climb as many of the 7 summits as I possibly can (Kilimanjaro this year, Aconcagua next year, etc...but probably only do Everest Base Camp...I'm thinking realistically here...possibly over the next decade, starting with this year)
- Rock climb all over the world
- A glacier hike somewhere in the world (I missed my opportunity in Franz Josef)
- multi-day kayaking in Alaska, kayaking around the fjords and islands
- Hike the Torres del Paine circuit in Patagonia
- Rappel into an unexplored cave..I guess that would mean I'd have to help dig it, too.
- Hike the Annapurna circuit in Nepal
- Do a multi-pitch climb (right now, my endurance sucks)
- One day be able to climb a 5.12/boulder a V6

Great Post. Gosh, I wouldn’t even know where to begin with this. I will list some of my dreams, although a few might be unrealistic and dangerous.

-Ride a Motorcycle across Central Africa
-Sit on top of one of the Great Pyramids and watch the sunrise over Cairo

-Watch the Wildebeast Migration in Tanzania
-Raft the Futaleufu River in Peru
-Raft the Grand Canyon for one month alone
-Ride a bicycle from Cairo to Capetown
-Cross the Darien Gap (and come out alive)
-Kayak up the Amazon
-Take the entire TransSiberian Railroad
-Summit Mt. Rainer
-Walk for six months through India
-Explore the jungles or Irian Jaya or Papua New Guinea
-Seakayak in Alaska
-Sail around the entire Mediterranean for a few years
-Visit the Dogon Valley in Mali.

Donovan

-witness the "great migration"
-see summit Mt Kilimanjaro (ok so maybe the Mt Kili part is a recent dream hehe)
-visit Antartica and kayak as well as stand at the geographical south pole
-trek in Nepal and see Mt Everest at BC
-travel by foot/land (short bus rides ok) from my front door to Ushiuia, Argentina.
-camp, hike, trek through the Congo
-travel overland from London to South East Asia
-travel around the entire planet with out using air transportation
-skydive near mountains (not even sure if this is possible)
-hanglide in the fjords of Norway

Joey, there's plenty of skydiving near mountains. I went with the Great Dividing Range in Oz as my backdrop.

Just a few I have thought of and would like to attempt "before I die".

Raft the Middle Fork of the Salmon River
Hike to El Mirador and Nakbe in Guatamala
Go on a cattle drive in the Southwest
Scuba Dive the Blue Hole in Belize
The "Great Migration"

donovan, i went to a presentation at the REI in downtown seattle, given by one of the guys that works at cascade alpine guides. it was part 2 of a 3 part series of lectures about preparing for mt rainier (physical conditioning, routes/guides, gear/packing) - he's going to send us all an email with a link to his lecture slides. i can forward it to you if you'd like.

anyway, i'm so inexperienced when it comes to these things, so i'm afraid these are a bit 'typical' but here goes..

• summit mt kili (see you guys in dec!)
  
• summit denali (after rainier or hood as a 'warmup')
  
• spend at least 6 months in nepal, bhutan (if the budget allows..), tibet, and pakistan (no flying) including trekking to everest and K2 BC's
  
• skydive in croatia and/or switzerland
  
• road racing and/or drift school in japan (rotary)
  
• hack my way through a jungle somewhere
  
• visit antarctica
  
• learn to fly a cessna
  

Wow! Great additions so far...couple quick things:

1) Joey, I skydived in Interlaken, Switzerland in the middle of the Alps over a lake and it was absolutely awesome...I'm also sure there's places in the Rockies or Cascades you could do it.
2) Just a suggestion about Ushuaia...it sucks. Don't stop there. It's pretty easy to get there, go to the docks, and sailboat-hitchhike to port williams (which is the true southernmost city) and do a few days of trekking on the Dientes Circuit which is pretty awesome.
3) Does anyone else have any other whitewater paddling or any mountain biking goals?

I wouldn't mind whitewater rafting down some more rivers I went in Taihape, NZ, so I've done it once. It was fun and I'd do it again. Don't know where...possibly somewhere where I just happen upon the opportunity.

For me?

1) Thru-hike the Appalachian Trail

2) Horse-pack across Central Asia

3) Spend a year living on the beach

4) See the sunrise from the summit of Mt. Fuji (not a technical accomplishment, but a spiritual one)

5) Learn to play a musical instrument, well

6) Cairo to Capetown overland

7) Lisbon to St. Petersburg on a bicycle

8) Learn a foreign language

9) Learn another one

10) Spend a year teaching English overseas

11) Jump out of a perfectly good airplane, once and only once

12) Make love on all 7 continents and in all 50 states

13) Have a beer and relax

14) Have another one

15) Put another dollar in the jukebox

Yet to do on my list, in no particular order or spelling, include;

1. Trek Nepal to include Everest Base Camp.
2. Travel across Mali to Timbuktu.
3. Cross Australia, south to north via Ayers rock, by car.
4. Walk the length of Hadrian's Wall.
5. Visit friends in Poland and then head south accross Eastern Europe to the Adriadic Sea.
6. Visit Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia by bus, train, bicycle, or what ever.
7. Overland from Victoria Falls to the Cape.
8. Rail journey from Beijing to St. Petersburg by way of Tashkent and Samurkand.
9. Spend a few days on my own on Easter Island.
10. Overland to see mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
11. Spend a year on a RTW trip.

This thread needs be brought back up. There are some recommmendations in here. Anyone else?

1. Complete the Marathon des Sables

Walk across Spain...do the Camino.

Walk with the Penguins in Antartica.

Jeep journey through the least traveled villages in India. Discover India's small artisans living and working in these villages and towns.

Hit the National Parks of India in each of the states as well.

Travel through Pakistan.

Get my license to sky dive.

Become a mountaineer.

Snowboard every major mountain chain on earth.

Learn to surf... properly.

Ride my bike (not a bike rider) through South America. I think I'll try this next year, why not?