Operation Bucket List 1.0

Welcome to the Operation Bucket List. Here are the things I hope to accomplish before I kick the bucket. [Read more about how this list came to be here.]

EXPLORE

  1. swim in the ocean
  2. swim with the dolphins
  3. donate blood
  4. go to a casino 
  5. see a drag show
  6. get my belly button pierced [2000]
  7. go skinny dipping [2001]
  8. get into grad school [2006]
  9. dye my hair black [2009]
  10. get M1 motorcycle license [2010]
  11. get M2 motorcycle license [2010]
  12. fly a helicopter [2010]
  13. meet Sue Johanssen [2010]
  14. buy my own place [2011]
  15. take a course in Sanskrit [2011]
  16. practice ashtanga yoga in Moscow with authorized teachers [2011]
  17. watch a sunrise and a sunset in the same day [2011]
  18. complete a 10-day silent meditation retreat [2011]
  19. watch Pulp Fiction [2011]
  20. get my eyebrow pierced [2012]
  21. go to a movie by yourself [2012]
  22. feel comfortable dancing [2013]
  23. participate in a flashmob [2013]
  24. see a Cirque du Soleil show [2013]
  25. see Jesus Christ Superstar musical [2014]
  26. visit a drive-in movie theatre [2014]
  27. eat local (100 miles) for a month [2015]
  28. watch a movie at TIFF [2015]
  29. participate in a free hugs campaign [2015, for my birthday!]
  30. have a dinner date over Skype [many of these in 2016]
  31. shave my head [2016]
  32. sleep under the stars [2016, that time at a bus shelter in Nicaragua, 2016]
  33. throw a large family picnic [2016]
  34. get married [2016]
  35. attend a Toast Masters meeting [2017]
  36. write poetry every day for a week [2017]
  37. test drive Subaru STI [2017]
  38. attend a poetry slam [2017]
  39. attend a religious house of every major religion (Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism)
  40. attend an Indian wedding
  41. buy a bonsai tree [2017]
  42. dive off a cliff
  43. crowd surf
  44. dress up as Trinity for Halloween [2017]
  45. experience zero gravity
  46. get a dog
  47. get a short haircut [2017]
  48. get a tattoo
  49. get my fortune read [2017]
  50. shoot (a) gun(s)
  51. milk a cow
  52. organize a flashmob
  53. give a TED talk
  54. participate in Caribana parade
  55. ride a horse really fast
  56. meet Dan Savage
  57. set a world record
  58. take a picture with my best friend in a photobooth
  59. volunteer at animal shelter
  60. act in a play
  61. attend a live UFC fight
  62. have a child
  63. watch everything by Aaron Sorkin
  64. get a too-expensive pair of beige pumps
  65. have a boudoir photoshoot
  66. have a custom action hero doll made
  67. train my dog to understand commands in Russian and hand signals

LEARN

  1. learn to write haikus [2013]
  2. take a creative writing course [2012]
  3. attend TED conference – York TEDx [2013]
  4. study with Natalie Goldberg
  5. read Darwin’s Origin of Species
  6. read the main works of the Four Horsemen of the Non-Apocalypse
  7. play Moonlight sonata on piano
  8. learn enough Hindi to get around
  9. learn the Canadian anthem by heart
  10. learn to play/sing 10 songs by heart on a guitar
  11. take an IQ test
  12. take a defensive driving course
  13. become conversational in Italian
  14. take a bartending class
  15. get a PhD/MFA
  16. be able to tell a merlot from a shiraz
  17. learn to change a tire
  18. develop a consistent meditation practice
  19. take Intro to Buddhism course at Tushita Centre in Dharmsala, India
  20. make peace with boredom
  21. take improv or writing classes at Second City [2018]
  22. learn to solve a Rubik’s Cube
  23. attend a church service that feels like a party
  24. take a wine class

TRAVEL

  1. go to Oktoberfest in Waterloo, ON – second largest in the world [2009]
  2. float in Dead Sea, Israel [2010]
  3. run in a desert [2010, half marathon in Israel]
  4. ride an elephant 2011, saw one in the wild, and didn’t want to ride one any more]
  5. go to Mysore, India to study yoga [2011]
  6. fly first class [2011]
  7. see white nights in St. Petersburg, Russia [2011]
  8. spend a night on a yacht with a bedroom [ 2011]
  9. go to New York for a weekend, race and check out the best vegetarian restaurants [2011]
  10. go on a girl road trip [2012]
  11. go on a road trip without a preset destination [2012]
  12. go on a road trip to Kripalu Yoga Centre in MA, USA [2012]
  13. explore Toronto’s Chinatown [2012]
  14. explore Toronto’s Little India [2013]
  15. go to the Bata Show museum in Toronto [2013]
  16. go to Burning Man [2013]
  17. visit Mount Rushmore in South Dakota [2013]
  18. go to San Franscisco and walk across the Golden Gate bridge [2013 – drove across, 2015 – ran across]
  19. visit Vancouver [2014]
  20. eat pizza at the oldest pizzeria in Naples, Italy [2014]
  21. lean on the Leaning Tower of Pisa [2014]
  22. see an active volcano [2015, sat on the crater edge of an active volcano in 2016]
  23. go on a solo camping trip and read Thoreau’s Walden [2015, did that while living in a hut on an island in Nicaragua – good enough!]
  24. Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls [2015]
  25. watch a Shakespeare play in Stratford, ON [2015]
  26. see ballet at The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow [2016]
  27. go to Hermitage in St. Petersburg [2016]
  28. see something weird in Portland – yes, it’s a reference to Portlandia! [2016]
  29. take a working road trip [2016]
  30. take Italian to Russia [2016]
  31. go on a West Coast road trip [Vancouver, Portland, SF to San Diego strip and then back up to Lake Tahoe through the mountains]
  32. go on a “Europe” trip in Ontario – Paris, London, Brussels.. meh, got my share of small Ontario towns
  33. visit the towns of Marathon, ON and Sparta, ON [Sparta in 2014, Marathon in 2017]
  34. visit all Ontario breweries shifted attention to wine! 🙂
  35. drink Primitivo wine in Puglia, Italy [2017]
  36. eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant [2017]
  37. go on a coast to coast Canada road trip [almost, but not quite… drove from Toronto to Calgary in 2013, Vancouver to TO in 2017; next up TO to east coast]
  38. visit every Canadian province (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Newfoundland/Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon)
  39. visit every US state (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississipi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of Columbia)
  40. set foot on each of the seven continents (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, Australia)
  41. jump at the world’s highest bungee (so far jumps in India, Russia and Canada, highest jump approx. 80m)
  42. ride a motorcycle from Manali to Leh, India – highest passable road in the world
  43. stay in Varanasi during monsoon
  44. ride a toy train in India
  45. ride the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia
  46. see Lake Baikal
  47. run in Kenya
  48. see a whale
  49. see Northern lights
  50. go to Iceland for my honeymoon
  51. go on a yoga retreat/massage course in Thailand
  52. go hang gliding over the Grand Canyon
  53. walk across the desert
  54. trek the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal solo
  55. skip winter
  56. use a fancy toilet in Japan
  57. visit a coffee farm in Ethiopia
  58. go to Purple Valley Yoga Centre in Goa, India
  59. ride a Vespa in Rome
  60. spend a layover in a fancy business lounge
  61. stay at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

TRY

  1. snorkeling
  2. white water rafting
  3. taking hip hop lessons [2010]
  4. indoor rock climbing [2011]
  5. bungee jumping [2011, jumped in India, Russia and Canada since]
  6. orienteering [2012]
  7. improv [2013]
  8. parcour [2014]
  9. a Polar bear dip [2016]
  10. surfing [2016, in Costa Rica]
  11. Tai Chi
  12. aerial yoga
  13. Capoeira
  14. circus training
  15. krav maga
  16. doing stand-up comedy
  17. hunting

CREATE

  1. create my personal website [2012, www.solovieva.com]
  2. start a blog [2012]
  3. bake pie from scratch [2012]
  4. make bread [2010]
  5. get blog professionally designed [2013]
  6. start my own business [2013]
  7. get to 100 Likes on my athlete Facebook page [2013]
  8. make Indian curry [2012]
  9. see my article in print [2013]
  10. read at least 12 books a year [2014, 2015]
  11. get to 1,000 Likes on my athlete Facebook page [2014, reached 2,500 in 2015]
  12. raise at least $1,000 for charity [2014]
  13. write a paid article for a magazine [2015]
  14. reach 100,000 views in a year on my blog [91,000 in 2014, 103,000 in 2015]
  15. get my nutrition coaching certification [2015, L2 Precision Nutrition]
  16. pay off debt [except for the mortgage] [2016]
  17. get paid to speak [2016]
  18. have a logo designed [2016]
  19. make Ukranian borscht [2017]
  20. create a tradition [2017]
  21. read a graphic novel
  22. be interviewed on CBC radio
  23. write a book
  24. write a fictional short story
  25. participate complete 50,000 words during NaNoWriMo
  26. plant a Siberian birch
  27. grow a spice garden
  28. design a personal day retreat and carry it out
  29. redesign my personal website
  30. bake bread without supervision [2018]
  31. perform at an open mic
  32. take a Think Week (like Bill Gates)

MOVE

  1. teach a yoga class [2010]
  2. go skydiving tandem [2010]
  3. complete yoga teacher training [2010]
  4. practice yoga on top of a mountain [2011]
  5. practice yoga on a beach [2011]
  6. get a running gait assessment [2012]
  7. have a fitness photoshoot [2012]
  8. get under 20% body fat [2012]
  9. meet New Year’s running [2012]
  10. do at least a month of CrossFit [2013]
  11. do 20 double-unders in a row [2013, reached 70 in a row]
  12. learn to chop wood [2013]
  13. do 10 kipping pull-ups in a row [2014, did 15 in a row!]
  14. do one pull-up with 45lb weight [2014, two pull-ups; one pull-up with 53lb in 2015]
  15. do the SkyWalk around CN tower [2015]
  16. overhead squat 100lb [2015]
  17. learn how to throw a spear [2015]
  18. do a handstand push-up [2016]
  19. do a muscle up (2016, bar muscle-up in 16.3!)
  20. participate in a powerlifting competition [2016]
  21. snatch 100lb (practicing with 55lb in 2014, 85lb in 2015, 115lb in 2016)
  22. participate in a CrossFit competition [2016, and omg – 2010?]
  23. participate in an olympic lifting competition [2017]
  24. bench press my own body weight (120lb in 2014, 125lb in 2015, 147lb in 2016)
  25. complete a beep test
  26. complete Fran workout Rx
  27. sport a 6-pack (long enough to snap a picture!)
  28. learn a flip turn in swimming
  29. go skydiving solo
  30. deadlift 300lb (250lb in 2016, current max = 280lb)
  31. participate in CrossFit Games
  32. do one ring muscle up
  33. dance on stage again
  34. learn to dance salsa
  35. learn contemporary dance
  36. hike the Grand Canyon Rim To Rim To Rim

RACE

  1. run a 5k [2009, Pride 5k]
  2. run a 10k [2009]
  3. run a half marathon [2010, Ottawa Army Run]
  4. complete a Warrior Dash [2010]
  5. complete a Super Spartan race [2011]
  6. complete a try-a-tri [2011]
  7. complete a Sprint distance triathlon [2012]
  8. complete a Spartan Beast [2012]
  9. complete a Spartan Trifecta [2012]
  10. complete a Spartan Ultra Beast [2012]
  11. complete a Goruck Challenge [2012]
  12. complete a Tough Mudder [2012, did two laps]
  13. complete three laps of Tough Mudder [meh, turns out I kinda hate laps!]
  14. complete a Spartan Hurricane Heat [2013]
  15. complete Spartan Death Race [2013]
  16. complete an Olympic distance triathlon [2013]
  17. participate in Run for the Toad relay trail race [2013]
  18. run a night race [2012]
  19. run a race in the rain [2012]
  20. run Chilly Half Marathon (PR) [2013]
  21. run Around the Bay 30k race [2013]
  22. run a marathon [2013]
  23. participate in an adventure race [2014]
  24. win a race [2014, MudHero Toronto, 1st female, baby!]
  25. run an ultra marathon [2014]
  26. run a happy ultra marathon [2015]
  27. participate in obstacle race outside of Canada/US [2015]
  28. run the Great Canadian Death Race [2015, team relay, legs 1, 3 and 5]
  29. DNF a race [2015, twice :)]
  30. participate in OCR World Championships [2015]
  31. run a burpee free Spartan Race [2015]
  32. participate in BattleFrog Race [2016]
  33. run a race barefoot [2016]
  34. participate in Ragnar relay [2017]
  35. participate in a time-based race [2017]
  36. complete a century bike ride
  37. complete a half IRONMAN
  38. complete an IRONMAN
  39. participate in Sahara Race
  40. participate in UK Tough Guy [last race took place in 2017]
  41. run a sub-20 5k
  42. run a sub-40 10k
  43. participate in a mountain bike race
  44. run a trail race in Italy
  45. run the entire course of the Great Canadian Death Race (leg 1, leg 2, leg 3, leg 4, leg 5)
  46. finish a Survival Run
  47. run Sinister 7 Ultra in the Alberta Rockies
  48. run Fat Dog Trail Race in British Columbia
  49. see how long it takes me to hike up to the top of the Grouse Grind [2017]
  50. run across a country
  51. do an ultra in Siberia

EVERY YEAR

  1. come up with the word of the year
  2. write my personal mission statement
  3. check off a bucket list item on January 1st
  4. read at least 12 books [41 in 2017]
  5. visit at least one new country [2014 – Italy, 2015 – Nicaragua, 2016 – Costa Rica, 2017 – Vatican]
  6. make a difference in someone’s life [2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017]

Anything cool that I have missed? What else do you think should be on my list?

Can you steal from this list? Absolutely. I would be only flattered.

Liked this post? Read why you should have a bucket list, how I add/remove items to the list, and 30 things a woman should do before turning 30.

Hugs,
SOLO

posted: February 21, 2014