30 Before 30

Although to-do-before-you-die lists had their heyday a few years ago, I never really got the trend and so generally ignored it. But in planning my wedding, I've given a lot of thought to what I bring to our future partnership as a person. You know, the whole "you have to know yourself before you can join your life to someone else's" theory. And I realized that the life experiences I've had fall in a pretty narrow range. I've traveled Europe extensively, but I've never been camping. I've seen the world's greatest works of art, but I've never gone to a pro sports game.

I bet everyone has these things that they've always wanted to do but never did. Getting married could be a unique opportunity to gain a partner who will help you make them happen. So I thought back to all the times I've said "I really want to _____ sometime", and I wrote each one down. And in the next 8 years, with the support of my future husband, I hope to do them all!

So, without further ado, the 30 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 30:

1) Go to a concert for something besides classical music
2) Ride a horse
3) Spend the night in a bungalow over the ocean
4) Attend a pro soccer game
5) Take a trip to California
6) Visit Russia
7) Take a hot air balloon ride
8) Go parasailing
9) Cook a gourmet meal
10) Spend a romantic night in a fancy hotel with S
11) Go kayaking, canoeing, or rafting
12) Take a vacation in the Caribbean
13) Have a spa day
14) Go to a fashion show
15) Spend a day in the hills, Sound of Music style
16) Spend New Years somewhere other than my home town
17) Have a baby
18) Take a road trip
19) See Australia
20) Go rock climbing
21) Finish writing a book
22) Figure out what I want to do professionally in the long term
23) See a big ice-skating competition in person
24) Go dancing in a super-exclusive club
25) Go skiing
26) Plan and host a huge party
27) Make an item of clothing
28) Take a spontaneous weekend trip
29) Stay up all night
30) Camp somewhere in the wilderness where I can see all the stars

If you've never done this before, you should try it, publicly, privately, whatever. It really does feel liberating. And, scientists have proven that if you write something down, you're more likely to actually do it.

PS In case you're wondering, S's 30 Before 30 is rather short. When I asked him, he said, "I only have one - to be worth at least a million." True Wall Street style:)