The List
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| The last night of my 20s |
Inspired by my dance friend Laurie's amazing success with her 40 Before 40 list, I've decided to tackle my own! I've been drafting some of these items for years - particularly the DC area and travel sections - but I just managed to flesh it out into 40 awesome ideas under the categories of Books, DC Area, Travel, Experiences, and Animals.
Books
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| The Count of Monte Cristo |
I do annual book reading targets on Goodreads, but I wanted to include these two specific goals on here.
1. Read 5 books in French: I've got a bunch stacked on my bookshelf from the used book market in Rennes, and I think I can at leastaverage one each 2 years! I also plan to make The Count of Monte Cristo one of these - I read it in English in 8th grade and it's my absolute favorite book ever. It inspired me to study French, study abroad/live there, and marry a Frenchman ;)
2. Read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl: I came upon this during my meditation research this summer. Hope to cross this one off quickly to inspire how I think about the next 10 years.
DC Area
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| Smokey Bear |
3. Union Market: Local food vendors galore - I just hate getting on the red line!
4. Smithsonian Postal Museum: Sounds interesting.
5. National Cathedral: Can't believe I haven't made it here yet either!
6. Drag Brunch: PA and I have been meaning to do this for years! Maybe for his birthday next year
7. Smithsonian African American Museum: Need timed tickets to get in still.
8. Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens: I want to go for peak bloom during a summer.
9. Rock Creek Capitol Stones: In Rock Creek Park lie leftover stones from a Capitol remodeling project.
10. Smokey Bear on the National Mall: At the U.S. Forest Service office on the National Mall, there is an exhibit with an animatronic Smokey Bear - NEED TO GO!
11. National Park Service Obscure Memorials Tour: A free historic tour of the little-noticed memorials in the park like John Paul Jones, First Air Mail, Marker, George Mason and others. I'm looking for a time when this is offered on a weekend!
12. Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument House and Museum: Who can say no to learning more about this history?
13. Lincoln's Cottage: Heard about this from work colleagues as a little known DC spot. It was a summer White House for Lincoln and a few other Presidents and is now a Lincoln museum.
14. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello: Need a car for this one - seems like a good excuse to stop at some Virginia vineyards too.
Travel
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| Moroccan palace decor |
I'm a busy traveler for both work and fun, and I hope my 30's take me to many more amazing places. Here are a few meta targets and a few specific locales I have planned.
15. Visit 50 countries: I've been to 39 countries as of September 2018, and I hope between work and vacation I'll get to many more!
16. This is a split between (A) visiting Antarctica and Australia to visit all 7 continents or (B) visiting 40 states (I've been to 21 so far): Not sure which is more ambitious - this will be my reach goal!
17. NYC with Pierre-Antoine: I've been one day on a layover to see the Statue of Liberty and one quick weekend for a music festival, but I have yet to do all the touristy things. And I want to explore with my husband!
18. Quebec: I had planned to do Quebec City and Montreal as a long weekend for my 30th birthday, but that got postponed. I have the itinerary ready, so just need to pick new dates (in warm months, of course!). Want to hear those funny accents XD
19. Galapagos: The history and the animals have always drawn me in.
20. Marrakech: Cheating a bit because this is already planned for November 2018 with a belly dance group. So excited for my first firsthand taste of Arabic culture!
21. Alaska: Hopefully on a family cruise - I want to see whales and wilderness.
22. Japan: I promised PA we'd go for an anniversary trip soon. We want this to be a big 2 week trip, so we need to save up the PTO.
23. Scotland: For OUTLANDER!
24. Bali/Cambodia/Thailand/Somewhere in SE Asia: I don't know a lot about Asia, and I want to leave this open for exploration.
Animals
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| Lemurs |
I LOVE animals! I have a sign both on my desk at work and bookshelf at home that says "I just want to drink wine, save animals, and take naps." On that theme, here are the animals that I most want to see in person.
25. Swim with whale sharks: I have loved whale sharks since seeing them at the Atlanta Aquarium. This can be done in Cabo, Indonesia, tons of other places. Looking for the right opportunity.
26. Gorilla trek: When I see gorillas in zoos and how closely their hands resemble ours, it gives me chills! Rwanda or Uganda are the best options.
27. See wild lemurs: This is an ambitious one! I'm secretly wishing for a work trip to Madagascar to cover this ;)
28. Hug a sloth: Costa Rica comes to mind, but need to research this further.
Experiences
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| Overwater bungalow at the Bora Bora Four Seasons |
These ones are a bit more flexible in location than Travel alone, so I'm calling them "experiences" rather than defining a specific place.
29. See the Northern Lights: Could be in Alaska in a 2-for-1 or maybe a hop over to Iceland?
30. Safari with PA: I fell in love with the safari lifestyle when I studied abroad in Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana and had an amazing time in Tanzania in 2017. I just want to experience it all again with PA!
31. Stay in an over water bungalow: Tahiti is my top choice, but open to opportunities in the Pacific or Caribbean to scratch this off the list.
32. Meet Irish and/or Swiss relatives: My mother has done some great genealogical research on the family tree, and I'd love to call on some family in Europe and say hi!
33. Plant a tree: I'm training with the Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria this year to learn about local tree species and care, then I will be volunteering with them for tree planting, park cleanups, and community outreach for 30+ hours per year. I'm so excited to get my hands dirty!
34. Tasting menu at a fancy (Michelin starred?) restaurant: Not sure when or where yet.
35. See the redwoods: I want to hug one.
36. See a glacier: Plan to go on a family trip to Glacier National Park in 2019, so I hope to see it before it's gone from climate change.
37. Make galettes from scratch: May try this at home or with my French family on our next trip there!
38. Make bread (baguette preferred): Ditto above.
39. Straighten my teeth (again): Planning to get braces in 2019, eeeek!
40. Write a letter to my 40 year old self, then respond to it when I'm 40: I want to write one letter now on how I feel about entering my 30s. Then at the end of this, another letter will reflect on what I've learned and accomplished in my 30s and figure out where I want to go in my 40s!
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| Baguettes |
So that's the plan! I hope to update this throughout the next 10 years (unless blogs are no longer a thing and I have to move this to another platform, lol) and remind myself that I'm not too old to do things :P
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