My bucket list before turning 30
I turned 26 the past week. It was the first time I seriously felt the clock was ticking — stepping into the second half of my 20s means 30 is just around the corner. As much as I am enjoying the work I am doing, the life I am living and the people around me at this very moment, there are many things I urge to do when I still have the energy, time and freedom.
Inspired by my friend Zhenshuo’s “The panic list of 30 before 30”, I created my own bucket list. Topics of the list touch on adventures, fitness, personal growth, etc, with the idea to focus on experiences that I want to accomplish and goals I care to achieve. Some I have already accomplished in the past few years, which I just added checkmarks and timestamps.
I will come back to update once I check off any more goals from this list.
So here it is (this list is being updated as I make progress):
- visit 20 countries (progress: 19. China, Japan, United States, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Vatican City, Spain, France, Belgium, Malta, United Kingdom, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Panama, Brazil)
- go for a long-distance (15 miles+) hike
- explore a rain forest ✔ (12/2014 El Yunque, Puerto Rico)
- fly in a helicopter
- go caving ✔ (4/2016 Laurel Caverns, PA)
- try paragliding or hang-gliding ✔ (4/2019 Rio, Brzil)
- ride a camel
- own a house with ample natural light ✔(7/2017 Pittsburgh, PA)
- see the northern lights ✔ (11/2011 Kiruna, Sweden)
- see glowing fish ✔ (12/2014 Vieques Bioluminescent Bay)
- own a corgi ✔ (11/2018 Elfo)
- finish a 100-day craft project (some ideas: watercolor, zentangle, sketching, stop motion)
- take aerial silks class
- move to a new city ✔ (1/2018 to Mountain View, CA)
- sell a piece of artwork I made ✔(Sold illustrations on Creative Market)
- invent something
- file a patent ✔ (08/2014 capstone project at cmu mhci)
- give a talk in my field in front of an audience of 100 people
- build a paradise for my chinchillas ✔ (like this)
- travel to a country and speaks its own language whenever possible ✔ (10/2018 Germany)
- handwrite invitations with wax seal ✔ (04/2016)
- volunteer 5 times (2 times completed)
- do a cross-country road trip ✔ (07/2017 Drove around the ring road of Iceland)
- Watch the Olympic Games in person ✔ (08/2008 Beijing, Track and Field)
- downsize to a minimalist closet ✔ (01/2018 moving to the bay area)
- start a fun collection (to not conflict with #25, definitely not a collection of clothes :) ✔ (Google Android Figurines, Starbucks city mugs)
- write 20 blog posts (progress: 5 on Medium)
- visit a lighthouse ✔ (07/2017 Iceland)
- drive somewhere far by myself ✔ (2/2017 4-hour drive from Pittsburgh to DC)
- run a half-marathon (I hate running, which makes this goal harder than it seems. However, I still consider it as a milestone I challenge myself to accomplish)
