Bucket List

Do you have a Bucket List? You know, a list of things you want to do, places you want to visit and challenges you want to accomplish before you die, i.e. “Kick the Bucket”. A friend of mine just posted on Facebook the discussion topic: Name two things on your Bucket List. Go! The answers were interesting and some funny. I answered after a pretty brief contemplation. I don’t have a physical Bucket List but I think we all have an idea of things we’d like to do in our lifetime. But this exercise did get me thinking.

One of my answers to my friend’s post was that I’d like to go on a backwoods camping trip by myself for my 50th birthday. Well, actually in honor of turning 50 but not on my actual birthday because it is in March and that would be too cold! Kind of like finding my own personal Walden for a weekend. It would also be a statement to myself about growing older and holding on to life and facing challenges.

I have 4 years to prepare and plan for this endeavor. I’m not just going to wake up some morning in 2017 and say, “today is the day, I’m going camping!” I think I’d better start training for the physical challenges and it might be a good idea to take a few similar trips with other more experienced campers to learn a few tricks to stay alive and all that. How to cook dehydrated food on one of those little camp stove thingies, how to light a fire, how to not get eating by a bear or trampled by a bull moose, how to avoid beaver bites, those kinds of things.

It will also be a lesson in maintaining my “I don’t know” mind and finding ways to be a beginner at something again. I’ve done a fair amount of camping in my lifetime. Mostly car camping, but almost always in a tent. I’ve been backwoods camping twice, once a hiking & backpacking trip to South Manitou Island in Michigan and once a canoe trip to Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. But both times I was with others who were more experienced than I with back country camping and survival. I think I will have a pretty steep learning curve to do it alone.

This kind of adventure is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a young girl. I remember reading Peter Jenkins’ Walk Across America  when I was a teen and wishing I was a guy so I could do it too. Girl Power was overpowered by Stanger Danger in my little small town world back then. Even Chris McCandless’ aimless and existential lifestyle in Into the Wild appealed to me even if his story didn’t end well. Two years ago I read, A 1000-Mile Walk on the Beach – One Woman’s Trek of the Perimeter of Lake Michigan  while on vacation in Northern  Michigan and thought maybe I had found my soul-mate. And of course Forrest Gump is one of my all-time favorite movies and when Ginny leaves and Forrest just takes off running, I got it.  I’m past the feeling that I need to run away to find myself. The self that I have found is a person that likes to be alone as much as I like to be with people I love. I’m continuing to work on finding the balance. I’ve also found that I have a rich and adventurous dream life and I want to bring some of that fantasy to reality and finally do some of the things I’ve only dreamed of and made excuses for not doing for years. Participating in GISHWHES last fall really opened me up to the possibilities if I just dare to stretch myself to try.

I think my next step is to put the intention out there that I am seeking an outdoors-person mentor/guru to help me learn what I need to know to achieve this goal. A woman who has done this and knows the particular hurdles and precautions that a female out there needs to know would be best but I’m willing to learn from whomever the universe puts in my path. 

What is on your Bucket List?

“What Would You Attempt to Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?”