The weekend before last, I had the opportunity to stay with my roommate who lives in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. While we were there, she took me hiking on one of the mountains. It took us about three hours to get to the top (mostly cause we took the wrong trail and got turned around) but once we got there, I was absolutely blown away by how beautiful the view was. I was standing on top of a mountain surrounded by peaks and valleys of trees that led to Lake George in the distance. I think that might’ve been one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
Standing on top of that mountain, I got to thinking about how many beautiful sights there are to see in this world. This world is full of breathtaking views of life and color and beauty that I decided I have to see before I die. I spent the rest of the day cliff jumping and hanging out on my roommate’s boat just thinking about how lucky I am to be experiencing such beauty. Doing so inspired me to write about some of the things I want to do before I die.
Skydiving. I know skydiving is such a cliché thing to put on my bucket list, but I don’t care. There is no way I’m leaving this earth without jumping out of a plane (which I’m sure my parents are thrilled about). I’ve even had multiple dreams about it. The last dream I had about skydiving, my mom and I both jumped out of a plane WITHOUT parachutes and we landed on our feet in my backyard greeted by my dogs. I don’t know about you, but I definitely think that’s a sign that I must skydive at some point in my lifetime. I’m sure it won’t be like it was in my dream, but seeing the world from that high up must be one of the most beautiful sights you can see.
Backpack through Europe. I’ve actually never been anywhere in Europe, and to be honest, until this past May, I hadn’t even been out of the country (other than Canada). From what I’ve heard, there are so many beautiful places to visit in Europe and I think it would be such a cool experience to take a few weeks and travel with nothing but the things I have in a backpack. I want to live in hostels, and try foods I’ve never tried before, and hike to new places, and learn about different cultures.
Learn a new language. This one goes along with the backpacking in Europe. Learning a new language is something I’ve wanted to do since my freshman year of high school. Ideally I would like to be able to speak Spanish before I get to Europe, but my goal is to learn how to speak Spanish by the time I am 40 years old. I think it is so crazy that in almost every other country in the world, it is required that every kid starts learning English as soon as they start school. In the United States, we do have foreign language requirements, but not nearly as much as everywhere else. I really wish that learning another language were something that was taken more seriously in our education system. Becoming bilingual is definitely an important item on my bucket list.
There are definitely far more items that I’ve added to my bucket list over the years and I intend to check off as many as I can before I leave this earth. I encourage everyone else to do so as well.
