Exactly one year ago when I was warming up into my May blog marathon for 2014, I wrote a post about how I don’t really have a “bucket list.” Here’s a little of what I said back then:
“Are there things in life I’d still like to do someday? Yeah, sure. But as far as hopes or wishes go, I’m confident most people would consider mine to be pretty mundane. Some of these would be nice experiences to have, but if I don’t have them I’m not going to feel any palpable sense of loss...Do I see any of these things as essential to do before I die? No, not really...Maybe I should toy with the idea of putting together a list. I’d expect it’d be something like a birthday list, where you write down things you hope for even if you know you probably won’t get them all. I guess my problem would be not really having any idea where to start.”
I was thinking about this again not long ago. For the most part I still feel the same way. There are experiences that I think would be interesting to have, but none of them leave me with any kind of burning hole to fill since I haven’t done them yet, just as there are things I’m very sure I will never do that probably would have been great, and I’ve come to terms with knowing how unlikely or impossible it is they will ever happen.
But I don’t really know if there’s anything I need to do. Some of my more meaningful moments or memorable experiences were things that just organically happened. For example: A few years ago I traveled out to Seattle to visit some friends, twice in less than two months. The first trip included a stop at the Experience Music Project, a museum devoted to popular music. You’d think this would be a huge thing for me. It was an interesting place to visit, and I spent a fun afternoon with a good friend of mine (and his father, who was tagging along to see a concert with us that night), but the museum itself wasn’t much more than kind of cool. When I went back out to Seattle a few weeks later, it was one of the greatest vacations of my life, and probably because we didn’t really have much set for concrete plans. During that stay I discovered how fascinatingly bohemian Pike Place is, and realized smoked salmon is at its absolute best when it comes from the PNW. I got to spend an afternoon in a picturesque little bay town reveling in its Independence Day glory. I went to a neighborhood picnic where I was easily the most out of place person there, and I had a great time. (Yeah, you read that right. Me, at a party, with about sixty completely strangers and enjoying it.) I watched fireworks go off over Puget Sound, and later saw so many neighborhood fireworks going off I was amazed that several buildings didn’t burn down. And I went to see one of my favorite bands play at what is widely thought of as one of the most scenic outdoor amphitheaters in the world. The thing is, with all of those landmark memories, the only one I knew was going to happen when I got off the plane at SeaTac was that we had tickets to the concert. Everything else was just life happening the way it does.
I guess I find it harder to get excited about manufactured landmark events, since they often don’t live up to the anticipation. I think I’d rather just put myself in a position where interesting things could happen and then get caught up in the discovery. Actual destinations don’t interest me as much as what might happen while I'm there, or even along the way.
So, having said all of this, I’m still wondering if there are any must-visit places or must-do experiences that have managed to stay off my radar all this time, since I’ve never thought much about them. What adventures out there would be worth creating a Bucket List for? And when I say adventures, I don’t necessarily mean giant dramatic thrills. It could just be something to do over a weekend or an afternoon in the summer, simply catching up with a small piece of life that might have the potential to be the catalyst for something extraordinary, or even just amusing.
Any suggestions?
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