"A Month of Living" Challenges

Mary Richardson, an American expat in Okinawa and a fellow travel blogger, embarked on a "Month of Living Dangerously" in her blog - Mary and Sean's Adventure's Abroad. Mary's daily blog entries of living "outside her box" inspired me to pursue my own month of personal challenges.

The premise of my adventures is to live the month of August by fulfilling the following:

1. Do something I've always want to do but was either too lazy or too busy to commit to;

2. Finish something I've procrastinated in doing;

3. Do something out of character;

4. Do something meaningful.

Most of my adventures are within the realm of eating, drinking or traveling, which many of you My Hotel Life followers could probably appreciate and hopefully find entertaining.

So, last Sunday evening, my kids helped me write down a few ideas on a piece of restaurant butcher paper (complete with food and drink stains). I will strive to complete most of these "adventures." I am also eager to receive any ideas from my blog readers.

Here's the list of adventures:

* Make Vietnamese Pho from scratch

* Take my daughter Francesca to a local farm

* Drive to small town and eat breakfast

* Finish reading a half read book

* Read Saveur magazine from cover to cover

* Discover a new late night place

* Make fresh pasta

* Go to a slaughterhouse

* Roll sushi

* Eat Ethiopian Food

* Take 20,000 steps in one day

* Spend a day of luxury with my wife

* No coffee for a week

* Go to a restaurant I've always wanted to go to

* Make a vegetarian meal for the family

* Take in the view of the city

* Visit my old homes

* Make shabu-shabu

* Photograph Millenium Park in Chicago

* Enter a photo contest

* Visit a local winery

* Bake a cake with my girls

* Go to Weiner Circle in Chicago

* Blog about my last meal

* Watch Food, Inc. with my daughter Margaux

* Take the wife to a museum she's never been to

* Cook a Filipino dish that I've never made before

* Read about the French 1855 wine classification

* Cook a tagine dish I've never made before

* Wrap 100 egg rolls and share it with friends

* Interview a local chef for my blog

* Find meaning in volunteering

* Rekindle an old friendship

* Photograph local city gardens

* Do something patriotic

* Make salsa verde

* Blog about a story worth sharing

* Eat only fruits all day

* Open a bottle of wine that I've been saving for a long time for that special occasion.

* Go to Waffle Queen in Grand Haven, Michigan, and try their Filipino waffle dogs

* Start a new blog

I refuse to call this a "bucket list" because most of these are not earth shattering adventures nor last breath wishes. This list is merely a challenge to complete something I've never done before with the hope that I discover something about myself through the fulfillment of "little" things each day - one month at a time.

I would appreciate your ideas and support.