Many people have asked me what's on my bucket list and how I came up with the things on it.
Dude.
There are over 300 items on the list and I continue to add to it. There are big things, small things, crazy things, normal things, things I'll have to be drunk to accomplish and things I'll have to save for total sobriety. I live my life out loud and use my own voice to do it, so when I see something fun or cool, I add it to the list.
Take #244, for instance. It came about because someone in my Twitter timeline told me that most people from Boston don't take kindly to friendly "outsidahs." Psssh, I said. So I added "Hug a stranger in Boston" to my list.
(Still one of my favorite hugs of all time and I've had some pretty spectacular hugs.)
The complete list is as follows (but is constantly being added onto):
Get tickets to the Ellen DeGeneres show- Road trip from NY to CA
Try Yoga- Visit Key West
- Adopt a Sphynx cat
Cry at the grave of someone I never knew
Have 1,000 Twitter followersSing the National Anthem at Fenway Park- Ride in a hot air balloon
Tweet 10,000 timesRead 1,000 books- Learn how to surf
Participate in a Color RunSee the Northern Lights- Get Mark Zuckerberg's business card
- Own a typewriter
Get locked down with the Ghost Adventures crew (no longer applies)
Meet Clay Aiken- Hug Reba McEntire
Order off In-n-Out's secret menu Receive roses from a secret admirer- Plan my best friend's wedding
Paint my front door purpleParticipate in a 3-day Walk for the Cure (no longer applies)Get Lasik eye surgery (cannot physically do)- Learn how to knit
- Have a book I've written be made into a movie
Get my pre-pregnancy body back- Shave my head for someone with cancer
- Cook with Guy Fieri
Go to a Boston Celtics game
- Go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Bake perfect Christmas cookies- Swim naked in the ocean
- Finish a "Wreck this Journal"
Get a "Breathe" tattooDo a NOH8 shoot- Own something from Tiffany and Co.
Find the perfect LBDTell them they saved my lifeBe a healthy weight- Get rid of all the negativity in my life
- Ice skate in Central Park
Have a song dedicated to me- Meet Ashton Kutcher
Make him love life again- Spend the night in a haunted mansion
Walk across the Brooklyn BridgeAutograph somethingHave drinks with a celebrityBe his bride- Meet Adam Levine
Pay a stranger's tab at a restaurantGet a matching tattoo with my daughtersSpend an entire day watching Disney moviesHave my favorite author sign my bookLearn how to tie a cherry stem in a knot- Put together a family cookbook
- Work for a magazine
Go on vacation by myselfBe in two places at once- Have abs
- Be married to the same person for 50 years
Have a best friend who'll never let me down- Go parasailing
- Ride a horse on the beach
- Be the MOH
- Visit the Titanic in a submarine
Try foods I wouldn't normally tryGo for a run in Central Park (cannot physically do)Perform on Broadway- Ride first class
Be in a fashion showParty all night without stopping to sleepGet my nose piercedGo on a cruise- Love him til I die
Go to at least one place I've never been before- Pet a fox
- Star in a movie
Ride in a private plane- Ride in a helicopter
Take a carriage ride in Central Park
Visit the Hollywood Walk of FameExplore an abandoned amusement parkOpen my own business- Watch the ball drop in Times Square
Invite someone without family to my holiday dinner- Go camping with all my friends
- Go an entire day without using technology
- Tan on a nude beach
Make a perfect Thanksgiving turkeySee my hip bonesTry Chicago-style pizzaPhotograph a nude photoshoot- Complete a Man vs. Food challenge
Make my best friend's dream come true- Kiss on Bow Bridge in Central Park
- Go on a family vacation
Stay at a Bed & Breakfast- Slow dance in the rain
Be able to walk well in high heelsRide in an airplaneBe kissed unexpectedlyBuy flowers for someone for no reasonFeel confident in a bikiniBecome a cheerleader- Get a boob job
- Eat spaghetti in Italy
- Visit the beach every day for a week
- Take my kids on an amazing vacation
Write a novel during NaNoWriMoVisit Niagara FallsLive in an apartment in downtown Manhattan- Meet Adam Lambert
Visit the Full House home in San FranciscoGo on a road trip with friendsVisit the Mall of AmericaGo to promBe present during a birthChase a tornado- Take a homeless person to dinner
- Make it in NY
- Attach a lock to a love bridge
Go to a spa- Publish a best-selling novel
Run a marathon (cannot physically do)Have my poem publishedDance with my kids in the rainDye my hair redGo to CanadaSee the Golden Gate Bridge
- Pay for a stranger's groceries
- Get a matching tattoo with my bestie
Meet my idol NKOTBTravel alone- Personally thank a 9/11 firefighter
- Have a beach wedding
- Meet Kate Middleton
- Overcome depression
See gay marriage legalized in the United StatesBe on a billboard in Times Square- Write an article for the NY Times
Own a white kittenDye my hair pink- Meet Taylor Lautner
Have my daughter be "One Less Lonely Girl" (no longer applies)Meet Justin Bieber (no longer applies)See a Broadway playLive to meet my grandchildren- Design my own dream house
- Kiss at the top of a ferris wheel
Learn to play pianoMove to NYC or Boston (no longer applies)- Learn sign language
Visit Ground Zero- Attend a gay wedding
Be on TVWrite a bookSwim with dolphins
Skydive (cannot physically do)- Visit Disneyland/World
- Visit all 50 states
Fall in love- Finish an entire coloring book
Be on the cover of a magazine- See a lantern festival
- Visit a castle
- Watch my children get married
Visit the Philippines with my bestie (no longer applies)Ride a subway in NYC- Try every flavor at Ben & Jerry's
Have a "usual" somewhereHave a pet rabbit- Go to the airport and buy a ticket for some random flight
- Go to Bora Bora or Fiji
- Test drive a Ferrari
- Write a letter to myself and open it in 10 years
Go on the Skydeck in Chicago
- Ride the London Eye
Go on a road trip to CanadaHave a Christmas without any drama- Give a homeless person a Christmas present
Become a photographer- Have my 11:11 11/11/11 wish come true
- Kiss in a snow storm
- Chop down my own Christmas tree
- Find and go on the largest roller coaster in the world
Go to a hot air balloon festGo to the Caribbean with my bestie
Be a homeownerBe a good parentGo on a no-budget shopping spree in Sephora- Get a white-ink tattoo
- Walk through Central Park in the snow
- Swim with Beluga whales
- Dance under the Eiffel Tower
Go to Rockefeller Plaza at ChristmastimeStop biting my nailsKiss at the top of the Empire State BuildingGo to an NFL gameParty on a cruise shipAttend a midnight movie premiereWalk a red carpet- Swim with a sea turtle
- Celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans
- Go snowtubing
- See the Rockettes
- Do a boudoir sitting
- Take a family trip to Colorado
Visit BostonHave a conversation with my favorite actor- Visit Martha's Vineyard
See NKOTB's childhood homes- Meet Ellen Degeneres
Go ziplining- Write a screen play
- Learn to ski (water or snow)
See Prince in concert (RIP, Prince)- Buy a bicycle and ride it regularly
- Walk a 5k
See Madonna live (no longer applies)- Join a critique group
Do RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) (no longer applies)Go on a long-overdue honeymoon- Visit Yellowstone
Spend a weekend in an isolated cabin- Have my portrait painted
Drive up the Pacific Coast highway- Visit the Smithsonian
- Nap in a hammock by the ocean
Get back to my high school weightVisit Los AngelesMeet Janet Evanovich
Redecorate my bedroomPut my feet in the Atlantic and Pacific OceansHave one of my photos displayed publicly- Meet Shemar Moore
Kiss someone famous- Go to a game at Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park
- Go paragliding
Eat at Ellen's Stardust Diner- Learn how to ballroom dance (especially the quickstep)
Hug a stranger in Boston- Get at least 5 stamps in my passport
- Move to New England
- Kiss on Lagoon Bridge in Boston
- Spend a weekend in Cape Cod
Do a tequila shot with Michael Cudlitz- See all the NKOTB homes today
- Witness Fleet Week
- Go SCUBA diving
- Hold a hummingbird
- Visit the Pollock-Krasner House & Studio
- Go a week without using my phone
- Spend a day holding a "FREE HUGS" sign
Get every member of Midnight Red to follow me on Twitter - Star in a local theatrical production
- Going line dancing for old time's sake
See a Pink Floyd laser light show Ride in a glass bottom boat- Dance with Zac Efron
Photograph an Atlantic sunrisePhotograph a Pacific sunset- See P!nk in concert.
Have wings at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo.Have my book published.Meet Bret Michaels.
- Dance in the rain in the mountains.
- Visit Lake Nipissing
- Go camping in the mountains
- Move to Colorado
- Restore someone's faith in humanity
Get a Brazilian wax - Learn to ice skate
- Discuss screenwriting with Frank John Hughes
- Visit an elephant sanctuary
- Take a ride on a motorcycle up the PCH
Visit the 9/11 Museum- Visit the OKC Bombing Memorial
Drive a Corvette- See Jimmy Fallon Live
Publish my "Time After Time" series- Appear on "Jeopardy"
Have front row seats for a NKOTB show
- See Janet Jackson in concert
Try raw oysters- Ride a trolley in San Francisco
- Go to a drive-in movie
- Meet Judy Blume
Ride the ferris wheel at Navy Pier- Ride the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island
- Take a train ride on Amtrak
Get a semi colon tattoo- Stay at the Hoshi Ryoku Hotel in Japan
- Have my mom's wedding rings redesigned
Get a henna tattoo- Visit the "Dirty Dancing" resort in VA (Mountain Lake)
- Go snowmobiling
Scrapbook all my childhood MN vacations- Get courtside seats for a Celtics game
Tell my freshman English teacher what an inspiration she was to me- Visit Graceland
- Visit Paisley Place
- Visit the Country Music Hall of Fame
- Witness Manhattanhenge
- Go tubing in Kauai
See a real southern plantation
Visit Margaret Mitchell's grave- Visit Margaret Mitchell's home
Meet my sistersLearn how to crochet- Visit the grave of Princess Diana
Visit the Salem Witch House/House of Seven Gables- Meet Harry Styles
- Visit Stonehenge
- Go to an ashram in Bali
- Start a non-profit for kids from widowed and divorced families.
- Explore Mali
- Write the screenplay for "Time After Time"
Volunteer in my community- Go on a cooking tour of Italy
- Tour St. Petersburg, Russia
- Write my autobiography
- Visit Scotland, and the Callanish Stones
- Visit the founding Thirteen Colonies
- Visit the monuments and landmarks of Washington, D.C.
- Tour the Ben & Jerry's factory
- Spend Christmas in a cabin
- See Queen in concert
- Get a new stamp in my passport yearly
- Go kayaking
- Cook with Trisha Yearwood
Become more goal-oriented- Declutter all the rooms in the house
- Recognize/identify unhealthy habits
- Write the story of my family with pics
Start my spiritual gifts/healing business- Visit the Denver Gem Show
- See Chippendales
- Go sailing
Pose with the "Bewitched" statue
- Visit the Salem cemetery
- Read Nathanial Hawthorne's work
- Stay in Jon Knight's guest house
- Assist Patrick on tour with NKOTB
Watch a Red Sox game at a Boston barGet a NKOTB-themed tattoo- Go to the Neon Graveyard
- Visit the Grand Canyon
- See the Goldfield Hotel
- Visit Four Corners & be in 4 places at once.
Move to Austin, Texas (no longer applies)See Phantom of the Opera on Broadway- Visit Starbucks Reserve at the Empire State Building
See The Music Man on Broadway- See The Drew Barrymore show
- Meet Keanu Reeves
Join a gym- Read my 2023 12-book challenge
- Share my mental health journey with NAMI
- Organize my Kindle books into manageable categories
- Follow through with my New Year's resolutions one year
- Learn how to meditate
- Meet Kelly Clarkson
See REO Speedwagon in concert
- Visit Salem in October
My list is long and the likelihood of my actually completing everything on it is not very high, but the way I see it, if I keep trying to do these fun things, then my life will always have a purpose, even if it's to do something silly. I'll never be the person who cures cancer or gives peace to the Middle East, but I do intend to bring a smile to the face of every person I meet, and if that's my greatest accomplishment in life, I'm okay with that.
Now...what's on your list?
(updated 12/31/2025)
