This is a list of things to do before I die. I wrote started it when I was 15 and have since been inspired by Maggie Mason to pursue checking things off. We can think of them as “plot twits in The Amber Show”.

1 Buy my grandparent’s house.
2 Hike through a rain forest.
3 Learn to take great photos.
4 Write a book and have it published.
5 Learn to throw pottery.
6 Visit Ireland and drink a pint in a pub while singing an Irish bar song.
7 Get good and kissed on top of the Empire State Building.
8 Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.
9 Do really expensive tequila shots on a beach in Mexico at sunset.
10 Visit Argentina and eat dulce de leche.
11 Visit Australia to see the bush and the great barrier reef, pet a koala.
12 Make a blueberry pie from blueberries I picked.
13 Go “real camping”, with no showers, and bathe in a river.
14 Learn to drive stick.
15 Own an old Volkswagen bug. (close enough!)
16 Make a bed-size quilt out of re-purposed fabric.
17 Run a marathon.
18 Float on a row boat in the middle of a lake and star-gaze.
19 Road trip from New York City to San Diego.
20 Spend Christmas on the beach in a bikini.
21 Ride in a hot air balloon.
22 Fall madly, hopelessly in love.
23 Witness the Northern Lights.
24 Catch fireflies in a jar on a summer night.
25 Play in the ocean until I am completely exhausted.
26 Adopt a dog from a shelter.
27 Visit a redwood forest and hug a sequoia.
28 Yell a secret into Niagara Falls.
29 Get that tattoo of a feather on my foot.
30 Learn to play a song on guitar.
31 Sponsor a child in a third world country.
32 See the bioluminescent waters in Puerto Rico.
33 Backpack through Europe.
34 Visit Canada.
35 Gallop a horse.
36 Have a vegetable garden.
37 Speak fluent Spanish.
38 Swim with dolphins.
39 Have a picture of me taken while standing underneath the Eiffel Tower.
40 Make an article of clothing for myself that is acceptable to wear out of the house.
41 Snuggle a manatee.
42 Go whale watching.
43 Have my own weekly or daily radio show.
44 Help build a house in a third world country.
45 Fly a plane.
46 Learn to make a really great cake from scratch (with homemade frosting).
47 Hike in Hawaii and jump of a cliff while yelling “Geronimo!”
48 Eat a bowl of fish stew in an outdoor restaurant on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean.
49 “Get coffee” in an Amsterdam coffee house.
50 Drive through the Tuscan countryside in a tiny two-seater car.
51 Give birth.
52 Own a 100% sustainable, zero-impact beach house, with room for a dozen friends.
53 Be independently wealthy.
54 Ice skate on a frozen-over lake.
55 Dance at Carnival.
56 Shake Barack Obama’s hand.
57 Crochet an Afghan.
58 Do something I absolutely LOVE for a living.
59 Kiss an elephant on the trunk.
60 Go Parasailing.
61 Throw a huge party for a birthday or anniversary.
62 Make eclairs from scratch.
63 Dog sledding.
64 Have a holi color fight with strangers.
65 Do a huge zip line.
66 Become a person who exercises regularly.
67 Have a cool workplace to which I am a valued contributor.
68 Have set of luxurious personalized stationary.
69 Learn to cook fish.
70 Publish a photograph.
71 Memorize ten inspiring works of poetry.
72 Host a charity bake sale.
73 Get to number 100 on this list.
74 Officiate a wedding ceremony.
75 Live in New York City.
76 Fly through the air with the greatest of ease – on a flying trapeze!
77 Save a life.
78 Cover myself in mud and float in the Dead Sea. (a nod to Nicole for the idea!)
79 Tell a story at the Moth.
80 Take my grandma on vacation.
81 Give someone a rescued kitten or puppy for their birthday.
82 Be one of the people scrubbing ducks and otters with toothbrushes and Dawn after an oil spill.
83 Travel using several exotic methods:
- private jet
- submarine
- helicopter
- jetpack
84 Have a singalong with strangers.
85 Jump into a pool with a happy dress on.
86 Learn the metric system.
87 Stand on Maho Beach in Saint Martin and freak myself out watching the planes land.
88 Take 1000 portraits. (Thank you, Karen, for the inspiration!)
89 Paddle boats in Prospect Park with Rob.
90 Own one of everything from Tim Gunn’s 10 Essential Elements… even jeans!