Today is my fortieth birthday. As I prepare for my next decade, here are forty things I’d like to accomplish in my forties. UPDATED on November 18, 2018.

In no particular order:
- Become certified in First Aid and CPR √ (I couldn’t find a First Aid course that wasn’t targeted toward EMTs, but I am recently CPR certified)
- Donate blood 6 times (the maximum) per year (so far so good)
- Visit Yellowstone National Park and/or Grand Canyon with my family (hoping to pull this off in the next few years)
- Travel to at least 5 states I’ve never been to before (none so far, but completing #3 would help)
- Attend games at least 5 MLB ballparks I’ve never been to before (1 down, 4 to go)
- Visit two foreign countries I’ve never been to before (Ha! Seeming increasingly unlikely)
- Write a book (perhaps even try to get it published)
- Participate in
Walk for Hungerand/or Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon every year (Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon is annual tradition) - Audition (and hopefully perform) for the Revels again (Not sure if I want to do this anymore)
- Enter (and hopefully win) USS Constitution turnaround lottery (This wasn’t available while the Constitution was undergoing renovation & I’m not sure if they’re doing it all now)
- Ride in an open-cockpit biplane and/or a hot air balloon (someone needs to make this happen)
- Take up birding (I got a bird app, not much else progress)
- Read a classic Russian novel (Maybe next year)
- Try singing with a barbershop quartet
- Participate in an atlas-based road rally √ (I did this, had a lot of fun, and got a terrible score)
- Perform karaoke (who wants to take me out)
- Take a martial arts class (scheduling difficulties are a major barrier)
- Paddle on the Charles River (more like a doggy paddle)
- Play croquet in strange places (not sure what I was thinking of with this one)
- Volunteer with Bikes Not Bombs and/or Boston Bicyclists Union (still something I could do)
- Try rock climbing √ (tried a climbing wall, did NOT enjoy it)
- Visit the Great Dismal Swamp (driven past, stopped at the visitors center/rest area, does that count)
- Write in my journal more regularly √ (I have and I haven’t)
- Climb to the highest points in each of the New England states and complete hiking up all the 4000 footers in New England (increasingly unlikely to happen)
- Serve in a ministry in our church community √
- Walk inside the Mapparium √
- Take the tour at the Sam Adams Brewery √
- Become a patron of the arts by getting a subscription to a symphony, dance, or theatre series (I have been to more performances that in my 30s, but far from being a regular)
- Through hike the AT (maybe when I retire?)
- See the reenactment on Lexington Green on Patriots Day (after 20 years in the Boston year, it’s time to make it happen)
- Go to a drive-in movie for the first time (still waiting)
- Take kids to the balloon parade in Stamford, CT (no, but we’ve been to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC twice!)
- Complete my Around the World for a Good Book project (still a long way to go)
- Build a new playhouse for the kids in the backyard (got overruled)
- Take a storytelling class and perform a story to a live audience (going to try an online course soon)
- Attend 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada (proved to be logistically challenging, so we watched it on tv)
- Visit maritime Canada (not sure this will happen in the near future)
- Play curling (there should be more urban curling opportunities)
- Visit Susan’s Michigan (someday)
- Get an SLR camera and learn how to take photos √ (yes, much fun!)
If you have any suggestions for anything else I should try, let me know in the comments.
I can help you with the rock-climbing; just come to Kastelruth again (we could do it in Innsbruck, too) :) Cheers, HB again and good luck for all your projects, Tanja
LikeLike
That would be fun! I’d love to return to Kastelruth or visit Innsbruck for the first time.
LikeLike