I always have people asking me for advice about where to go. I sometimes be a smartass and suggest the moon. But why not? The moon sounds like an interesting place, that is not out of reach if you follow these steps.
1) Take a walk in the park
Just about the entire world is capable of going for a walk in the park, so if you can’t do this you will never make it to the moon. The point of this step is for you to realize that every great journey begins as a baby step.
2) Go to the tallest building in your town/city
It’s not really that hard to visit the tallest building in your city, but first you might have to identify the building and the location. For me the tallest building in my hometown of Denver is Republic Plaza which is some 56 stories tall if I remember right. I even went to the top once only to find a branch of a stock brokerage surprised to see me. This is another step that is easy to do and is a stepping stone for the next step.
3) Go to the tallest building in your country
This might involve taking up to a three day break from work. So if your in the United States go to Chicago and visit Willis Tower. Simple enough and if you are lucky enough to live in Chicago you already completed this step.
4) Go to the tallest building in the world
This is Burj Khalifa in Dubai for everyone. This may require getting a passport and finally taking an adventure overseas but the step is still relatively easy and can be done without quitting your job.
5) Circumnavigate the globe
This is where you need some organization to accomplish. Find an economical route to fly around the world just for the sake of the circumnavigation. I did this not too long ago in under 60 hours just for the fun of it. If you can’t accomplish this keep trying til you go to the next step.
6) Go to a random country
Throw a dart on the map and go to the first country it drops on that does not require a pre-arrival visa. I did this for spring break one time and ended up in the Ukraine. It ended up being a great trip and I would not even have given Ukraine a thought unless the dart landed there.
Me working on this next step in Kansas.
7) Climb every state high point
In the United States there exists a highpointers club. To join the club you have to climb every state highpoint. There is no more rewarding experience in my opinion than climbing a mountain. There are some very easy highpoints to climb and some of them you can even drive to. Mt. Mckinley is really the only big challenge. If you’re outside the United States than I would say climb all the highpoints of the 1st level administrative division of your country.
8) Go to every UN member country
You might have to quit your day job to accomplish this task but if you climbed every highpoint and went to a random country than I am sure you can accomplish this. How? That’s up to you to figure out, but if you do accomplish this step it will prepare you for the next step.
9) Go everywhere on the Travelers Century Club list
An even bigger list exists of places to go and it’s called the Travelers Century Club that puts the country count at 321. Find a way to accomplish this and that will prepare you for the next step.
10) Climb the Seven Summits
Now this is where it starts getting really difficult. Climbing every continent highpoint. If your from the United States than you have already climbed Mt. Mckinley so you just have six more peaks to climb and that will prepare you for the next step.
11) Go everywhere on the MTP website
An entrepreneur developed this website to chart his progress as the most traveled person. The creator of the website is number 1 on the list but even he has not been to all 873 places.
12) Go to the moon
You’ve conquered planet earth so what’s next. Look up to the sky and the moon is the next logical step. Space tourism is in it’s infancy but I bet if you can find a way to complete the first 11 steps getting to the moon is within your creative reach.
Now there are possibly a million sub-steps to getting to the moon but if you aim high, chances are you are going to have a great life regardless if you ever make it to the moon or not. In fact I just threw away my bucket list and I am now focusing on these 12 steps. I’ve already accomplished 1 thru 6 so that must mean I am halfway to the moon. Yes, I know I am insanely optimistic but what is the harm?
