30 Before 30 Bucket List Challenge Ideas

So you’ve probably come across these bucket lists a hundred times before. I had a ‘things to do before you die list’ and I pretty much completed everything on it…skydiving – done, bungee jump – done, canyon swing – done, swim with sharks – done, surf Waikiki Beach – done, you just have to check out my adrenaline activity list to see a whole bunch of crazy stuff that I’ve completed. 

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I HAD a 30 before 30 list, to visit 30 countries before I turned 30 and I smashed it out of the park…I even upped it to 40 countries and I’m currently on 39 with a year to go!

So now I’m 29, I’ve come up with an equally crazy idea. To come up with a BRAND NEW bucket list that I have just 1 year to complete. 3rd December 2018 is the deadline for completing my new 30 things to do before you turn 30 list! By making my list public, it gives me no choice but to now complete it…or end up publicly failing. So here it is:

30 Things To Do Before Turning 30

• Visit my 40th country and complete my 40 countries before 30 list
• Complete The Yellow Envelope challenge
• Bike the 26 mile Heritage Trail
• Volunteer
• Run in a ‘unique’ 5K…I have my eye on one, it involves stairs…
• Fill an Operation Christmas Child box
• Go in a hot air balloon
• Try stand up paddle board yoga
• Learn to ski
• Publish a book

• Book a ‘free’ international flight using air miles
• Get published in a magazine or on a big website
• Get my commercial drone license
• Build a Little Free Library
• Learn some Spanish
• Walk/run 2018 miles in 2018
• Read 40 books
• Compete in a cardboard boat race
• Go wild camping on a Mississippi River sand bank
• Join an art class
• Climb to the top of a silo (if you have a farm, please feel free to donate a silo for me to climb! Not one of the short, fat ones…I want one of the tall, skinny ones!)
• Do a social media detox (not including FaceTime and Facebook Messenger…being an Expat this is my way of communicating with home and if I can’t talk to them I’ll go crazy and probably have a breakdown and we don’t want that to happen now, do we!)
• Shop at an Amish market
• Stay in a yurt
• Visit a new State
• Attempt Dubuque’s ‘Ninja Warrior’ course
• Complete my ‘one line a day’ journal for the year
• Go in a floatation tank
• Finally find the damn Geocaches that are hiding in my town TORMENTING ME.
• Go on a jet-ski

Other than the 40th country and the international air miles flight, everything on the list can be completed within a fairly local radius…(yep, even the skiing can you believe?!) so hopefully I can inspire people to realise that adventure can be found even on your doorstep!

*Update*: I managed to complete 20 of the things on my 30 before 30 bucket list! Some took a little longer than the year goal but I’m happy that I did 2/3rds! I love setting myself goals as it gives me something to work towards. I also love collecting experiences, no matter how big or small they are. They create memories that can last a life time! Since publishing this post I have taken 2 ‘free’ flights, including one long haul in business class with a sky bed!

Do you have a bucket list? I’d love to hear what some of your goals are!

Last Updated on April 2, 2024