Dan did this, then convinced Wendy to do this, so I’m giving in, too.
The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple goals such as new year’s resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.
Begin Date: July 4, 2010
End Date: April 1, 2013
Items Completed: 73
Items Not Completed: 28
Italics indicates an in-progress item
Red indicates a non-completed (i.e. failed!) item
– + – + – + – + –
TRAVEL
1) visit the three states i haven’t been to: NH, VT, ME
went to vermont in nov 2010, and new hampshire and maine in november 2011.
2) go to europe (may 2012)
3) go wilderness camping or on a trekking trip
4)revisit 3 places in the US that i love, such as: chicago, nashville, new mexico, savannah, nyc [3/3]
3) go wilderness camping or on a trekking trip
4)
went to LA in october 2010, vegas in march 2011, and key west in sept 2011!
5) cross the equator
6) see the grand canyon
7) go to the airport and fly somewhere without planning ahead (or do the same with a roadtrip)
8)visit a new continent (i.e. not north america or europe) africa (may 2012)
9)go to a concert in another city
6) see the grand canyon
7) go to the airport and fly somewhere without planning ahead (or do the same with a roadtrip)
8)
9)
bayfront reggae festival in duluth, mighty mighty bosstones in milwaukee (aug 2010)
10) visit 3 more unesco world heritage sites, for a total of 19
went to st. george’s, bermuda in july 2011. in may 2012, visited grand place in brussels, the banks of the seine in paris, the historic center of rome, vatican city, cinque terre in italy, the works of antoni gaudi in barcelona, carthage in tunisia, the medina of tunis, westminster abbey, the tower of london, and maritime greenwich. that brings me to a total of 27 visited.
11) go to cuba (extremely unlikely within 1001 days, but it’s a good goal!)
12)finish my travel journal within 60 days of getting home from a trip
12)
done: new orleans, duluth, upstate new york, hawaii, san diego, las vegas, los angeles, milwaukee, bermuda, philadelphia, california, seattle, key west/miami, boston, las vegas, our honeymoon in europe, chicago, itasca state park, san francisco, jamaica
13) take a train ride (may 2012)
14) drive US 1 from miami to key west (sept 2011)
15) visit the neon boneyard in las vegas (feb 2012)
FINANCIAL / BUSINESS
16) be 100% debt-free
17)put 15% of my income into my 401k/Roth IRA, not including work’s contribution
17)
i did some more calculating and realized i’m already contributing 16% of my own income and work adds 3%. 19% towards retirement is plenty, as it’s more important to be debt-free. my 2010 raise is going towards #1. (july 2010)
18) talk to an adviser to develop a plan for business investing (feb 2012)
19) spend only cash for a month, and see if my budget changes
20)rebuild 404lab to increase ad revenue (june 2011)
21)compile solid information on relocation and business startup costs in various countries to make a pro/con list
22) make at least $100k income in a calendar year (stolen from dan!)
19) spend only cash for a month, and see if my budget changes
20)
21)
22) make at least $100k income in a calendar year (stolen from dan!)
MAKIN’ STUFF
23) do project 365 again (dec 2011)
24) make a profit on letterpress projects
25)finish the two giant afghans i’ve been working on forever
25)
here they are: the traveler’s life afghan and burridge lake aran afghan!
26) print my own letterpress greeting cards
27) design and sell another knitting pattern
28) get my sewing machine working and learn to use it
29)do the lake street photowalk with wendy (aug 2011)
30)dye my own yarn (november 2010)
31) make a tin-can star mural
32)enter something in the state fair every year, 2010-2012 [3/3] (aug 2012)
33)relearn crocheting and make granny squares (july 2010)
27) design and sell another knitting pattern
28) get my sewing machine working and learn to use it
29)
30)
31) make a tin-can star mural
32)
33)
34) make my own lightbox for photography
35) knit something complex with beads
moroccan days/arabian nights is underway!
36) print a 2011 letterpress calendar
FOOD AND DRINK
37) memorize 25 classic cocktails and make them well [20/25]
- margarita
- manhattan
- jack rose
- mai tai
- pegu club
- martini
- sidecar
- french 75
- negroni
- mojito
- old fashioned
- moscow mule
- aviation
- sazerac
- dark and stormy
- boulevardier
- cuba libre
- corpse reviver
- last word
- cosmopolitan
38) make perfect dhalpouri for roti (nov 2012)
39)make and bottle 5 kinds of homemade bitters or infusions [5/5]
39)
- Bittercube basic bitters
- 5-spice infused simple syrup
- Pomegranate bitters
- Spiced rum
- Door County cherry infused bourbon
40) cook a recipe from 20 different countries [20/20]
- sri lanka: cashew chickpea & cauliflower curry
- malaysia: sayur lodeh
- trinidad: doubles
- ethiopia: injera, chickpea wat, split pea wat
- mexico: rick bayless’ huaraches
- thailand: pad thai
- japan: soba noodles and tempura
- korea: bulgogi and bibimbap
- china: sweet and sour, vegetables and noodles
- turkey: falafel, pita, kofte
- morocco: harcha
- tunisia: greens and beans
- jamaica: patties and bean stew
- india: mattar paneer and aloo gobi
- cuba: ropa vieja and moros y cristianos
- israel: shak-shuka, kebabs
- mozambique: shrimp, piri piri sauce, stew
- vietnam: spring rolls, banh mi
- united kingdom: fish and chips with mushy peas
- greece: spanakopita, saganaki, tzatziki, pitas
41) learn to make cheese (besides goat cheese and paneer) (feb 2011)
42) memorize the basic curry recipe so i don’t have to look it up all the time (may 2011)
43) invent a vegetarian jucy lucy (dec 2010)
44) learn to pickle something, like green beans (aug 2010)
PERSONAL
45) get married (sept 2011)
46) increase my donations to kiva.org to $300 (aug 2011)
47)finish my giant book about viruses (nov 2011)
48) figure out where i want that tattoo, and get it
49) lose 40 pounds [25/40]
50)get over my fear of riding my bike in traffic and being run over
51)have date night with matt once a month
47)
48) figure out where i want that tattoo, and get it
49) lose 40 pounds [25/40]
50)
51)
52) take (new) photos of every place i’ve lived [17/17] (aug 2012, photos here.)
53) re-watch 10 movies i love [10/10] (jul 2012)
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
- Fight Club
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- Blazing Saddles
- Blue
- Animal House
- The Blues Brothers
- The Star Wars Trilogy
- Pulp Fiction
SEEING OUR HOMELAND
54) go to the museum of russian art (apr 2011)
55)visit the hockey hall of fame in eveleth (sept 2010)
56)take matt to the mississippi headwaters (sept 2012)
57)go to the minnesota zoo again (june 2011)
58)take the trolley between lake calhoun and harriet (july 2011)
59)visit 20 new local restaurants/bars [20/20]
55)
56)
57)
58)
59)
- FACES Mears Park
- Honey
- Caribe
- Heartland
- Thom Pham’s Wondrous Kitchen
- She Royal Deli
- World Street Kitchen
- Dandelion Kitchen
- Tracy’s Saloon
- Uptown Cafeteria
- Moto-i
- Pizzeria Lola
- The Inn
- Lyndale Taphouse
- The Lowbrow
- Cause
- Bar La Grassa
- Cork’s Irish Pub
- Prairie Alehouse
- Ngon Bistro
- Cocina del Barrio
- The Bullfrog
- Masu
- Bunkers
- Wise Acre
- Bachelor Farmer
- Murray’s
- Pig & Fiddle
- The Lowry
- Pat’s Tap
- Sports Page
- Zen Box Izakaya
- Loring Kitchen
- Marvel Bar
- George and the Dragon
- Eat Street Social
- 5-8 Club
- Butcher and Boar
- World Street Kitchen
- Union
60) go to a game in each major pro sport: baseball, hockey, basketball, football (here or elsewhere) (finished sept 2011)
61) do the underground st paul tour (mar 2012)
62) visit the observation deck at the Foshay Tower (mar 2011)
NEW EXPERIENCES
63) jump off the stratosphere in vegas (feb 2012)
64) go to a bally (aka midmajority) meetup
65) ride a sea trike
66) storm the court
67)go to a gophers football game (sept 2010)
68)play paintball (jan 2011)
69)play craps (mar 2011)
64) go to a bally (aka midmajority) meetup
65) ride a sea trike
66) storm the court
67)
68)
69)
70) swim in an infinity pool (sept 2011)
LEARNIN’
71) learn to scuba dive
72) re-learn spanish
73)take another dance class with matt (feb 2012)
74) figure out the rules of cricket and learn about the teams in countries we visit
72) re-learn spanish
73)
74) figure out the rules of cricket and learn about the teams in countries we visit
HOME / GARDEN / ORGANIZING
75) go though stuff that hasn’t been touched since we moved in and reevaluate whether we need it. sell/donate. (jul 2012)
76)make a potato-growing bin (apr 2011)
77)turn the area by the back fence/arbor into a garden with wildflowers (aug 2010)
78)plant rhubarb (july 2010)
79)do something to make the “garden” on the north side of the house presentable (june 2011)
80)buy or build display shelves for the dining room so i can stop obsessing about all the travel souvenir clutter on the bookshelves (july 2010)
81)photograph and write down serial numbers for our electronics and expensive items in case of theft (july 2010)
82)clean up my external backup drive to make sure there’s always plenty of space (oct 2010)
76)
77)
78)
79)
80)
81)
82)
83) rebuild my itunes library, since i lost it in the great hard drive/backup drive crash of 2010 (apr 2011)
84) buy fresh flowers for the house every week for a month (feb 2012)
OUTDOORS
85) go snowshoeing
86)go cross-country skiing (jan 2013)
87) skipper a sailboat
88)go vegetarian fishing (sept 2011)
89)go kayaking again (july 2011)
90)have a picnic (july 2011)
91)ride a pedal-boat again (jun 2012)
92) camp at isle royale
93) do the MN aidswalk again
86)
87) skipper a sailboat
88)
89)
90)
91)
92) camp at isle royale
93) do the MN aidswalk again
WITH FRIENDS
94) host poker night at least twice (apr 2012)
95)hang out with steve and colleen, besides in october in hawaii (sept 2011)
96)go to trivia every night for a week (feb 2011)
97)have a dinner party that requires the wedgwood china (nov 2010)
98)see a movie at the drive-in again (jun 2012)
99)watch a twins game from the party deck (july 2011)
95)
96)
97)
98)
99)
THIS CHALLENGE
100) put $20 towards debt payoff for each completed task on this list, and $50 for each non-completed task [$2860 total]
101)have a new list of 101 things in 1001 days ready to go on day 1001
101)
I could steal some things from this list! Or I can just do them with you. Do you like how I invite myself to crash your 101 list? BECAUSE I AM.
DO IT. so when are we doing the lake street thing?
I’d be down for some paintball.
Hi Jenni
I see my tin-can-star-mural is on your list. I am honored. When are you making it? Please send me a photo/link when you’re done.
I like your list – especially all the travel bits. good luck!
Ansie
hi, ansie!
i’m not sure, but definitely within the next 900 days. :) i need to start collecting cans soon!!
i’ll definitely post a picture, too.