For a while this list was titled “30 Things to do Before I’m 30”, but if life (and specifically 2020) teaches us anything, it’s that you can’t predict what’s going to happen. Sometimes goals get put on hold, sometimes life gets put on hold. That doesn’t mean we should stop working or dreaming or trying to move forward, it just means we might have to go at a different pace or in a different direction than we might have thought.
That being said, I’m now going to add to this list whenever inspiration strikes and I’m not going to enforce any kind of deadline or age cutoff. This is simply going to be a collection of things I want to do in my life, some small, some grand, some I have complete control over, some that I might have to get a little lucky. Here’s hoping I can do them all!
1. Pay off my student loans (four down one to go!)
2. Pay off current credit card
3. Open a new credit card & start earning airline miles
4. Get a book published
5. Donate blood
6. Donate plasma
7. Hike the Narrows
8. Hike Half Dome
9. Hike Mt. Langley
10. Hike Machu Picchu
11. Learn Spanish
12. Learn Sign Language
13. Finish my creative writing capstone
14. Take a cooking class
15. Take a Yes Man trip
16. Make my family tree
17. Visit all 50 states
- Alabama
AlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColorado- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
HawaiiIdahoIllinois- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
Michigan- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
Nevada- New Hampshire
New JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth Carolina- North Dakota
OhioOklahomaOregon- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
South Dakota- Tennessee
TexasUtah- Vermont
- Virginia
Washington- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Wyoming
18. Travel to all seven continents
North America- South America
Europe- Asia
Australia- Africa
- Antarctica
19. See the Northern Lights
20. See the pyramids in Egypt
21. See a play on Broadway
22. Go camping
23. Stay in a suite at a 5-star hotel
24. Go on an LA staycation
25. Read every book on this inspirational book list
- The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
Tuesdays with Morrie- The Alchemist
- The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
- Man’s Search for Meaning
- The Magician’s Way
- Chicken Soup for the Soul
- The Seat of the Soul
- No Ordinary Moments
- Still Me
- The Prophet
- The Power of Positive Thinking
- The Secret
- The Noticer
- Invisible Acts of Power
- The Desiderata of Happiness
- 59 Second. Think a Little. Change A Lot.
- Think and Grow Rich
- You Can Heal Your Life
- Life Without Limits: Inspiration for a Ridiculously Good Life
- Feel the Fear & Do it Anyway
- The Road Less Traveled
- Awaken the Giant Within
- Better than Good
- The Art of Exceptional Living
- Long Walk to Freedom
- The Boy in Striped Pajamas
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- The Celestine Prophecy
- How to Win Friends & Influence People
- The Power of Now
- Black Beauty
- Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
- The Tao of Pooh
- Siddartha
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull
To Kill a Mockingbird- A Christmas Carol
- LEAP!: Ditch Your Job, Start Your Own Business & Set Yourself Free
- The Strangest Secret
- Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know
- Fear, the Friend of Exceptional People
- The Art of Happiness
- Zero Limits
- A Fortunate Life
- Gandhi: An Autobiography
- The Last Lecture
- Back from Heaven’s Front Porch
- Impossible is Stupid
- Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption
- Life is Short, Wear Your Party Pants
- No Greater Love
Oh, the Places You’ll Go- Age is Just a Number: Achieve Your Dreams at Any Stage of Your Life
- Finding Your Own North
- A Mercy
- Courageous Dreams: How Shamans Dream the World into Being
- The Three Questions
- Meditations
The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Tribes: We Need You
- Learning to Live
- Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives
- The Story of My Life
- A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr.
- The Circle: How the Power of a Single Wish Can Change Your Life
- The Animal Healer
- The Wind is My Mother: The Life & Teachings of a Native American
- The Road
- The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections of Life’s Journey
- Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living
- The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
- The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
- Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog
- The Dash: Making a Difference with Your Life from Beginning to End
26. Go Curling
27. Blow glass
28. Go to a World Series game Read about it here.
29. Go to the Super Bowl
30. Go to the Kentucky Derby
31. Go to a March Madness game
32. Run a marathon Read about it here.
33. Adopt an animal
34. Fly first class
35. Learn to skateboard
36. See every MLB stadium
Angel Stadium (Angels)- Busch Stadium (Cardinals)
Chase Field (Diamondbacks)- Citi Field (Mets)
- Citizens Bank Park (Phillies)
- Comerica Park (Tigers)
Coors Field (Rockies)Dodgers Stadium (Dodgers)- Fenway Park (Red Sox)
- Globe Life Field (Rangers)
- Great American Ball Park (Reds)
- Guaranteed Rate Field (White Sox)
- Kauffman Stadium (Royals)
- Marlins Park (Marlins)
- Miller Park (Brewers)
- Minue Maid Park (Astros)
- Nationals Park (Nationals)
- Oakland Coliseum (Athletics)
Oracle Park (Giants)- Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Orioles)
- Petco Park (Padres)
- PNC Park (Pirates)
- Progressive Field (Indians)
- Rogers Centre (Blue Jays)
T-Mobile Park (Mariners)- Target Field (Twins)
- Tropicana Field (Rays)
- Truist Park (Braves)
- Wrigley Field (Cubs)
- Yankee Stadium (Yankees)
37. Attend an Olympic Games
38. Take a self-defense class
39. Become CPR certified
40. Ride in a hot air balloon
41. Start or join a book club
42. Have a white Christmas
43. Sleep in an igloo
44. Watch a meteor shower
45. Go to a drive in movie
46. Attend a film festival
47. Visit an elephant sanctuary
48. Attend a Holi Festival in India
49. Visit every US National Park
- Acadia (Maine)
- American Samoa (AS)
- Arches (Utah)
- Badlands (South Dakota)
- Bid Bend (Texas)
- Biscayne (Florida)
- Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado)
- Bryce Canyon (Utah)
- Canyonlands (Utah)
- Capitol Reef (Utah)
- Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico)
- Channel Islands (California)
- Congaree (South Carolina)
- Crater Lake (Oregon)
- Cuyahoga (Ohio)
- Death Valley (California)
- Denali (Alaska)
- Dry Tortugas (Florida)
- Everglades (Florida)
- Gates of the Arctic (Alaska)
- Gateway Arch (Missouri)
- Glacier (Montana)
- Glacier Bay (Alaska)
Grand Canyon (Arizona)- Grand Teton (Wyoming)
- Great Basin (Nevada)
- Great Sand Dunes (Colorado)
- Great Smoky Mountains (North Carolina, Tennessee)
- Guadalupe Mountains (Texas)
- Haleakala (Hawaii)
Hawai’i Volcanoes (Hawaii)
- Hot Springs (Arkansas)
- Indiana Dunes (Indiana)
- Isle Royale (Mississippi)
- Joshua Tree (California)
- Katmai (Alaska)
- Kenai Fjords (Alaska)
- King’s Canyon (California)
- Kobuk Valley (Alaska)
- Lake Clark (Alaska)
- Lassen Volcanic (California)
- Mammoth Cave (Kentucky)
- Mesa Verde (Colorado)
- Mount Rainier (Washington)
- North Cascades (Washington)
- Olympic (Washington)
- Petrified Forest (Arizona)
- Pinnacles (California)
- Redwood (California)
- Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
- Saguaro (Arizona)
- Sequoia (California)
- Shenandoah (Virginia)
- Theodore Roosevelt (North Dakota)
- Virgin Islands (US Virgin Islands)
- Voyageurs (Minnesota)
- White Sands (New Mexico)
- Wind Cave (South Dakota)
- Wrangell-St. Elias (Alaska)
- Yellowstone (Wyoming, Montana, Idaho)
- Yosemite (California)
- Zion (Utah)
50. See a sunrise inside a National Park
51. See a sunset inside a National Park
52. Buy a house
53. Go back to Australia and show my family where I studied abroad
54. Read all the books I own
55. Do the polar bear plunge
56. Send a postcard to a different person every day for a month
57. Do a biathlon (or triathlon)
58. Get married
59. Become a parent
60. Sleep in a treehouse
61. Take a picture of lightning
62. Walk on the Great Wall of China
63. Swim in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland
