A friend sent me a link to 101 Things in 1001 Days and asked if I wanted to do it. I declined initially (don’t I have enough to-do lists around here?), but then I realized that the 1001 days would be about a year shy of my turning 30. And I already had a list of things I wanted to do before then. So.. um, why not?

I changed it slightly though. Since I have about four years to get all this done, I’ve made a list of 150 things. To be done before I turn 30 on December 17, 2011. I made the original list about a year or so ago, which is why I’ve left in some things that I did manage to accomplish.

001. Travel to 15 countries. – (6/15)
002. Learn another language. (I’m torn between Japanese and Spanish.)
003. Send someone flowers for no reason.
004. Experience a plane landing through the cockpit.
005. Run a marathon.
006. Go on a road trip.
007. Have my portrait painted/drawn.
008. Start rock-climbing again.
009. Start painting again.
010. Identify 100 things that make me happy.
011. Do each of these things– provide photo documentation wherever possible.
012. Go to the movies alone.
013. Get cured of my Internet addiction.
014. Shower in a waterfall.
015. Clean out my closet and get rid of things I no longer wear.
016. Travel alone.
017. Live alone.
018. Fly alone.
019. Get published in 10 countries.
020. Have my picture published in a national newspaper/magazine (not as a contributor… duh!).
021. Be interviewed on radio for doing good work.
022. Be interviewed on TV (preferably because of my work and not because I was present at a crime scene).
023. Do an investigative report or expose on something meaningful.
024. Get fan mail (like a real paper letter that I can frame and show to my grandkids).
025. Get 300 published credits. – (275/300)
026. Reject a $3 per word assignment, just because I can.
027. Get married.
028. Adopt a child.
029. Buy a car.
030. Buy a house and then spend time making it into exactly what I/we want.
031. Paint the rooms in my/our house.
032. Read 100 books a year. That’s 400 books. – (294/400)
033. Watch 100 movies/documentaries a year. That’s 400 movies. – (308/400)
034. Donate blood.
035. Hug a stranger.
036. Sponsor at least one child.
037. Work in a bookstore/library.
038. Take a writing class.
039. Teach a writing class.
040. Holiday in a place where it snows.
041. Build a snowman.
042. Make a snow angel.
043. Go for a moonlit walk with someone special.
044. Get out of depression and overcome relapses.
045. Create my own meditation practice.
046. Attend a yoga class.
047. Sleep early, rise early.
048. Go hiking.
049. Stay in a nunnery.
050. Go ice-skating.
051. Have Tarot read.
052. Get my accounts in order – figure out stuff about savings, monthly planning, retirement funds, etc.
053. Start investing in the stock market. Spend more time learning from Dad.
054. Take up a sport.
055. Meet four people I admire.
056. Write a detailed description of my perfect day, and then make it happen.
057. Get a henna tattoo.
058. Participate in NaNoWriMo.
059. Go to a book festival. (Hay-on-Wye would be awesome!)
060. Visit certain friends in a bookstore in Paris.
061. Go back to London. (Reconnect with best friend of age 5-8 who I recently got back in touch with.)
062. Sign up for belly dancing.
063. Take four proper vacations.
064. Learn how to play the guitar.
065. Visit a jail.
066. Visit an asylum.
067. Fly a plane.
068. Learn sign language.
069. Learn to change a tire.
070. Meet the Dalai Lama.
071. Create a library of at least 1,000 books.
072. Anonymously do something for someone that will have a significant positive impact on his/her life.
073. Send a message in a bottle.
074. Teach someone to read.
075. Learn Karate.
076. Write for TIME.
077. Write for The New York Times.
078. Write for The New Yorker.
079. Write for National Geographic.
080. Overcome my fear of closed spaces.
081. Plant a tree.
082. Go bungee jumping.
083. Go to the Burning Man Festival.
084. Sleep under the stars.
085. Spend a night in a haunted house.
086. Learn to swim.
087. Visit every state in India (or my base country for the next four years) at least once.
088. Fire a gun.
089. Go camping.
090. Organize a picnic in the park.
091. Get skilled in giving a good massage.
092. Learn advanced photography.
093. Have dinner with Harlan Coben (preferably as a sophisticated worldly woman with no signs of gushing.)
094. Develop the habit of getting out of bed as soon as the alarm rings. (My phone alarm has quite the reputation.)
095. Dye my hair.
096. Get a complete makeover.
097. Learn every word in the dictionary. (I’m going for American this time; back in school, I tried with British.)
098. Adopt a dog.
099. Learn first aid.
100. Be described as “pure genius.” (Mothers and boyfriends don’t count.)
101. Have someone say, “She’s the best writer I’ve ever read…”
102. “… but an even better person.” (Mothers and boyfriends don’t count.)
103. Visit a movie studio. Watch the making of a film.
104. Be hypnotized.
105. Speak in front of an audience of at least 100.
106. Let someone feed me peeled, seedless grapes.
107. Learn to mix cocktails.
108. Go up in a hot-air balloon.
109. Visit New York City.
110. Stay out all night dancing.
111. Volunteer at a hospital.
112. Volunteer to teach in village schools/schools for the underprivileged.
113. Learn how to cook.
114. Write a book/novel.
115. Win an award.
116. Join a professional organization for writers.
117. Finish the Rubik’s cube in under 5 minutes.
118. Learn to knit.
119. Backpack through Europe.
120. See a favorite band in concert.
121. Join salsa classes.
122. Learn to ballroom dance properly.
123. Be an extra in a film. (Sim and I are planning to be Bollywood item girls!)
124. Visit Disney World.
125. Go to a karaoke bar.
126. Take a long road trip with friends.
127. Get my body into optimum health and shape.
128. Give a large sum to a charity anonymously.
129. Attend a major sporting event. (Olympics, maybe?)
130. Do something incredibly brave.
131. Go back to school.
132. Buy a Macbook.
133. Say “I love you” every day.
134. Watch all the seasons of 24. (What?!)
135. And The Wire. (Oh, shut up.)
136. Get a semi-office. (I can’t work in a regular office.)
137. Get a subscription to National Geographic.
138. Dance in the rain.
139. Bicycle cross-country, cross-city, or something!
140. Produce a radio feature.
141. Produce something for television.
142. Go horseback riding.
143. Go kayaking/white water rafting.
144. Learn shorthand.
145. Be more organized (I’m not quite sure what that means, but figuring it out is part of the plan!)
146. Answer the phone. (I tend to avoid doing so, and it drives people crazy.)
147. Overcome the fear of the unknown.
148. Forgive everyone who’s ever hurt me (yet have no desire to let them back into my life).
149. Laugh every day.
150. Love myself.