List 100 | Ngoc Emy

Things I want to do before I die.

I came across the list of Huyen Chip when reading her book. She is such an inspiration to me that I wanted to start my own list.

Updated 19 Aug 2026.

✓ Live in another country
✓ Learn French (need to practice more!)
○ Learn German
✓ Start a club (during my high school)
○ Start a nonprofit organzation
○ Intern at WHO
○ Be in a movie/commercial (although I was in a TV channel as supporting actress to promote Women in Science Day)
✓ Hike in the Alps
○ Publish first author work (soon, hopefully!)
○ Read 1000 books and write short review about them
○ Teach a graduate-level course
○ Author a patent
○ Start a company or join a startup
✓ Write thank you letter to my favorite author
✓ Love
○ Learn how to swim
○ Learn how to drive a car
○ Build a simple home
○ Become a parent
○ Run a marathon
✓ Bring my family to visit Europe
○ Take a hot-air balloon ride
○ Paragliding
○ Go camping in the forest to hike
✓ See a Broadway show (2!)
✓ Visit US Statue of Liberty
✓ Learn to ski
✓ Get a PhD
○ Go to a concert/music festival of a band I like
○ Start a research lab
○ Teach English to children in my village
○ Volunteer 6 months to help the elderlies
○ Publish a book
✓ Have my own website
○ Trek the red dunes of Namibia
○ Eat at a 3 Michelin star restaurant
○ See auroras
○ Hike in Norway
○ Learn to play a music instrument
○ Learn a dance
○ Learn a martial art
○ Travel to 5 countries in South-East Asia
○ Travel around Eastern Europe
○ Climb Mount Fuji
○ Visit Oxford and Cambridge
○ See Kashmir
○ Climb Great wall, China
○ Climb Great Pyramid, Egypt
○ Hike in a national park in Canada
✓ See shooting stars
○ Visit Jerusalem
○ Visit the Amazon rainforest
✓ Visit a tulip field in the Netherlands
○ Wear kimono in Japan (and see cherry blossom)
○ Wear hanbok and have a makeup makeover in South Korea
✓ Walk on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
○ Experience zero gravity
○ Ride a horse
○ Attend a classical music concert at Sydney Opera House
○ Attend a yoga class and meditation session in India
○ Cheer in a stadium
✓ Play trampoline jumping
✓ Wear a dress that I make for my birthday to photoshoot at my favorite place (lavender field in Province)
✓ Visit Disneyland
✓ Get a signature from my favorite Nobel Prize laureate
○ Fly in first class
✓ Take a walk in Brooklyn bridge
○ Take a bicycle trip across country/big region
○ Start a scholarship for young brilliant students in VN
○ Sing at a musical contest/talent show
○ Learn first aid
○ Create my own board game
✓ Finish 1000 piece puzzle (many times!)
○ Visit 50 countries
✓ See a coral reef
○ Drive through the savannas of the Maasai Mara
○ Ferry-hopping the Greek islands
○ Visit Vatican and Pisa
✓ Hike in Interlaken
○ Trek to Everest Base Camp
○ Hike through Volcanos in Hawaii
○ Drink beer in Oktoberfest in Munich (and Prost)
○ Hike in national parks in the US
○ See dolphins in Lisbon
✓ Sleep at a stranger home (Couchsurf)
○ Ride the longest cable car in the world - Phu Quoc
✓ See a musical play in Opera de Paris
○ Visit NASA
○ See the Taj Mahal
○ Visit Victoria Falls
○ Visit Ghibli park in Japan
✓ Visit a teahouse between mountain and see in Taiwan
○ Get paint on my face in Holi celebration in India
○ Ski in a Swiss Alps mountain
○ Take a sauna in Finland
✓ Buy an Apple device in the Apple Store Central Park (I wished to see a release though)
○ Drink tea in Morroco
○ See bioluminescent plankton or sea animal
✓ See a solar eclipse (90%)
○ Fly a helicopter
○ Learn pottery and make something nice
✓ Build a snowman
✓ Donate blood
○ Dye my hair (completely)
Be awesome, be kind, be brave!

Many items on this list are inspired by Chip’s list and the internet. Please suggest more interesting things to add to the list.

On the path to discovering the value of life.

For me, a not-too-bad life is a meaningful life. It’s a life where I create real value, help many people, and give more than I receive. It’s a life where, after I die, people will mourn my passing not because of familial ties, but because I contributed to creating positive changes in their lives. —Huyen Chip

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