Every year, I write New Year’s Resolutions. These tend to be goals for the coming year: take a class, learn a language, read X number of books, lose weight, etc. And they are always within my comfort zone.
My promise to myself this year is to start to expand that comfort zone, to try the things that scare me, and to ensure I have a full, brave life that will someday scandalize and/or inspire my grandchildren.
Here is my living Bucket List. I’ll add things as I go, and please send me your suggestions.
- Be a contestant on Jeopardy!
- Take and pass the Foreign Service Exam
- Complete a cross-country road trip
- Visit all 196 countries (2) (3)
- Also, all 7 continents
- Start my own business/non-profit
- Write and publish a book
- Have a TEDTalk
- Become conversational in all 6 UN languages
- Skydive
- Bungee Jump
- Sleep in a haunted house
- Renovate an old house
- Learn ASL
- Float in an anti-gravity chamber
- Ride the world’s largest rollercoaster
- Get married
- Be a mom
- Earn a Master’s Degree (2)
- Be in a movie
- Run a marathon
- Go scuba diving by the Great Barrier Reef
- Fly a plane
- Get a pilot’s license
- Learn to fight
- Make a passive income
- Pose nude for a figure drawing class
Have a (near) perfect credit score- Meet Amy Poehler
- Meet JK Rowling
- Take a photo with a president (Not Trump)
- Write a detective story
- Own a beach home
- Have a library in my home
- Try a psychedelic drug
- Travel to the place my ancestors were from
- Attend a big awards ceremony
- Take part in a sleep study and improve my sleep
- Read at least 52 books in a year (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
- Submit a photo to NatGeo and have it published
- Fight for and enact policy change
- Get a makeover
Kick depression and anxiety- Build a community of people I love
- Attend an Eyes Wide Shut party
- Launch and keep an interview podcast/blog (ariafritta.org)
- Do a goofy photobooth photoshoot with my love
- Forgive and let go of past mistakes
- Complete the 100 Happy Days Challenge (2)
- Perform a poem at an open mic
- Stay overnight on a houseboat
Donate my hairGrow a plant without killing it(2) (3) (4)- Wear a gown worth at least $1000
- Own special lingerie
- Invest $1000 in something
- Find my doppelganger
- Go to a nude beach
- Learn a magic trick
- Learn to pick a lock
- Run for office
- Get first aid certified (again)
- Learn to navigate difficult conversations without yielding my ground
- Attend a Leadership Seminar
- Cast a spell
- Record an audiobook
- Save $50,000 by 30
- See all 7 Wonders of the World
- Learn to paint
Draw cartoons- Join the National Speakers Association or Toastmasters
- Teach a class
- Learn to cook
- Be in the SNL audience
- Sleep under the Northern Lights
- Have a “Yes” Day
- Go into business with my S.O.
- Watch iMDB’s Top 250 Movies (2) (3) (4)
- Watch Rolling Stones’ Top 100 TV Shows of all time (2) (3)
- Become an NGO consultant
- Attend a UN General Assembly Meeting
- Sit on a porch/rooftop with people I love from all over the world and drink wine
- Fire a gun
- Trapeze
- Create a scholarship fund for badass ladies
- Work remotely abroad for at least one year
- Work with my alma mater on sexual assault policies
- Celebrate a 5 year anniversary
Learn Tarot- Get a grant writing certification
- Complete a Tough Mudder
- Naked body paint
- Learn to code
- Dye my hair
- Learn Poker
- Be on the Ellen Show
- Meet Craig Ferguson
- Have a governmental Security Clearance
- Plan a concert/comedy show
- Swim in the Dead Sea
- Have a spiritual experience
- Win a legal battle
- Become a true New Yorker
- Apply for my dream job, even if I’m under-experienced
- Graduate Magna or Summa Cum Laude
- Read every book on the State Department’s Recommended Book List for Diplomacy
- Learn to dance
- Sail a boat
- Have a truly perfect happy day
- Write a children’s book
- Cosplay at ComicCon
- Meet Pete Holmes and Kumail Nanjiani
- Be a guest on You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes
- Spend a whole day on a movie set
- Meet Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Learn yoga
- Surf
- See an iconic farewell tour
- Visit all 50 US States
- See live music in New Orleans
- Volunteer for a political campaign
- Get a TEFL certification
- Visit the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
- See a Drive-in Movie
- Read a book from every country in the world
- Attend a wedding from every major faith/religion
- Become a certified notary
- Be a jurist
- Film a documentary
- Get in great shape
- Voice a cartoon character
- Become a Fulbright Scholar
- Get a PhD
- See the Great Migration
- Visit Hogwarts
- Make money through art
- Become a published writer
- Be a TV reporter
- Get a boating license
Do the Thing 
What a brilliant idea! I look forward to seeing how you get on with them all 😀
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Your bucket list is a fun mix of small and big goals. Best wishes on following your dreams. Brad
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Thanks Brad! Same to you!
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great stuff!
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Thanks so much!
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Well I’m sure inspired! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m happy I found my way here!
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Thanks so much! The feeling is mutual!
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It is good to have a bucket things of lots of fun and unusual things you like to do but go easy on the psychedelic drugs and nudity. Lol.
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Haha thanks for the advice! All in the spirit of pushing myself out of my comfort zone 👍
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Yeah, lots of scope for that! I’m a total coward as far as bungee jumping, etc goes but being a nude life model would be ok as long as the room was warm! Do they pay well? Good luck with your challenges. Oh, recently I went for a boudoir photo shoot that was very exciting and a first for me!
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Oh wow! That sounds very fun (and elegant!)
I had a friend during my service years who used to make extra money modeling for figure drawing classes and she said it wasn’t too grueling. I don’t think it pays THAT well, but it’s not a bad gig.
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What a great (and long) list! I hope you’ll be able to cross everything off one day 😀
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It just keeps growing too 🙂 I hope so too!
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Thank you for following Storyteller
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Hi dear I have nominated you for The Liebster Award you can check it out here
https://tashneevmavee.wordpress.com/2017/07/18/the-liebster-award-2/
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That is so sweet! Thank you so much!
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Your welcome dear
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Wow this is a good list. Many of the items made me smile and some made me think you’re not a fraidy-cat at all. 🙂 Good luck girl.
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Haha! Thank you 😊
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Hi! I’m really glad to know your blog, thank Naill O’Donnell very much! I have Bucket List too, but I have never published it or told anyone. Wow, your 6,7,8, 116 are the same like mine. I also wrote this things in my list. We’ll see when we get them done!
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Thank you so much! That’s great! I’m so happy to hear we have those goals in common. We should keep in touch about how we’re doing with those and help each other out 🙂
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Sure!!! 🙂
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[…] I say “Draw Cartoons”, I don’t mean comics (although I may add that as another Bucket List item, now that I’m thinking about it). When I say “Draw Cartoons”, I mean those […]
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Love this! I have two bucket lists, a normal one and a wild one that pushes me out of my comfort zone with things like go on a theme park ride, sing out loud, dance in public, etc. Love it! Wishing you well with your list!
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That’s fantastic, I like the idea of two lists too! Thank you for sharing and for following 🙂
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WOW that is an impressive list. Have you heard about 101 in 1001 Challenge? Neat idea.
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I haven’t! What is that? It sounds interesting.
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That would be so cool to find your doppelganger. I’ll probably never find mine in this lifetime.
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I feel like people are always telling me I look like someone else! One of them has to be right…
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I have completed Some of your items (example – cross country trip ‘Across Canada in Betsy’ post but decided Never to do some of them as well: psycadelic drugs (due to being bipolar – ‘crazy train’ post) or bungee jumping (although I have rappelled out of a helicopter – ‘army’). I am blown away by the scope of your list and can’t even imagine imagining doing some of those things! Good for you!
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