Bucket Lists

By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. ~Mark Victor Hansen

Are you a “listing” type of person? You know the type. These are the people that have a list for everything: a list for groceries and things to buy, a list for school assignments, a list for extracurricular commitments, a list for meetings and appointments, a list for the Lilly items they adore, a list for all of their lists. Well, that’s me. So it is my obligation as a “listing” type of girl, to have the ultimate list: the bucket list. This bucket list isn’t very concrete. It grows every few days as I think of or hear new things that I would love to try. One of the most frequent themes on my bucket list is countries I absolutely must visit or activities I have to do while I’m in a certain country.

In keeping with my bucket list, several weeks before I left for my study abroad trip I decided to add something a bit crazy sounding to it. I decided that while I was in Tanzania, I absolutely could not leave without hiking Mount Kilimanjaro. I know. You think I’m crazy, right? Well…maybe a little bit. But wouldn’t it be crazier not to do it? After all, I just couldn’t imagine being halfway around the world at the doorstep of one of the world’s seven summits without even bothering to attempt it.  And after all, out of the seven summits, Mount Kilimanjaro is the one that is most trekked. So, I decided to go for it and promptly began another series of lists.

Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance