Planning travel and event attendance is always fun!

Two weeks ago, the Cultural Trust launched a new, interactive web activity to help you do just that.

Oregon Culture Field Guide now gives you the opportunity to create an Oregon cultural “Life List,” a virtual space to explore and acknowledge the cultural activities you want to do in the state. Boasting over 125 activities sponsored by cultural nonprofit partners of the Trust, the Oregon Culture Field Guide allows users to add must-dos to their lists, remove them after they’ve been checked off, and share recommendations with friends on social media.

“The John Day Fossil Beds and Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site had been on my mental list for ages,” said Trust Communications Manager, Meryl Lipman. A week after putting her list on the site, she drove east for the weekend. She encourages life-listers to cluster activities into multi-day travel itineraries, and she points to the economic impact of cultural tourism. “For towns like Mitchell and Dayville, a visitor staying at the local inn, eating at the café, replacing sundries at the mercantile, that’s big.”

“Creating a life list is fun,” said Trust Manager Kimberly Howard, who immediately checked off Oregon Humanities Think & Drink, then shared comments on the Field Guide about her experience. “The sharing mechanism (which allows life listers to share out on Facebook and Twitter and post comments on the Field Guide) lets you enjoy the activity with friends in your online community of choice. You never know when a friend might say,‘Oh, this is on my list too, let’s make an evening of it.’”

Several cultural and community leaders have created life lists, including a group recruited by Cultural Trust partner Community Newspapers (Pamplin Media Group), from Portland Metro Area cities as diverse as St. Helens, Lake Oswego and Beaverton.

Visit Oregon Culture Field Guide for few examples.