Just for fun

I Did 50 New Things Before My 50th Birthday

A 50th Birthday deserves more than a trip or a party. Why not celebrate by accomplishing 50 new things in 50 weeks?

This crazy idea started out on my 49th birthday…we were on our self-created pub tour in London, the last night of what had been an incredible family trip across the pond to see our beloved Seahawks play the Raiders in the NFL UK series. If this is how I celebrated 49, how would I improve on it for my 50th birthday??

50 is a big deal and I felt like I had to pay it proper homage. I needed something equally momentous! After some brainstorming and online inspiration, when I got home I decided that I would do 50 “things” in the 50 weeks until my 50th birthday. And so it began.

Where to Start Planning for a 50th Birthday Challenge?

As all planners know, you have to start with the end in mind. That end was a sister trip to Key West. When Patti asked where I wanted to go, this was my choice. We had been trying to get there for YEARS! But something always came up. So I simply had to fill in 49 other things…easy, right?

These 50 things could be anything – some big, some small, some personal, some with others, some required travel, some right here in Colorado. Everyone who knows me, knows I love to live it up! I try not to half-ass anything and I am on the go traveling or exploring most every weekend.

But this was going to require some planning, organization and lots of backup plans. One thing that made this more fun is that my VBFFs were also turning 50 so we had a lot to celebrate!

50 Things for my 50th Birthday.  My best friends, wine tasting in the Willamette Valley
Wine tasting in the Willamette Valley with my besties <3

Making my 50th Birthday list

  • I started with things I already wanted to accomplish and places I was going like Bali and Italy (this alone would have been an epic year of travel).
  • I consulted my list of 40 Must-see Colorado locations that I was already working through. This fantastic list and others come from Out There Colorado, a constant source of local inspiration!
  • Bucket List type things that I’ve always wanted to do, like Skydiving or meeting Michelle Obama. Spoiler alert, neither of these happened 🙁
  • Which of the 50 States had I not been to? There were 14 of them.
  • New countries
  • I polled my friends and family to see if there was anything they would like to do with me or any place they would like to go.
  • Then just be open to any & all experiences that might present themselves

In the end, I came up with a list of about 70-80 things that were likely or possible and started a spreadsheet that scheduled out the year. I am a total planning nerd, so this was right in my wheelhouse.

WeekCountDateActivityWith?CompleteCategory
5-Nov13-NovPut my feet in Gulf of MexicoSydniXSee something new
Example from my spreadsheet

Is it Listworthy?

I started filling in trips that I already had planned and made it a point to find something “list-worthy” at each destination. For example, we were going to our dad’s house in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. Been there a ton of times, lived there for 6 years so it was going to be hard to come up with something new (and worthy). It ended up being the Fremont Street Experience Zipline!

Then started filling in the absolutes like the VBFF birthday weekend and seeing Dolly Parton! And continued adding in where I could. This was in no way written in stone but I did know that I had to accomplish an average of 1 new thing a week.

Favorites

New things to see

Forest Giants in Kentucky
50 things to do before you turn 50
Forest Giants in Kentucky
Dolly Parton at the Grand Ol' Opry
50 things to do before you turn 50
Dolly Parton at the Grand Ol Opry
Supertree Grove, Gardens by the Bay, SIngapore
50 things for your 50th birthday
Ruby Falls in Tennessee
50 before turning 50
Ruby Falls in Tennessee
Churchill Downs
50 things to do before you turn 50
Churchill Downs
Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina
50 things for your 50th birthday
The Biltmore in Asheville, NC
Moraine Lake
50 things for your 50th birthday
Moraine Lake
Kelingking Beach
50 before turning 50
The iconic Kelingking Beach on Nusa Penida.

New Experiences

Feet in the Gulf of Mexico
50 before turning 50
Axe Throwing
How to celebrate your 50th birthday
Ice Skating at Rockefeller Center

50 things to do before turning 50
Ziplining on Fremont Street
50 things to do before turning 50
How to celebrate your 50th birthday
Peggy Co-piloting a seaplane
Bali Swing
50 things for a 50th birthday
Swinging over the Rice Terraces

New Countries

Bali, Indonesia
How to celebrate your 50th birthday
Bali, Indonesia

Venice
Venice, Italy
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
How to celebrate your 50th birthday
SIngapore

Dubrovnik, Croatia
How to spend your 50th birthday
Dubrovnik, Croatia

New States

Glacier NP in Montana
Montana
West Virginia
How to celebrate your 50th birthday
santuario de chimayo in New Mexico
How to celebrate your 50th birthday

New National Parks

Dry Tortugas National Park
How to celebrate your 50th birthday
Dry Tortugas National Park

Many Glacier in Glacier National Park
How to celebrate your 50th birthday
Glacier National Park
Everglades National Park
How to celebrate your 50th birthday
Everglades National Park

50th Birthday Success!

All in all, it was an amazing year and while I didn’t accomplish some of the really important things on my list like skydiving and a hot air balloon ride (and meeting Mrs. Obama), I have so many more that were just a blast! I ended up seeing 15 new sights, having 21 new experiences, visiting 4 new countries, 5 new states and 4 new National Parks! I spent quality time with friends and family and made memories to last the next 50 years! I’d say that was pretty successful!

Here is the entire list of 50 Things:

#Activity
1Feet in the Gulf of Mexico
2Bread baking class with Brother Luck
3Visit Cheyenne Mtn Zoo
4Fremont Street Zipline
5See the Shrine of the Sun in Colo Springs
6See a new Broadway Show – Come From Away
7Ice Skating at Rockefeller Center
8Read “The Nightingale” – shouldn’t be bucket list but had been on my “must read” list for a couple of years and I kept putting it off!
9See Chapel on the Rock in Estes Park, CO – I rang the church bell
10Go to Lookout Mountain & Buffalo Bill’s gravesite in Golden, CO
11First Transpacific Flight
12Visit Bali
13Purification Ceremony at a Bali Temple
14Try Kopi Luwak Coffee
15Bali waterfalls
16Get a Fishy Pedicure
17Ride an elephant
18Bali Swing
19Celebrate Nyepi
20Visit Nusa Penida
21Snorkeling with Manta Rays
22Singapore – Marina Bay Sands
23Singapore – Gardens by the Bay
24Kentucky Bourbon Tasting
25Horse Racing at Keeneland Racetrack in KY
26Visit Asheville/Biltmore in NC
27Fly to Europe Business Class
28Visit Croatia & Dubrovnik City Walls
29See Milan and The Last Supper
30Visit Lake Como & take an authentic Italian Cooking Class
31Experience Venice
32Louisville – Churchill Downs and the Slugger museum
33See the Forest Giants – Huge sculptures by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. He has installations all over the world.
34Visit Montana & Glacier NP
35Stay at Fairmont Lake Louise
36See Ruby Falls in Tennessee
37Explore Denver City Park plus a tasting at Leopold Bros Distilling
38Boat tour of the underground caverns at Lost River Cave & KY Down Under
39Try Axe Throwing
40Visit New Mexico
41Visit West Virginia
42Rode a mechanical bull
43See Dolly Parton at the Grand Ol’ Opry
44Go to Key West!!!
45Take a Sea Plane
46Visit Dry Tortugas NP
47Everglades NP and take an Air Boat ride
48Visit South Carolina
49Go to Great Smoky Mountains National Park
50Shoot a gun
My Completed 50 by 50 list

Hope you found some inspiration and some great ideas for your own milestone celebration!

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