Background: After reposting the same New Year’s Resolution from 2008-2012 without success,  I had to rethink it. I replaced my resolution with a bucket list in 2013. I went from incremental goals (i.e. lose 10 pounds) to life-changing goals.

Preface: At 12:05am on January 1st, 2013, I was lying face down in a cul-de-sac in Mililani Mauka after a fireworks accident (don’t ask.) I was thinking, sheesh, can 2013 be over with already? Unlikely as it seemed then, I was blessed to meet up with my Compassion sponsored child in the Philippines and walk across the Great Wall of China by year’s end. All things are possible.

This is my current bucket list. There’s a whole lotta travel, which is my passion.

Life Goals:

• Seek after God’s heart
• Go snowboarding
• Appear in a TV commercial
• Create a work of art
• Attend a Red Sox vs. Yankees game
• Learn to cook a fancy gourmet dish
• Get a tattoo
• Own my dream car, a vintage VW bus
• Buy a suit (and actually wear it)

School Goals:

• Tie a kihei
• Attend SXSW EDU

Ministry Goals:

• Go on a missions trip to Japan

Travel Goals:

• Visit Hiroshima & Miyajima Island
• Visit Hong Kong
• Visit Hokkaido
• Eat phở in Vietnam
• Visit London
• Visit Prague in the Czech Republic
• Go to Oktoberfest in Germany
• Travel to Istanbul
• Travel to Marrakech
• Travel to Angkor Wat in Cambodia
• See the Taj Mahal
• Witness the Aurora Borealis
• Attend a World Cup Soccer match

Completed Goals:

√ Visit my sponsored child in the Philippines
√ Revisit New York City
√ Travel to Machu Picchu
√ Walk across the Great Wall of China
√ Visit Barcelona
√ Visit Rome
√ Hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa
√ Visit Australia
√ Visit Aotearoa (NZ)
√ Learn to skateboard
√ Take a solo (YOLO) trip to Paris
√ Visit my “homeland” of Okinawa
√ Find the best bowl of ramen in Hawaiʻi
√ Launch a homeless outreach ministry in Chinatown
√ Run a TEDxYouth event at school
√ Play guitar in a café
√ Publish a TED-Ed lesson
√ Own a condo near Ala Moana Beach (lifelong dream)

Amazing memories! I am also thankful that I have been blessed with things that I never even dreamed of.

Occasionally, I will open up my Moleskine and have a [re]imagine sesh. I believe that there is intentionality in writing things down. Continuing to work on my life goals, school goals, ministry goals, and travel goals.

Hope your bucket list is going well. Dream big!
Happy 2018! Hau`oli Makahiki Hou & God Bless!