You know me: I like a good challenge.

Whether it be hiking the Inca Trail (and of course, I absolutely had to be the first at the Sun Gate on the last day), riding down the Death Road, or learning to cook pad thai without burning down a poor Thai man’s kitchen (don’t laugh: that very nearly happened), I enjoy constantly trying new things, pushing myself, and exerting that slightly (over?)competitive spirit of mine.

So, as a compulsive list-maker and risk-taker, it was love at first sight when I came across the Day Zero Project, which encourages you to set yourself not one, but 101 challenges to complete in 1001 days. As you can imagine, my very first challenge was to come up with a good mix of viable ideas, and that alone took me days… I wanted to find the right balance between different types of activities, short-term and long-term goals, and location-specific and more general ones.

It involved an extensive racking of brain, but I got there in the end! So without further ado, let me introduce my 101 finalists:

Korea-specific

– Go to the batting cages
– Take Korean classes
– Attend the Busan International Film Festival
– Do a temple stay/meditation retreat
– Cycle along the Han river
– Host a dinner party on my rooftop
– Take at least 3 weekend trips around Korea
– Go windsurfing and/or kite surfing on the Han river
– Visit the DMZ
– See the Nanta Cooking show
– Visit one of the Seoul palaces at night
– Eat at the fish market
– Take a free walking tour of Seoul
– Go to a jimjilbang
– Take a taekwondo course

Activities/experiences

Travel

– Visit at least 10 countries
– Visit at least 3 new countries
– Work for ‘passage’ on a (sail)boat
– Have a house sitting experience
– Go on a road trip (by car)
– Go on a road trip (by bike/scooter)
– Take a train journey
– Live in NYC for at least one month
– Visit 10 famous landmarks/UNESCO-listed sites
– Meet with my parents on a different continent and travel with them
– Spend a night in an unusual hotel
– Go on a cruise
– Use an unusual mode of transportation

Sports/outdoors adventures

 

– Go scuba-diving
– Go surfing
– Climb a mountain
– Go fishing
– Go skiing
– Go snorkeling in a shipwreck
– Go horseback riding
– Go canoeing/kayaking
– Go camping
– Have a unique wildlife encounter

Exercise

– Swim 5K and/or run 10K in one go
– Complete a Walk to Mordor’ challenge

Food

– Take a cooking class
– Cook 5 meals from 5 different countries
– Go on a food/market tour
– Dine in a really fancy restaurant
– Eat vegetarian for two weeks
– Eat 3 things I’ve never tried before

Entertainment/other

– Gamble/play live poker in a casino
– Go on a picnic
– Go to a concert
– Swim in an infinity pool
– Take a yoga class
– Attend a major sporting event
– Win a pub quiz
– Go bowling and/or ice-skating
– Bathe in hot springs/thermal baths
– Attend a major (non-film festival)

Professional & personal development

Work/lifestyle

– Revive the Camille in Wonderlands blog and post regularly
– Set myself up as a ‘digital nomad’/become location-independent
– Give a lecture/talk
– Participate in NaBloWriMo (write a blog post a day for 30 days)
– Create a budget and stick to it
– Save up at least 5,000 euros while in Korea
– Create a business plan for a future venture
– Attend a (travel) blogging conference or meetup
– Do some volunteer work

Creative projects

– Take part in NaPoWriMo, or write one poem a day for 1 month
– Publish a collection of my poetry
– Make a video for ‘Poem to Shout in the Ruins’
– Make a painting/installation
– Make a piece of jewellery
– Send my grandparents personalised postcards
– Turn my handwriting into a font

Culture/art

– Read at least three books in Spanish
– Watch 26 movies I’ve never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet
– Read at least 5 non-fiction books of interest
– Ask 10 friends to suggest one book, and read them all
– See 10 classic films I’ve never seen
– Spend one weekend with only my music, art and books
– Learn to identify all the countries on a map
– Visit 10 museums/exhibitions

Lists

– Write a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days
– Write a list of 101 things I’ve already achieved
– Create my ultimate bucket list
– Make a list of 101 quotes that inspire me
– Make a list of the simple things that make me happy
– Make a playlist of my 101 favourite songs

Random!

– Visit a prison
– Touch a snake
– Get a second tattoo
– Take part in the 100 Happy Days project
– Learn something I’ve never tried before
– Shoot a gun
– Jump on a trampoline
– Write a mock love letter
– Go without Facebook for a week
– Spend a day reading in a hammock
– Get rid of 100 things
– Go to Ikea
– Inspire someone to make their own 101/1001 list

Aaand…the trump card!

Because I don’t like things to get too predictable:

*** Change 3 of the goals on this list ***

 
 
That’s it! You can follow my progress with photos and notes on what I’ve accomplished on the Day Zero Project website. If you have any suggestions on how I can achieve some of these objectives or want to join me on any of these adventures, I’d love to hear from you. And oh, encouragements are very welcome too!
 
 
What do you think of this list? What would yours include? Let me know in the comments below!

If you would like to follow the rest of my adventures, consider subscribing to the blog to receive all updates by email, and connecting with Camille in Wonderlands on Facebook, where I regularly post snapshots and musings that haven’t made it onto the site.