What to do before you die...

In 1999 a book came along that did very well, and was a must have purchase for every traveler out there. This book, in addition to doing very well, was also a trendsetter, and spawned many other copycat books just like it. The book?

100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can't Miss

After this book, came another book that focused on places (whereas the first one focused mostly on events), and upped the number of entries by a factor of 10. This book was:

1,000 Places to See Before You Die

That book created a calender (which I have on my desk and absolutely love) as well as a whole slew of books. Some of those books are:

Fifty Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations

Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die: Fly-Fishing Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations

1001 Natural Wonders: You Must See Before You Die (Barron's Educational Series)

Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die

Unforgettable Things to Do Before You Die

And of course, 300 Beers to Try Before You Die, which if you did all at once, you wouldn't care where on any of the other people's lists you were.

Finally, not to be left out, the Travel Channel has created a list of 99 Things to do Before You Die, that's done by category (Adventure, Animal Watching, Expand Your Mind, etc.) or you can push a button and asked to be surprised.

In a way, it's a little morbid to be thinking of our deaths, and I prefer to think of the lists as, "Things to do if I win the lottery", or "just in case I ever have extra free time". Still, it's nice to have things made easier by someone making best of lists. If you don't have them by the way, you should definitely buy the first two books on this entry's list! They will provide you many hours of dreaming of far off places!