30 Things To Do Before 30

I’m a quarter century old now!

It was my third birthday to celebrate in China, and this one was a little different than my previous ones in Hengyang. In Hengyang I was always with university students who threw me parties and gave me Zhang Jie books. Here in Guangzhou my kindergartners were less interested in my birthday and more interested in the new game they played in P.E. class 😉

But my evening part-time class had a party for me and got me cake and flowers so that was really sweet!

I also spent this past weekend celebrating with friends in Guangzhou!

I received lots of phone calls, messages, and posts from friends and family all over the world as well which was so wonderful, and this next weekend is a holiday in China so I have plans to do a little traveling. 25 is looking pretty good!

I was thinking about all the things I’ve done before turning 25. I’ve been skydiving. Studied abroad. Graduated college. Moved to China. Traveled solo. Started playing guitar again and picked up the ukulele. Met some pretty cool friends and visited more countries.

So I was thinking of what I’d like to do next. What I hope to do by 30. I realize 30 is still a ways off but thought it would be fun to make a list. Here’s a few ideas I had – some are places I want to go or things I want to do.

30 Things To Do Before 30

1. Bungee jumping
2. Swim with sharks
3. Go to South America
4. Learn how to cook better (my skills are pretty lacking here in China)
5. Run 10k
6. Pass HSK 3 (Chinese Language Test – I’m currently HSK level 2)
7. See the Grand Canyon
8. Attend the Olympic Games
9. Hike Huangshan mountain in China
10. Visit Zhangjiajie and the Glass Bridge in Hunan Province
11. Budget better and save more money
12. Start a novel
13. Go to a big music festival
14. Go on cross country road trip
15. Try couch surfing
16. Do 30 days of something
17. Get a tattoo (maybe?)
18. Get a pet (I want to be in one place for awhile before I get one though, we’ll see)
19. Update my wardrobe and get more polished (Being a kindergarten teacher clothes have definitely been more about comfort and functionality!)
20. Visit someone from Instagram in a new city – this sounds a little crazy, but I’ve actually met so many interesting and cool people through Instagram who are also living in China! Although we’ve never met we’ve become friends through our experiences in China and talking about various things. Many of them have asked me to visit their city to meet up and hang out! I love meeting new people, and this feels like a cool thing to try similar to couch surfing.

Okay, well I’ve only got 20 so far. I’m going to mull over this list a little more and add/change/edit/remove/rethink some of these crazy things.

Does anyone else have a list like this? What’s on yours?