I moved to Oregon in June, 1999 and had been wanting to visit the Painted Hills and Kam Wah Chung for about that long.

But for 14 years, something always came up. A more glamorous vacation, a career move, a dying parent who needed my care, a weather window that closed all too early.

Every one has such a story, the plans that keep getting postponed because life intervenes.

Last week the Cultural Trust launched a new, fun, interactive initiative that can cut through the apathy and procrastination and help Oregonians realize their cultural dreams. (www.oregonculturefieldguide.org) That tool is a brand new function of our year-old website Oregon Culture: A Field Guide, which allows you, the site user, to peruse over 125 activities supported by Trust partner nonprofits and make your “Cultural Life List.”

Social sharing functions, Facebook likes, recommendations to friends and family will help you follow through. When you put Peter French Round Barn on your life list and share it on Facebook or Twitter, your friend, spouse, significant other, or children can say, “Cool. When are you going?” or, better yet, “Can I go too?”

During my two days (and 600miles) touring the fossil beds, an historic Chinese apothecary, and the towns of Mitchell, Dayville, John Day, and historic Condon, I kept track of expenses. By the time I swung back through The Dalles, I’d spent over $200 – $100 a day on gas, lodging (at locally owned inns), food (at local cafes), shopping and donations to state heritage sites and national monuments. That is $200+ that will probably change hands in these communities several times before circulating out. This supports a recent Oregon Heritage Commission study that shows cultural tourism and economic impact as intertwined.

So, visit our new site and make your life lists. An evening at the opera in Eugene? A family weekend in Portland for good times at OMSI, Oregon Children’s Museum and the like? Attendance at Pendleton Roundup? After you’ve made that list, look at your clusters. Are there two or three activities in Astoria or Coos Bay? A restaurant there that you’ve always wanted to try, or a B&B you’ve been hoping to bed down in? You know what to do next – make your travel plans. It’s not a bucket list in the tradition of Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait 14 years!

And once you have checked off a life list item, send us a picture or “blurb” that we can post on our Facebook page (meryl.lipman@state.or.us). Go on and do it (you know you want to!). ! You will never regret the time you give yourself to explore your surroundings and live out your dreams.

(And if you are a Trust cultural nonprofit partner and you don’t see your activity on our Field Guide, please also email to get that in the works.)

-Meryl Lipman, Cultural Trust Communications Managerwww.oregonculturefieldguide.org