Have you ever had an urge to accomplish something or go somewhere out of your norm? Share it with us!

No.

My norm is fairly broad, but I don't have so large an ego that I feel I need to leave something for posterity. I'm more inclined to prefer people think kindly of me than to become a footnote.

I would like to visit countries below equator. Someplaces warm, since living in Denmark and now in Greenland isn't exactly the tropics. And since it is fairly easy to do so, I should be able to do it before I die.

Well, I hope to father children who eventually have children themselves.

#3 - One of my goals is to visit Greenland!

Make sure to go. Greenland is like no other. If you would like to see some of my pictures from uphere then I am on flickr with the username ozlau

I am working at living in the moment; and if, I accidentally die tomorrow, or today, I want to be finished gracefully. If my "spirit" can hang around, and I guess it might, I would want it to see my life as having been lived well. End of this story, turn the page, other short stories to be read.

That said - I am more and more appreciating the strong benefits of goal setting and so I decided to get on 43things.com and begin to work those goals. Fun. You wanna come visit me there - I am morgan1944, for a change.

I would dearly love to go to the UK and see all the places I've read about all my life, that and playing with my grandchildren-yet to be born ;-)

I want to travel to Ireland, Scotland, and England. I want to visit all those places my ancestors came from.

#6 - Trisweather - I will be visiting your Flickr site!

I would like to go in a Red Arrow jet, fly in a hot air balloon, or jump out of an aircraft and free fall. Apart from that I am contented with my life, have enough to live on, live in a comfortable home with a loving husband.

I have a list - just to give me some great ideas for living in the moment! A couple examples:

I want to see the Northern Lights.
I want to sit in the bleachers at Wrigley and Fenway.
I want to visit James Herriott's Yorkshire.

Trisweather - I looked at some of your pictures from your walks on Greenland and just wants to thank you for sharing.
Great pictures. I love seeing places I've not been!

Find the fountain of youth. Figure out how to visit another universe. Become omnipotent, all-knowing, and creator of worlds. Continue to avoid humility classes.

-Live to see my grandkids (I'm 22 and still in college, no family of my own just yet.)
-visit India, Ireland, and England
-Gather a sizable library of spiritual and religious literature including Holy Texts from all the major religions.
-Become pastor of a thriving UU church where all are welcome.

These are three big ones for me.

Message edited by its author, Dec 6, 2008, 5:03am.

# 12
you are welcome.

Message edited by its author, Dec 3, 2008, 12:47pm.

All I want out of life is to be a grandmother.

The grandmother thing is a big one for me, too. I just hope not too soon! My boys have both decided to go back to college for another degree. :)

I'd like to visit all 7 continents, 3 down 4 to go!
I'd like to go deep sea fishing and catch a BIG fish.
Visit British Columbia, Live in Alaska for a while
Travel, Travel, Travel.

Read a 100,000 good books! that should take me a while yet!

#13 - Mary the Northern Lights are on my list too, I would love to see them.

I'd also like to spend New Years Eve in Brazil waiting to watch the sun come up.

Once in awhile, the Northern Lights show up around here (couple three times in 20 years). I've always missed it. Gotta head north. Canada would be easiest. Maybe I'll go see Busifer.

There are lots of places it would be nice to see and there are lots of things I would like to improve on in my character before I die, but I don't feel I "must" see or do them, I would simply like to. I believe death is the beginning of The Grand Adventure, so though I'm in no hurry, I'm not fretting about it either. I just want to appreciate and live well each day I'm given here.

Oh, as for skydiving and all those physical thrill-type activities, I can't think of anything I would rather not do more than those. They simply don't appeal to me.

Living in the North it always surprises me when people talk about it (the Northern Lights) like that. I suppose it's about as big a deal as living near Niagara falls, or on Lake Superior, it's not such a big deal when it becomes common place (Relatively speaking).

Message edited by its author, Dec 3, 2008, 2:04pm.

I've seen the Northern Lights a few times. Around here they mostly show up in the green spectrum but when I lived further north, there was also blue and red. It's beautiful and amazing to watch when they're really active and dancing across the sky. Then the best place to be is out in the middle of nowhere with no ambient light interference. What a show!

Perform in a musical production put on in a world capital.

Go scuba diving in the Pacific.

Move back home to England.

I thought I was the only one nerdy enough to enjoy this, but I too long to see the Aurora and don't live quite far enough north to have a good shot at it so I have been frequenting this website (Space Weather) that gives you the auroral strength (allowing me to possibly run out of my house if it gets really super strong). They also post beautiful pictures of aurora from all over the world, and other stargazing and astronomy news. Really fun if you are into that type of thing ;o)

Message edited by its author, Dec 3, 2008, 3:35pm.

I've seen the Aurora once and it was so beautiful it brought me to tears.

To answer the question, I'd like to be able to walk with ease and sit in a booth at a restaurant.

Maybe I should organize an LT Aurora Watching party. Or Busifer and I could trade off hosting it. Fairbanks is one of the best places in the world to see them.

I would rather see Iceland than Greenland--no offense to the Greenies. But here's my list.

Finish that novel. Writing it, not reading it.

Finish that book on spirituality. hmmmm. Start that book on spirituality, then finish it.

Read Moby Dick, Ulysses, Gravity's Rainbow and finish In Search of Lost Time.

Climb Denali...although I am wavering on that one.

Visit Machu Pichu, Angor Wat, the Australian outback, India, and Norway. Or Sweden, since I kind of know someone there.

See my children start off on the life they want to live.

Eat a dill pickle

Bless you, Morphy.

thanks for the site, jlelliott. I am a sky gazer from 'way back. This week I'm enjoying the sky show in the early evening -due south. A crescent moon, Jupiter and Venus all in the same section of the sky. Beautiful.

@27 - I'm with you Arctic. I'm writing a novel. If it gets published, excellent. If not, it's still written. Right now, it's just floating around my head.

Greece - I want to go to a little village in Greece that's immersed in stray cats, and white stone buildings by the sea.

See the pyramids in Egypt, and Roman ruins - any country will do for those.

And you know what? I kind of accomplished one of those 'things to do before you die' things yesterday - an activity in my own country. It's not as ambitious as any of the above, but it was big for me because it involved going into caves, and I'm claustrophobic:

http://www.waitomospellbound.co.nz/gloww...

It was amazing. My mother and father in law are visiting for a month from the US so now was a great time to make myself go.

We went into two caves - oh my god, it was so magical. The first cave was like the picture shown - gliding along in the dark on a raft, staring at glowworms everywhere. The next cave was all about stalagmites and stalactites and 20,000 year old moa bones and things. It was scary for me, really scary, but I'm SO glad I did it. There were moments - at one point the guide made us turn our lights off so we could understand 'total' darkness - when I wanted to run! Heh. I'd do it again, though, in a heartbeat.

Very cool! I really need to get back into caving...

I want to...

... cross a land border. It's silly, but I want to do it, and have never had the chance. Bonus points if there's actually a border check, so Europe mostly misses out.
... see the ancient world - Rome, Athens, Jerusalem, Alexandria/Cairo, Xi'an. Obviously, I'll have to see it from this time frame, but that's fine with me.
... see the Northern/Southern lights - yes, they happen down here, too! (northern is still easier, I imagine).
... see the Mongolian steppe.
... learn an Australian language well (although there are ethical issues involved).
... write a book - I don't care if it gets published or not.
... survive.

"learn an Australian language well." I don't catch the reference to ethical issues. Are there taboos concerning non-natives learning certain languages? An interesting concept.

Yes, are you talking personal ethical issues or what? *puts on curious hat* Oh, and survive what? You're surviving right now, just by being alive...

Dr - these caves...there are over a hundred of them in the general Waitomo area. Some are too dangerous for the average person to go into. Some haven't even been explored. There's sinkholes in the paddocks where cows fall down sometimes...oh and farm dogs. (Apparently, the farm dogs do quite well, and get rescued unhurt quite often). Amazing area. And it's full of white limestone, and red sand from volcanic eruption. There's also Black Water Rafting (insane) and abseiling and all sorts of other cavey things to do there...

The northern lights are pretty high on my list too. I have seen them once in Northern NY but they were very faint and green.
I would like to fly in a hot air ballon over the Serengeti. I want to see The Great Barrier Reef and Uluru. I'd like to visit the Grand Canyon and the painted desert, and I want to drive my car through a giant redwood tree.

There are issues, yes. For Australian aboriginal people, there's a lot of sense that their language is theirs, and learning it without permission is not respectful. Moreover, there are regional issues on it as well. Living in Canberra, if I learnt, for example, Yolngu, from Arnhem land in the Northern Territory, speaking it casually in Canberra would be like going to China and insisting on eating only Western food.
This is my understanding of the way it works - I went to a language tutorial for Kamilarooi here in Canberra earlier this year, and they got permission from the local elders to teach and speak Kamilarooi in the Ngunnawal area before the class. I have my own misgivings about the origins of the tradition, but the tradition is quite fixed these days. My colleagues who work with aboriginal languages have to be quite careful about what they do and how they go about it. I'm happy to take it Outside if you want to discuss it more.

Along with most of the previously mentioned things, I want to go to Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland and Japan.

I want to see the Northern Lights.

I would like to explore Alaska and visit every state in the US.

I want to cruise through the Panama Canal.

I want to go sky diving...

Jump out of a perfectly good plane? On purpose??

Arctic - I to would like to see my children started in the life they wish to pursue.

I saw the Northern lights once in N. California, we get to now and then, but it isn't the big show like further north. I was a teenager and my friends and I thought the world was ending. Brilliant red, orange and yellow lights seemed to be falling out of the sky all around us. I called my dad in a panic and he told me what it was. :) Then we just enjoyed it.

I'd be delighted to receive anyone of you visiting Sweden but where I live there are another 60-80 mil (370-500 miles) to go if you want to see the Aurora. Still, there are things here which most of you'd view as pretty foreign even without that ;-)

Will, you should have been here 20 years ago, when we still had the Iron Curtain. Passing through that certainly qualified as a 'border check' ;-)
Not comfortable, as most times you didn't knew if you would be allowed to pass...

I've no real 'to do before I die' thing/s. I want to travel more. I'd like to see Machu Pichu and all that but I have a problem with low air pressure and can't stand levels above 1.5 km (just under 1 mile) above sea for long before getting seriously dizzy. Annoying if you love mountains, as I do.

I can understand those of you who wants to visit the Ancients and their Greek and Roman ruins, not to mention the small greek village by the sea. Been there, done that, not impressed. I know, though, from other discussions, that most US people going there was astonished, so...

ETA - I'd love to have a flat in Milan, in the Naviglie district around Porta Romana. not necessary to reach/feel completion, though.

Message edited by its author, Dec 4, 2008, 2:31am.

We don't have the easily accessible antiquities that Europe does. The truly ancient sites in Mexico and further south are usually deep in the jungle and overgrown. The Burial Mounds in Kentucky and other Native American sites are just now beginning to be understood. The well-documented sites we have are usually less than 300 years old. So we are astounded by buildings that are still around after 1000 years or more.

I have watched both the US and British versions of "Antiques Road Show." You'll see the same thing there. The really old US offerings are from the Civil War (1860-65) or the Revolution (1776). The British antiques are, shall we say, a bit older. 15th or 16th century items seem to be very common.

#41 - I can certainly see that, but my impression is also that US education puts rather a big emphasis on the old greeks, compared to at least the standard swedish curriculum.

We have a lot of 15-6th century antiques on our version of the Antiques Road Show as well, but that's for collectors - not something you use as display pieces. Valuable things, of course, but I'd rather have some of the 50's and 60's design pieces, or some Modern Classics furniture.

Australia's terrible for ancients. We've got ancient aboriginal paintings and the like, but they don't have the same effect as buildings and ruins and the like. Of those, we don't go back more than 230 years. For me, 'ancient' is anything more than 100 years.
I'd be happy to see stuff from 500 years ago, and it would equally fascinate me.

Hm. Can't knock the 'ancient's for me. The Greek thing for me is about the sea and the cats. The ruins - because I like ruins, anywhere. I come from a very new country. We don't have any. Heh.

To go to Sils Maria, Switzerland and climb the same mountains Nietzsche did.

For me Ayer's Rock or Grand Canyon is way more awe-inspiring than some heaps of stone that formerly was a building.

I'm well aware of the fact that this is partly because my parents have dragged me the breath and the width of this country to show ruins of churches, cloisters, earthworks telling of 900th century settlements etcetera, though.

A 7 yo can only be a certain amount of impressed with those places.

I was awed when I first stepped out on the remains of The Original Agora in Athens, not to mention the Parthenon. I think most of the Moorish remains in Andalucia (and all of Spain) are interesting. The rest of the family mainly just go along, just as I went along with my parents.

Anyway, that awe and interest in no way matches the sheer enthusiasm I've felt emanating from people from 'americans' a) talking about how they felt about the Mediterranean ruins or even b) when they talk about visiting my home town.
Helped some Minnesotans find their way, recently, (not people I know, they just looked lost and I volunteered to help them) and they could not stop talking about 'the beautiful old architecture' (most of that part of town was constructed or rebuilt during the late 19th century and don't come through as particularly old to me).

Message edited by its author, Dec 4, 2008, 5:33am.

#46 - We just don't get it at home. Living in York at the moment, most British people seem to have a very casual view of all the historical buildings surrounding them. I think it's because they're so used to it. How could something be exciting if you've seen it every day? On the other hand, Americans have very little of historical significance in their every day lives, because most of what we see has been built in the past 100 or so years. You can find older, but not by all that much in comparison.

Besides that, I think we have more in the way of natural wonders. My fiance and his mother, both British, are fascinated by mountains and the beauty of nature, that sort of thing, while I'm American and I love ruins, old buildings, and generally the things you've listed. I went on field trips camping, mountain climbing, etc. in school while they always went to see the historical stuff. I think that has a lot to do with it despite natural aspects of our personality. Obviously there are people who are fascinated with everything in all places, but I think you're less likely to be enthralled with something that's 5 mins walk away as opposed to a flight or two.

And it's entirely possible they didn't know the architecture wasn't old, unless you told them. ;) I know I could hardly tell the difference between something built at a certain time and something styled in a certain way. I can now, though.

You can tell I'm one of those people who'd like to go see buildings everywhere already, can't you? I'd love to travel around the rest of Europe and the Mediterranean, not to mention Russia and potentially China. And of course I'd like to move up to the rank of historian and become a professor, but I'm in the process at the moment, so I'm not sure that counts.

There is, or was, a lot of fascinating architecture in the US but most of it have been mowed down to give place to new developments.

Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Richard Neutra... to name a few.

There's also this futuristic 50's motel/gas station architecture that's quite special, almost as to be indigenous to US.

But I know well what you mean.

I also spotted a mental/editing error that worked to be an information error in my previous post. I've now corrected it. It should say late 19th century, not late 1900's.

There are places that I feel would be nice to see, but I am not much of a traveler..so I don't feel that my happiness depends on it...maybe if I went with one of my kids?

I want to find peace of mind, and manage to retire and live comfortably someday. By comfortably.. I mean be able to pay the bills and eat and enjoy my home, furkids and my life.

I would like to live closer to my kids..

#31 Will, if you come to Durbs it will be my pleasure to escort you to Maputo via Swaziland -- that's 2 land borders with checks each way.

Before I die, I want to retire to a house in the country and grow my own vegetables and fruits. This house will need to have a library in it with a comfy chair and a nice lamp. The fireplace is option, depending on where I decide to locate the house. Visiting exotic places is nice, but in the end, what sticks with me are those quiet, peaceful moments. I also want another dog.

I'd love to see the Parthenon, Crete, Delphi, Thermopylae, the Sphinx/The pyramids at Giza, the step pyramid at Saqqara, London, Paris, Berlin, Volgograd (is it weird that I want to call it 'Stalingrad?'), the Olduvai Gorge in Africa...

Oh, and it'd really make my day to scramble about the rim of the crater Tycho on the moon. Of course, I'd have to visit the Sea of Tranquility while I was there, having traveled so far and all.

Sure, as long as you're in the neighborhood...

#52 - A fall of moondust; only just sayin'... ;-)

Oh, Busifer, I LOVE that book! I had my favorite second hand bookstore hunt it down for me and now I have a copy. It's as good today as it was when I first read it.

You're right. Monohex will need to choose his transportation carefully.

Indeed.

My copy is the one my dad had (and wanted to toss). Not mint condition, but a treasure!

The one true thing I want to do before I die is to blow the candles out on my 112th birthday cake.

:D

One of my sister's friend said she went skydiving and it was really fun.

I also want to go to Europe.

- do a skydive. I'd planned to do one in October but didnt have enough money. Hopefully next year!
- visit New Zealand for at least a month... will hopefully be doing that next year too.
- see the Northern Lights.
- visit Rome.

I made a list of 50 things I want to do before I die, but those are the main 4.

50 - Thanks! That'd be exciting for various reasons (I'd also get to praat some Afrikaans).

Busifer reminded me that one of the other places I long to travel to is Andalucia. I want to see the Arab/Spanish fusion.

That reminds me of a Clash song....

Simply, I want to be all things to all people.

Is that too much too ask?

#61 - Yeah, Spanish Bombs, the Franco era...

#60 - Exactly my reason for going there. Actually here are remnants almost everywhere in Spain, except up on the French border, but of course it's strongest in al-Andalus. Not much left of it in present day culture, though, which have made me want to go to Morocco. That is yet to be.

The weirdest part in whole of Andalucia territory is Gibraltar, though, and the spanish town La Linea that borders it. Lots of rude Royal Navy guys meeting every single (negative) preconception about them on one side and filth and unemployment and boarded up shop windows on the other. And it IS a national boundary, of a kind.

Travel, yes, with the right companion. I'm open to where to go.

I want to have a wonderful library of my own. I'm working on it.

ARGH!

I have done it again.. LOL

A Fall of Moondust...I found a copy to mooch :P

I look forward to reading it.

hmmmm

mckait: I hope you love it as much as I do.