The Boston Bucket List

The first summer after I moved to Boston, I drove up to Vermont for a race, and one of my wonderful teammates from the New England Relay let me crash at his apartment.  It was a fateful visit that precipitated the creation of the most discussed decoration on my refrigerator for the next three years: the bucket list.

My friend had taped to his bathroom mirror a bucket list of the things he wanted to do while he lived in Vermont, because he knew he would only be there for a couple years.  He had crossed off the things he'd already accomplished, and left plenty of room to add new items as suggestions and ideas came up.

I immediately started to draft my Boston Bucket list in my head, and put it on paper as soon as I got home after the race.  It changed drastically over the years as I learned about more and more awesome things to do in New England.  Every time friends came over, they would inspect the list to see what new things had been checked off since their last visit, and people were constantly suggesting things that I could add.

I know many people view the bucket list idea as a bit cliche and tired.  But you know why it's a brilliant idea to make one and keep it somewhere very visible?  Because then you actually do all the things you wanted to do!  And when it comes time to move on, you have no regrets.