What do you really want to do?
That's the question at the heart of both website and the book, 2DO Before I Die. Featuring regular columnists, contributed stories and over 10,000 ideas of things to do, 2DO Before I Die aims to highlight conversations and projects that encourage curiosity, creativity and action.
Celebrating its fifth anniversary this month, 2DO Before I Die was started by two friends, editors Michael Ogden and Chris Day, who began by posting online a handful of first-person stories sent in from friends and family. Over time it has grown to include submissions from around the world and in 2005, a book was published by Time-Warner - now out in nine languages. Bringing together over 100 stories, ideas and thought-provoking graphics, 2DO Before I Die was designed to encourage conversation about what's important and what's possible - without being preachy...
That conversation continues here on the 2DO Before I Die blog, and to kick off the project’s 6th year, Ogden and Day are excited to have a talented new team of five regular guest columnists. Each writer contributes on a weekly basis, covering such subjects as dream jobs, adventure, exploration and regrets. Meanwhile, the blog will continue to post the best stories to be found about ideas, innovation, arts, travel, sports and more.
For more details on the 2DO columnists, please click here. To find out how you can contribute to 2DO Before I Die, please click here.
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How it got started:
Inspired by a conversation between two friends over beers (and fuelled by an event you can read about here), 2DO Before I Die began way back in 2003. Buoyed by bouts of unwarranted optimism and steady plays of 'Highway 61 Revisited', this project came to life over many late nights, countless phone calls and many cups of coffee. This first resulted in a website, then a book with over 70 2DO Before I Die stories, and has come to include a host of regular writers to this blog (Click here for brief bios of all current contributors).
Having made our own lists of things to do, we wanted to create a destination for stories and ideas, with room for both the big and the small - the foolproof and the foolhardy - that acted as a collective reminder about what was important, what was possible and what was damn worth trying.
Our intention from the start was to avoid being prescriptive, letting everyone chip in and tell their stories so that others might consider their own equivalents. We wanted to hear what people have done, as well as what they were planning to do, and why. And it definitely didn't need to be about climbing Mount Everest or getting on the cover of a magazine.
So, beginning with a simple website, the project grew over time aided by word of mouth and the generosity of strangers. In 2005 we put together a book, with the great help of many story contributors to the website. "2DO Before I Die" was one of the first of its kind -- a 'user-generated' book coming directly from an internet community. The book has since been published in eight other languages and is now sold around the world. To read some reviews or get hold of your own handy red book, you can check it out at Amazon here.
Since publication, and with the book tour a great memory, we've steadily built up a library of over 10,000 contributed 2DO List goals, played hosts to some guest bloggers reporting live from their own life-list front line and tried somehow to fit in our own lives at the same time.
In that time, we've also seen a tidal wave come and go of 'Before I Die' titles and 1001 places to see, try, fry and steambake -- it's a world awash with lists of things to do. Sick of the 'bucket list'? We are a little too. Still, we stand by the fact that it's a question worth asking: what's worth doing with the time we have? And given we're all going to die one day, why did I spend last weekend watching the 'Back to the Future' trilogy for a second time?
We hope you enjoy taking a look round the site, and that you feel like checking in on a regular basis. We always enjoy hearing from visitors to the site and readers of the book, so please leave your comments, post your list, send us a story, but most of all, stick around and join in the conversation.
We only have one rule: please, no swimming with dolphins....
All the Best,
Mike Ogden and Chris Day
Btw, it's always nice to hear from readers of the site and the book - you can contact us at:
INFO AT 2DOBEFOREIDIE DOT COM
p.s. If you liked the book, we would be grateful if you could post a review here at Amazon. Thanks very much.
PRESS:
We're also happy to speak about both the book and the website with fellow bloggers and journalists from radio, newspapers, websites, magazines, and television and have done so in the past. Feel free to get in touch.
Click here for Press Highlights...
Mike and Chris also wrote a 'making of' story about getting the book together. It's called: 'DIY - Developing and Designing 2DO Before I Die'
Mike's 2DO story: 'Record an album'...
Chris's 2DO story: 'Join A Protest'
