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!

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.

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

New Experiences

New Countries

New States

New National Parks

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:

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