50 things to do before going home
16 months ago Brett Rounsaville decided to quit his job, leave his home and set out to accomplish all the things in life he wanted to do.
He made a list of the top 50, including sleep in a lighthouse, milk a cow on an Amish farm, walk to the top of the Empire State building and be in a movie.
The designer from California, who had virtually no budget, also vowed not to return home until he completed all of the challenges he had set himself.
But this month the 27-year-old (a little early for a mid-life crisis, isn't it?) is due to cross off the final items on the list and head home ... if he can remember where he lives.
"I made a list of fifty things I had wanted to do and I had the opportunity to take a month off of work so it seemed like a no brainer," he said
"Little did I know a month vacation would turn into a year and a half of adventure."
The first thing Brett wanted to do was pet a sloth, an animal which he had been fascinated with since at primary school but he had never seen up close.
After that his tasks got harder and included riding an ostrich, Hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and collecting honey from a beehive.
All of his exploits are featured on his website amtrekker.com.
Planning of the events led to some strange conversations he says: "I remember saying things like 'I won't able to make it to the coal mine this week. I have to be in South Dakota to drive a race car and my permits for the hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon are only good next week so I will barely have enough time to squeeze an ostrich ride in between'.
"These conversations are usually accompanied by blank stares or hysterical laughter directed at my exasperation," he said.
Brett's lit of 50 things
1. Tube down a river
2. Ride a horse through a covered bridge
3. Sleep in a lighthouse
4. Learn survival skills
5. Enter a hot dog eating contest
6. Walk to the top of the Empire State Building
7. See a live taping of The Colbert Report
8. See a game at Fenway Park
9. Milk a cow on an Amish farm
10.Wade through a cranberry bog
11. Go into a coal mine
12. Take part in a Civil War reenactment
13. Race dirt bikes
14. Make Moonshine
15. Hitchhike
16. Learn to Sail
17. Try my hand at kiteboarding
18. Pet a sloth
19. Help out on a plantation
20. Learn to run a 3 card monte game
21. Tell Donald Trump "You're Fired."
22. Be a guest on a talk show
23. Hang gliding
24. Be part of a stage illusion
25. Be in a movie
26. Experience Comic Con
27. Go on a lobster boat
28. Scuba dive in the Atlantic
29. Drive a race car
30. Go to an obscure small town festival
31. River kayak
32. Geocache in all 48 contiguous states
33. Collect honey from a beehive
34. Scale the lowest highest point in a state
35. Arkansas Crater of diamonds state park and look for a diamond
36. Ride the fastest roller coaster in the country
37. Go through a hedge maze
38. Catch a firefly
39. Motorcycle Rally
40. Ride a cow
41. Sandboarding
42. Ride an ostrich
43. Create a crop circle
44. Fly fishing
45. Swamp boat ride with gators
46. See a movie at the Alamo Draft House
47. Tour the Crayola Factory
48. Ben and Jerry's Flavor Graveyard
49. See a Freak Show
50. Hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
