As a kid, my favorite place in the world was New Orleans Square in Disneyland. I loved the food, I loved the architecture, I loved the atmosphere.

As a result, I was heavily drawn to films and music based on or related to New Orleans growing up. I fell in love with colonial style manors and followed the histories of various estates in Louisiana.

But I'd never really been there.

New Orleans - specifically the French Quarter - has been a location I've wanted to visit my entire life. Yesterday, I stepped foot on New Orleans for the first time.

It's fantastic!

Bucket Lists and Travel

Everyone has something on a bucket list, even if it's not something they've ever formally written down. Just think for a minute about something you want to do or someplace you want to go - the kind of activity or location you would regret having not seen or visited if you were to die tomorrow.

For some, the activity is adrenaline-related: rafting, sky diving, marathon running. For others it's achievement-related - publish a novel, appear on TV, go deep-sea fishing.

Once upon a time, I took the opportunity to write down a list of everything I wanted to accomplish by the time I was 30. It was a mini bucket list, and I'm happy to say I completed all but one item on the list - but not for want of trying.[ref]The incomplete item is to catch, cook, and eat wild game. I've been hunting a few times, but each trip has been unsuccessful thus far. This won't keep me from continuing to try, though.[/ref]

Now that I've crossed something off my childhood bucket list - a trip to the French Quarter of new Orleans - it's time to go back and build another list. Another mini bucket list - perhaps the top 15 things I want to complete by the time I'm 35. Exciting, enterprising, and challenging at the same time.

Plus, it will help me answer the "where do you see yourself in 5 years" questions I get all the time from old friends.

What's on your bucket list? What haven't you put on the list yet?