I decided that  my first goal should involve something I LOVE (hopefully this will make it easier for me to achieve). My choice was travel.  I know, it`s a very general topic and could mean any number of things.  So, let me lay it out for you.

In Sept 2008 my passport was up for renewal.  When I walked up to the wicket with my papers I discovered that I could get a 48pg passport instead of a 24pg one for $5 more.  I thought, $5? That’s it!? Sign me up!! So I took the plunge and viola, I have a 48pg passport in my possession.

It’s now Dec. 2009 and there are NO stamps in my passport! I’ve been doing all North American travel, and believe me, I’ve been tempted to ask the boarder guards at the US boarder to stamp my passport to sort of pop its cherry.  Sad, but very true (I’d do almost anything for a passport stamp).  So my goal is this:

My passport is good until Sept 2013. That gives me just over 3 years ( 45 months) to fill my passport.  Yikes! I know, right?!  But, I have to give it a shot.  It’s killing me to have a virgin passport.  I decided that my first step should be to make a list of 48 countries that I’d like to see over the next 3 1/2 yrs and then go from there.

My country list…

1. camp @ the base of Mt. Everest
2. explore Angkor Wat
3. travel through Tibet
4. climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
5. bunjee jump over Victoria Falls
6. move to Vancouver
7. observe Polar Bears in Churchill, Manitoba
8. take an expedition cruise to Antarctica
9. go on an African Safari
10. see the Great Pyramids
11. explore Petra
12. walk around Red Square
13. travel the Trans Siberian Railway
14. take some cooking courses in Thailand
15. tour Bhutan
16. take an Alaskan road-trip
17. go Whale Watching in Alaska
18. travel through Madagascar
19. learn to speak Mandarin
20. view the cherry blossoms in Japan
21. see the Running of the Bulls in Spain
22. New Years in Edinburgh
23. Go to the World Cup
24. spend Oktoberfest in Munich
25. White water rafting through the Grand Canyon
26. Attend the Burning Man
27. learn to Kayak in Vancouver
28. take some photojournalism courses
29. learn to snorkel in Fiji
30. fill my 48 passport before 2012
31. backpack through Central & South Americas
32. stand on the Charles Bridge in Prague
33. visit the Taj Mahal
34. explore the Sistine Chapel
35. see the Blue Mosque
36. climb Emei Shan in China
37. travel by ferry from Vladivostok, Russia to Fukuoka, Japan.
38. Travel down the Mekong River
39. visit every country on the UN list
40. sell my photographs
41. donate more money and time to charity
42. share my passions with those around me.
43. visit my ancestors grave at Vimy Ridge
44. attend the Tour de France
45. spend a month in Tuscany
46. go camping in Algonquin NP
47. learn how to snowboard
48. learn to ski
49. volunteer in a orphanage in Nepal
50. backpack through New Zealand
51. visit the more of Canada

It could be months or even years before everything is crossed off this list.  But I will do whatever I can to cross them off all the same