30 Experiences Before Turning 30

I want to live a life well lived. Most people do. Yet, all too often, it can become easy to get caught up in the requirements of day-to-day living. And what we need to do typically trumps the things we desire to do.

Life is bound to happen, but I’ve learned that if I’m not intentional about planning in time to do what fills me up, it all to easily gets pushed to the wayside.

Living Life with Intention

With that in mind, for the past six months, I’ve been slowly crafting a list of thirty things I would like to do before I turn thirty. This “challenge” isn’t a new concept. Many people have done something similar in the past. But I want to tackle this with a specific perspective: one of freedom and flexibility.

I don’t look at the next 15 months as a time where I need to accomplish all of these things to feel like my twenties were fulfilled. I loved my twenties and am looking forward to my thirties. Many of my role models really started to thrive in their thirties so, if anything, I’m excited for what’s to come.

This list is about naming and going after the things that mean the most to me in life.

The whole point is to have fun. I may change some things along the way. In fact, I intentionally left two slots blank so I could fill them in as I go. (If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them!)

I’m not concerned about checking things off the list – this isn’t meant to be regimented. Instead, the goal is to simply enjoy the moments while experiencing each of these things.

If I manage to make progress on all thirty, I’ll be ecstatic, but if not, hopefully there will continue to be opportunities in my early thirties to live them out. I hope you’ll join me for the journey – you can expect periodic updates on here as well as Instagram. I’ll be using the hashtag #MBE30x30.

Without further adieu, here is the list!

My 30 Before 30 List

1. Take a road trip (Complete! Highlights from our trip to Texas.)

2. Build and plant garden boxes (Complete! Loved every minute spent out in the garden this summer.)

• 

• 

• 

• 

3. Stay overnight in a tiny house (Complete! We enjoyed an overnight in Traverse City, MI.)

4. Run or walk a 5K (Complete! We Ran (walked) for Answers in support of the DTRF on September 22nd in Philly!)

5. Thirty thank yous

6. Read all 66 books of the Bible

7. Create a piece of art

8. Complete 100 days of Pilates 

9. Read 30 books for fun (Complete! See “What I Read.”)

10. Declutter each room of the house: round 3 (Complete!)

11. Hike in a new park (Complete! We LOVED Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.)

12. Take a pottery class (Complete! See pictures from the class).

13. Become a hope*writer (Complete! Read about my journey.)

14. Have a garage sale (Complete! See fun pictures from the day.)

15. Ditch and switch three new items

16. Share about my decluttering experience (idea: blog post)

17. Attend a concert (Complete! Saw Celine Dion in Indy with my sister, mom, and our dance friends + mom! The best night.)

18. Be part of a book club (Complete!)

19. Visit Lucas Oil stadium 

20. Random acts of kindness (Complete and yet always ongoing!)

21. Create a cupcake bouquet (Complete! Happy birthday, mom! And happy birthday, Roxanne – shown below!)

22. Invite neighbors over

23. Begin a scholarship fund

24. Travel to a new state or country

25. Give back to the cancer-fighting community (idea: regular healthy snack donations)

26. Volunteer with Random Acts of Flowers (Complete and ongoing! Some photos from volunteering!)

27. Start a lending library

28. Do something outside of my comfort zone (Complete! I got out of my comfort zone at a local writer meetup and I was so glad I did!)

29. Plant a cut flower garden.

30. TBD

Reminder: if you are interested in following along, I’ll be sharing on Instagram with the hashtag #MBE30x30.