This is a list where you will find out all about me and all of the things I will strive to undertake and eventually accomplish.

You might wonder why this is called a “Bucket List”? Fair, enough. I had asked the same question before and here is what Urban Dictionary says. Briefly it comes from the term “kicked the bucket”.

There is also a movie called The Bucket List starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Don’t you worry, I am not going to spill the beans, but I might as well quote IMDB regarding the plot summary: “Two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die”. It is all about wishes and ToDos, hence the name. In case you happen to have a chance to watch, just go for it.

Since the moment I decided that I had to have a bucket list, I have done many Google searches, visited several websites and blogs, talked to people. I have seen several different ways of making use of bucket lists. Some seem to write the items in stone and not willing to change any details or even add any additional items at all. Some put a deadline and work on the list as if it were a project. Some do focus on the categorization, meaning  they solely concentrate on particular subjects such as, travelling, sports, career etc.

My list will be quite flexible, that is what I know for sure. This is called a bucket list, eh, so why should I put a deadline? It simply doesn’t make any sense. Well, sure it would help keeping the focus and also kill any potential procrastination by all means. But I have always been quite disciplined and I know I am going to attempt undertaking the items, provided that the conditions are mature. Thus, NO deadline.

Considering this is and will be a long running list, I am NOT writing the items in stone either. As of now (01 September 2011), the list is still raw. I will always be looking for ways to improve/amend the list and the items to reflect the changes in my desires, passions matching the latest trends, technologies, working & living conditions etc. Hence any given moment, the list should be up-to-date and shall comprehensively summarize my ambitions.

It is possible you might come across a couple of items -just a couple, not many- which were actually accomplished before the publishing of this bucket list. It may sound a little contradictory to the context, however I had to have these items, as they had already been in my wish list for quite a while and I was lucky enough to finish them off earlier.

One final thing, you will also notice some items are relatively and in some cases quite “easier” to accomplish when compared to the others. That was unfortunately inevitable. I could of course spend time on balancing the items more equally, however that would have caused unnecessary pain. But the bucket list should be all about Fun! And since there is no official standards or guidelines to follow, this is what I am going for!

Bucket List Facts

Publish date: 01 September 2011
Last updated: 20 September 2011

# of total items: 103 (on the publish date), 103 (current)
# of completed items: 17
# of in progress items: 9

1. Spend a vacation in Cancún, Mexico.
2. Watch a Miami Heat home game, if possible a playoff game. (American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida, US)
3. Visit the Red Light District; Amsterdam, Holland.
4. Visit the Eiffel Tower; Paris, France.
5. Drink German beer on a Saturday in the Oktoberfest tents; Münich, Germany.
6. Enjoy a symphony or a musical in Sydney Opera House; Australia.
7. Watch a Superclásico, either in La Bombonera or in El Monumental; Argentina.
8. Running with the cyclists in Alpe d’Huez (Tour de France) and of course carrying a Turkish flag
9. Attend a Rio Carnival, Brazil.
10. Have a “Lord of the Rings” Marathon weekend and watch all 3 movies.
11. Go geocaching and find a cache
12. Surf a couch and also welcome couchsurfers in my apartment
13. Learn how to ski or snowboarding
14. Cycle 100 km in a day
15. See the Red Bull Air Race live
16. Take a helicopter flight
17. Take a flight at the London Eye
18. Translate a TED talk into Turkish
19. Give a TED talk and inspire millions
20. See the Grand Canyon; Arizona, US
21. Visit Machu Picchu; Urubamba Valley, Peru
22. Visit Selimiye Mosque; Edirne, Turkey
23. Visit Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia; Nevsehir, Turkey
24. See 20 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
25. Visit 30 countries -In Progress-
26. Learn roller skating
27. Complete a Jigsaw Puzzle that has at least 1000 pieces
28. Watch a Men’s Singles Final in Wimbledon
29. Watch an NBA Playoffs Final game
30. Write 10+ blog posts for 3 consecutive months
31. Be the fastest  to answer the NBA Stüdyo Question of the Week correctly and win the prize
32. Swim in an ocean
33. Have 100+ items in the Bucket List
34. Have an-hour-long chat with a native Spanish speaker entirely in Spanish
35. Twitter
1. Achieve 1,000 followers -In Progress-
2. Achieve 10,000 followers
3. Achieve 50,000 followers
36. Have one my videos/audios of Youtube (or Vimeo etc.) get 50K views
37. Buy a season ticket for matches (Possibly Fenerbahçe, possibly basketball, football)
38. Spend at least 3 consecutive nights sleeping in a tent outside
39. Hitchhike for 1000 km
40. Write a mini story – at least 1000 words long
41. Publish a mini series of podcasts – at least 20 episodes
42. Watch a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show live and in house
43. Turn off my mobile phone for a week – 24×7 hours
44. Watch a match 3D & live & in theaters
45. Experience zero gravity
46. Learn CPR / Get a First Aid Certification
47. Go skydiving
48. Take part in an Free Hugs event
49. Go on a cruise
50. Go to a genuine St. Patrick’s Day party (UK, Ireland, USA, etc.)
51. Finish a 365 Photography Project
52. Witness an eclipse
53. Take part in a sailing race
54. Bike through 1 of National Geographic’s 10 Best Bike Trails in the World, potentially #8.
55. Learn what baseball and cricket is all about
56. Dive in a submarine
57. Ride in a hot air balloon
58. Go zorbing
59. Swim in the world’s largest swimming pool; off the coast of Chile
60. Ride 1 of the Top 10 Train Rides in the world
61. Make a presence in space
62. Go zip lining
63. See the Northern Lights
64. Visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa
65. Take the Orient Express
66. Watch an animal being born
67. Collect eggs from a nest
68. Visit the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
69. Attend a Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan, Thailand
70. Hike through the Dolomites in Switzerland (additional info)
71. Attend La Tomatina (Spain)
72. Walk across one of the Spanish Pilgrimage Trails
73. Visit Pompeii, Italy
74. Visit every continent -In Progress-
1. Asia
2. Europe
3. North America
4. South America
5. Africa
6. Antarctica
7. Australia
75. Take an international trip with mom and dad
76. Write a book
77. See The Belize Barrier Reef
78. Finish my MBA -In Progress-
79. Watch 100 movies from IMBD’s Top 250 -In Progress-
80. Master a recipe (potentially a desert)
81. Visit 7 New Wonders of the World -In Progress-
1. Chichen Itza; Yucatan, Mexico
2. Christ the Redeemer; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3. Colosseum; Rome, Italy
4. Great Wall of China; China
5. Machu Picchu; Cuzco Region, Peru
6. Petra; Ma’an Governorate, Jordan
7. Taj Mahal; Agra, India
82. Visit 5 of the other finalists (out of 13)
83. Attend a Japanese tea ceremony
84. Learn to juggle
85. Have a collection
86. Watch every movie that has won an Academy Award Winners for Best Picture. -In Progress-
87. Open a Swiss bank account
88. Go to the Kentucky Derby, known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”, also referred as “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports”
89. Have a proper Super Bowl Sunday in US
90. Swimming on the Edge Victoria Falls (Devil’s Pool)
91. See the Mona Lisa in Louvre (Paris)
92. Cycle to the office in the morning and back home in the evening (Completed on 15 September 2011)
93. Cycle the steep road up to Aya Yorgi Church; Buyukada, Istanbul
94. Watch every Christian Bale movie -In Progress-
95. Ride a unicycle
96. Have 500+ connections on LinkedIn -In Progress-
97. Have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile
98. Witness a world record
99. Win 1,000 Turkish Liras in a lottery
100. Win 1,000 Turkish Liras in a bet
101. Save one’s life
102. Take part in a cycling race
103. Empty Slot. If you have any suggestions, please drop a comment below. Then let’s decide on an item together!

Before closing let me also mention a couple of sites and blogs which have influenced me throughout the Bucket List journey thus far.

• Project 183 – 2,170 days, 183 goals, 1 man
• Bucket List – 10,000 Things to do before you die
• Bucket List – Get some great bucket list ideas, they may change your life forever
• BBC 50 Things to Do Before You Die
• What’s on Your Bucket List? 101 Things To Do Before You Die
• Barefootlist.com: Sample Master Dream List
• 101 Things – Powered by Tofu
• Bucket List Ideas – 1000 Things to do Before You Die
• The Bucket List of Things to do Before I Die — Location 180 | Location Independent Living for the Masses
• AFI’s “100 Years…100 Laughs” on Lists of Bests