* Updated – Took another attempt at this list tonight. What do you think?
I recently had dinner with a friend who shared with me her list of 30 things to do by her 30th birthday. It had some great things like:
- Try a new IPA every month
- Trust your instincts on 2 big decisions
- Take a music lesson
Her list was so inspiring that I’m going to start the draft of my list of 40 things to do before my 40th birthday (Late winter of 2013). Of course this will only work if the world doesn’t end in 2012 as the major motion film and ancient Mayan calendar have predicted.
- Visit Korea to see my dad and other cousins/relatives
- Get to 2 out-of-state (can’t be in the same state) snow resorts I’ve never been to (I’ve only snowboarded in WA, BC, and NY)
- Get to 1 snow resort I haven’t been to that’s outside of the United States
- Start a non-profit organization or become the Executive Director of an existing one
- Learn to cook kalbi
- Learn to cook daeji-bulgogi
- Learn to cook daeng-jang-jigae
- Visit my friends in Indonesia
- Visit my friend in India
- Coach a team that wins HS Westerns (ultimate frisbee)
- Coach a team that wins WA State Championships (ultimate frisbee)
- Play at USA Ultimate Club Nationals (ultimate frisbee)
Learn how to DougieMaybe I’ll learn how to do one type of dance and not pigeon-hole myself to a dance that’s popular now- Be an important participant in a wedding of someone I love (groom, best-man, ring-bearer, flower-girl)
- Visit Europe
- Go to a Dallas Cowboys game at Cowboys stadium
Attend one of the following: NCAA Championship game, World Series, Superbowl, NBA Championship game, World Cup game. This didn’t seem that interesting in retrospect. Let’s go with: Learn how to land jumps while riding switch (Snowboarding)- Have a blog that gets 5000 page views per month without doing anything illegal or provocative (Pulled this number out of thin air – what’s a good goal? Last month I had over 700 page views)
- Get invited to speak at a major national conference of some sort on any topic
- Learn to do something major on my own car
- Build something with my own hands that is made of wood or metal. Has to be bigger than a breadbox.
- Visit Jasper National Park
- Visit Glacier National Park
- Visit Yellowstone National Park
- Visit the Grand Canyon
- Talk to my brother (it’s been over 2 years)
- Watch The Roots perform LIVE
- Learn to speak Korean better
- Learn about my family history (not sure if this is quantifiable)
- Have something that I write published. Short story, poem, novel, article. It can be online or in print
- Do a cross-country road trip
- Get a tattoo that’s in written in 한글 (Korean)
- Send my mom on a vacation
- Visit Disneyland or Disney World (Read the last paragraph of Ode to a Tiger Mother)
- Go camping. For real. Not car camping. Something that involves a couple of days, a tent, cooking my own food, hiking. Stop judging me Seattle-ites – I’ve never done it!
- Take an art class of some sort (photography, painting, sculpture, etc)
- Take an avalanche safety course
- Read the Harry Potter series (never read a single one – and yes I’m sorta running out of ideas)
- Do service abroad – a week, a month, a season.
- “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances”
That’s a lot of traveling!
I also think you’ll make an excellent Flower Girl someday.
I do a list every year on my birthday for the next year. I recently checked my list and oops, there are some that just aren’t going to happen since my birthday is 14 days away.
I was pretty darn cute at 3 years of age. Missed my prime but I can still throw some mean flowers on the ground!
Happy early early birthday!
That’s pretty impressive/ambitious, Frank, well done. I like the idea of a time limit – recently I did a bucket list exercise and it was very helpful, but that’s more open-ended. Your list puts you on the hotseat immediately. I like it! Especially #s 26 (do it!) and 39. Good luck!
Hey, I have #32! (On my left wrist. “I love you” in Korean, in my sister’s handwriting. She and her husband (who is half Korean) were there teaching English and I went to visit in February of 2010.)
Also, re: #38. You really won’t regret it. Best series of all-time, in my opinion.
And mmmm, daeji-bulgogi. Korean food really is amazing.
Great list, Frank!
That’s awesome that you have a Korean tattoo! I’m under a lot of pressure from friends about #38. And daeji-bulgogi – Korean bbq is already bomb but then you add pork belly to it – ridiculous!
Very nice Frank!!! Keep us updated as you cross off things. I think I’m gonna make a list as well. I made a short list of places I had to see before I died when I was I high school but now that I completed that it’s time for a new one.
Thanks Jung! What were the places on your list that you made in HS?
nice list Frank! Inspiring even. I’m hoping to visit for Potlatch so would be happy to partake in eating of 5, 6 and 7. : )
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