“Every man dies – Not every man really lives.” – William Ross

This list has existed in my head for quite some time, but I thought it was about time to get it down on paper (I’m very fond of making lists), and summarize what I’ve managed to accomplish so far. So this is my 11 Things To Do Before You Die (or as my mum would like me to call it “11 things you need to do to make sure you’re still alive “

1. Skydive

Did that earlier this year, up on the North Shore of Oahu with my roommate, Malin. Best experience I’ve ever had. The view, the butterflies in my stomach. All I want is to do it again. I need to do it again. You can find more pictures from my first trip right here.

2. Visit the 12 most important cities in the world.

I put this together after comparing several different lists made of both important historical cities, and also cities that are important by share economic force. I want to travel the world and experience all parts of it, and these cities are important to that list, because they make so much impact on the rest of the world (but there are still others I want to visit as well). The list consists of:

Done: Berlin, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, Rome & Tokyo.

To do: Sao Paulo, Moscow & Mumbai.

3. Swim with sharks

If I can convince my roommates or someone else that it is a brilliant idea I will be going shark caging during the Christmas break. We went swimming/snorkeling with sharks in Bora Bora, but they were several feet below us (like waaaay down) and obviously not too scary. I want to do the real thing though, no cage, just you and the sharks. That would be close to awesome and suddenly more attainable now that I have my PADI certification.

4. Defy gravity

“Yes, it’s the most drearily immutable law on the planet, but on your deathbed it would be good to recall a momentary rebellion–one sky dive out of a plane, one plunge on a bungee cord, one ride on a parasail. For the ultimate in simplicity and pleasure, paraglide off Baba Dag, a 6,000-foot-high peak rising straight above the coast of southern Turkey. Just make sure that you have a professional pilot strapped in the harness of your parachute. The two of you take a few running steps and leap into the void, at which point the pilot and the wind take over. You soar a mile above the ocean, then slowly circle for 20 minutes as the pilot guides you to a leisurely landing on the beach, whereupon gravity takes over again. ” – forbes.com

5. Get a tattoo

Be a bit tacky, a bit reckless, a bit stupid, a bit poetic and everything else that has been said about tattoos. Get something permanently stamped on your body. I did that back in May 2010 in an act of rebellion (and after long consideration of course). You can read more about that here.

6. Learn a new language (not English)

I was working on my French, and got a few good steps down the right path before giving up (i.o.w. stopped having French classes in school). But I have started up again this semester, very slowly by reading through the old grammatical rules I learnt back in 9th grade. Best thing would be to move to France (which I actually hope to do at some point). I am not giving up on my French just yet.

7. See the 7 wonders of the world

More specifically those recognized by the New7Wonders of the World Foundation. That list consist of: Great Wall of China (China), Petra (Jordan), Christ the Redeemer (Brazil), Machu Picchu (Peru), Chichen Itza (Mexico), Colosseum (Italy), Taj Mahal (India) and the Great Pyramid of Giza (Egypt).

So far the Colosseum is the only one of these that I have seen in real life.

8. Swim in all of the 5 oceans of the world

The Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans. To make this a bit harder, I am splitting some of the oceans into North and South (not unusual to do this), which makes the score something like this:

Done: North Pacific (Hawaii & LA), South Pacific (Bora Bora), North Atlantic (France, Norway, Miami, Caribbean, etc) & Indian Ocean (the Maldives).

To do: South Atlantic, Arctic & Southern Ocean.

9. Live at least 10 years outside of Norway

6 months in Hawaii, will be 10 years in the world outside of Norway. My list of preferable locations include New York, Paris, Tokyo, somewhere in Latin America and then somewhere in that big continent called Asia (excluding the island nations, as Tokyo sort of covers that part).

10. Travel across an entire continent

Preferably South America, Africa or Asia, because those are the regions of the world I know the least of, and that fascinate me the most. The obsession with Asia is growing stronger here in Hawaii, where a huge part of the population is Asian immigrants (and many of the students at HPU are international students from countries like South-Korea, Taiwan, Bangladesh, +++).

11. Go places. Meet people. Do things.

Do you have bucket list?