50 Before 50 Bucket List

Today is my 40th birthday and I’m going to start by remembering 15 years ago when I started my first bucketlist!  I called it 30 before 30.  Over the next 10 years, I crossed 24 of those items off and then wrote a new bucketlist, 40 before 40.  On my 40th birthday, I’m excited to share my progress with those 40 along with my new bucket list, 50 before 50!  

Before I get to the lists, I just want to say how powerful goal setting has been for me.  It is something I do with my students, and there is evidence-based science supporting it, not simply my anecdotes.  I have found that simply writing down goals helps me when I’m “bored” or don’t know what to do.  I made habits out of doing things that I want to do rather than simply defaulting to whatever is available.  

Yes, I still doom scroll more than I would like.  I veg out, especially as I recover from surgery, but I also make purposeful choices to achieve my goals.  

People often think that bucket lists are expensive and all about travel, but the truth is they are whatever you want them to be.  I’ve achieved goals based on location, learning outcomes, professional landmarks, and personal relationships. Some of them cost a lot of money, like visiting new continents, while others, such as learn to dance, create a blog, or volunteer are less financially constrained.

“Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” -Oscar Wilde

Lastly, I find that sharing and celebrating when I achieve my goals helps motivate me to do even more.  In the past decade I achieved 26 different goals!  I didn’t get to all 40 of them; some of the remaining 14 become 50 before 50 ideas, others (like sky dive) I decide are no longer something I care that much about doing.  I also know that if I hadn’t written this list in the first place, I would have reached far fewer goals.

It’s funny how my 50 before 50 bucket list has evolved to include more family and home life items.  If you’re still reading, then please comment or message me with any of these goals you’d like to help me achieve!

50 before 50 Bucket List

1. Learn to walk again after rupturing my Achilles tendon.  That means being diligent and dedicated to my Physical Therapy that starts in 2 weeks!
2. Visit a new continent: South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (leftover from 40)
3. Building something special for Emmalynn
4. Visit Mom and Dad in North Carolina
5. Expand our family
6. SCUBA dive! (adapted from getting advanced to just getting refreshed and going diving.)
7. Take a conversational language course (adapted leftover from 40 to be more specific)
8. Bring the family aboard (maybe my old stomping grounds in South Korea)
9. Visit friends in Korea
10. Go on an trip to be the fun Uncle
11. Bring my writing to a publisher/editor (adapted leftover from 40 to be more specific)
12. Host a photography gallery (leftover from 40)
13. Develop a fencing league/club/etc
14. Renew my competitive fencing rating (currently a D2025 down from an A2012)
15. Compete at a national veteran 40s fencing tournament
16. Make a lasting impression at the cabin
17. Learn to print and frame my own photos
18. Go on a hunting trip (not necessarily to pull the trigger; perhaps as a mule with a camera)
19. Learn more basic car maintenance (belts, oil, etc.)
20. Take the family on an overnight backpacking trip
21. Go on a backpacking trip without kids
22. Travel somewhere with just Elizabeth; that means NO KIDS
23. Take at least one East Coast trip
24. Drive the Alcan (ideally taking a week or more with plenty of stops) 
25. Create an easy watering system for my vegetable garden
26. Read more books for me! (Most of the books I read are for my students. This is hard to quantify because some books are under 200 pages and others are 600+ so I’ll just say that I want to read at least 2,000 pages worth of ME books every year.) 
27. Streamline my classroom setup to be a 1-day affair
    
28. Invest in my retirement
29. Invest in Emmalynn’s (and Baby #2’s) future
30. Go on an all-night Aurora hunt and see a great show! (I’ve done this before and want to do it again)
31. Spend a night (or two) winter camping.  Maybe backpacking somewhere for Aurora?
32. Visit an Alaskan Village
33. Volunteer for Skiku 
34. Ski to Tolvana hot springs
35. Run a half-marathon
36. Ski a marathon outside of Alaska
37. Complete the Lavaman Triathlon (Swim, Bike, Run)
38. Apply to be on Survivor
39. Complete Tri Flake Triathlon (Ski, Bike, Run)
40. Swim 1 mile for time
41. Plan a trip to run a race
42. Visit Katmai National Park
43. Visit Cordova
44. Go on an Alaska backcountry trip via plane (maybe out of McCarthy?) 
45. Commit to strength training (Hopefully, this prevents other major injuries)
46. Lose the dadbod belly
47. Hike a new peak near home
48. Hike a new peak outside of Alaska
49. Keep all my teeth! (that means listening to my dentist and taking care of my teeth)
50. See the Olympics in person!  (Leftover from both 30 and 40.  Maybe Summer 2028?)

40 Before 40

1. Live & work in a new city – So far I’ve lived in New Jersey (near NYC), Boston and Seoul.  I’m not sure if another country is in the cards but I’d like to explore a new city for sure.
2. Become proficient in another language – This was a goal for 30 before 30 and I am proud of my Korean language skills.  My conversations are basic and I often blush when the locals tell me how good my Korean is since I still don’t feel that way but I’ve found a new apartment, bought a new phone & contract and can order food using Korean.  Now I’d like to learn another language that is a bit more practical than Korean.  Perhaps Spanish or German
3. Publish a book – 30 before 30 had “publish something” on it and I crossed that one off with some of my more popular articles on my blog but now I really want to focus on writing a book.  I’ve got 3 drafts started and secretly chose the one I want to focus on.  Time to get writing!
4. Volunteer in a 3rd world country – I did this in my 20’s and want to do it again in my 30’s.  Enough said
5. Visit 10 new countries – A lofty goal but I think I can make this one a reality too.  When I say visit I mean more than just an overnight passing through.  I want to meet some locals, taste the food and get a feel for the culture in each new country
6. Go on a long term backpacking adventure – I am in the planning stages for my post-Korea backpacking trip and hoping to spend 6-9 months backpacking through SouthEast Asia.  Its sure to be one hell of an adventure and the experience of a lifetime!
7. See the Olympics in person!  This is another carry over from 30 before 30.  It’ll be tough to accomplish but I think I can do it!
8. Sell my photography – Either as a licensed work or a framed print I’d love to sell my photos!   At the moment I still consider myself an amateur photographer.  Recently I had some photos exhibited in a  museum and am gaining more recognition but it would be great to sell something greater than a few post cards
9. Host a gallery show for my work – This is a bit of a tough one but I’m thinking that whenever I move back to America I want to have an exhibit about all my travels.  Perhaps I’ll even have one before leaving Korea!
10. See Mount Everest – I’ve toyed with the idea of climbing Everest and don’t think that’s in my future.   Maybe I’ll head up to base camp 2 or 3 or perhaps I’ll trek around Everest to get better views of the mountain but before I turn 40 I want to get into the Himalayas and experience this natural beauty
11. Visit a new continent – So far I’ve lived in North America & Asia; I’ve visited Europe leaving Australia, Africa, Antarctica and South America.
12. Dive with whale sharks – This one feels like cheating since I’ve already got plans to do it for my 30th birthday but it’s definitely a bucket list item for me!
13. Advanced Open Water Certification – My 30 before 30 had SCUBA diving on it and now that I’ve been a handful of times I’m hooked.  Next step is advanced open water which paves the way for underwater photography, cave & wreck diving!
14. See the Taj Majal – This ivory mausoleum has been  on my mind since I first learned about it (probably by playing Civilization 2)  
15. Own property – simple enough but not so easy…
16. Become Debt Free – This is a leftover from my 30 before 30 and I’m getting close to finally paying off all my student loans!  (disclaimer: mortgage doesn’t count)
17. Finish my masters degree – Another leftover but I just started my masters in International Education during the fall of 2015.  Its scheduled to be finished by the end of 2016 which means 2016 is going to be a tough year!
18. See the Great Wall of China
19. Climb Mt. Fuji OR Mt. Kilamanjaro – I toyed with the idea of making this two separate items but decided that they are radical enough that I’ll be happy as long as I summit one of these beasts.
20. Spend a week (or more) in the backcountry – I got my first real taste of back country backpacking before coming to Korea.  Although I’ve been hiking like crazy here nothing compares to that feeling of being the only human being within miles
21. Photograph the Milky Way Galaxy
22. See a meteor shower
23. Marriage – This is a weird one to put down.  I’ve always believed in the philosophy that you shouldn’t force marriage.  When the time is right it will be the right time so I hate to give myself this kind of deadline but at the same point if I’m not married by the time I’m 40 that could be a little worrisome.
24. Start a family – My parents had me in their mid-late 30’s.  I hope to have kids around the same time they did.
25. Long distance bike tour – In the past I’ve thought about biking Taiwan and some Korean islands.  This trip doesn’t have to be on an island but I’d like to spend about a week on 2 wheels.  2 wheels without an engine!
26. Long distance motorbike tour – piggy backing on #25 and getting nostalgic about the Mae Hong Son Loop I’d like to spend a week on 2 wheels with an engine too!
27. Do a handstand push up
28. Restructure www.LiveTravelTeach.com – My last list motivated me to make my blog but now that I’ve got over 300 posts its time to restructure the website.  I want to keep the blog but turn the main site into a more useful page.  This means updating a lot of the older posts to make them useful to a traveler.  I also want to add a section about my photography & have some other ideas.  It’s a big task and if need be I’ll get help to do it but Live, Travel, Teach will become a resource instead of just a personal story
29. Travel somewhere with Ben – Last time I had a similar goal and Ben (my brother) joined me in Korea for a great adventure.  Unfortunately that was because I couldn’t join him in the Amazon like we’d originally planned because I took the job here.  I’m not counting the Philippines for this one.  My brother and I must plan some other adventure and go explore the world together for me to cross this one off!
30. Reach 10,000 combined followers – This could be tough to get but I want to have a strong social follower base, partly for my blog and personal reasons, partly for professional reasons as a photographer and future author and partly just for fun.  (This is a combined total of all my social media, right now I’m at under 3,000)
31. Take a long term sailing/boating trip – This doesn’t have to be a massive cruise and in fact I’d prefer if it were a smaller boat.  I have minimal sailing experience but would love to live on a boat for a week or more (preferably in the tropics)
32. Spend a month on a beach – relaxation is a necessary part of life and what better place to relax than on a tropical beach.  At some point in the next 10 years I’d like to spend 30 days waking up within walking distance to a beach.  With any luck I’ll be able to get a big jump on my website or book during this zenful period
33. Do a temple stay
34. Learn to meditate – I started meditating for 5 minutes everyday with the Evolve Challenge 3.0.  Turns out it’s been a great way to manage my sleep pattern and help me fall asleep but I think that meditation can help me in other ways.  I don’t need to experience a new level of consciousness but I’d like to be able to meditate with minimal assistance.
35. Start a school where it’s needed the most– This is a tough one and I’ve been thinking about it ever since I went to Son Doong.  I think it would be incredible to start a school in Vietnam or some other impoverished country.  Hopefully I can do it on one of my many backpacking trips and I’ve already spoken to some of the people in a tiny jungle village called Phong Nha who are teaching out of a church.  It would be wonderful to help use my education to help spread education to the places that need it the most.
36. Stand up on a surfboard
37. Ride a hot air balloon
38. Fly first class for the first time
39. Go Skydiving
40. See the Aurora in person (northern OR southern lights count!)

30 before 30

1) Travel to a new continent:
2) Become proficient in a second language:  I’ve bought a new phone, ordered food and found an apartment all using Korean!
3) Visit 10 new countries: Israel, Jordan, Korea, Japan, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan
4) Teach in my own classroom:
5) Design a curriculum for a course:
6) Achieve a net worth of about $75,000:  Not quite yet…
7) Bring my fencing team to a winning record:
8) Qualify my fencing team for state championships:
9) Achieve an A rating in USFA:
10) Compete in a world cup: Didn’t quite make it to the world cup stage but I did compete internationally.  I’m counting it!
11) Complete a long distance race:Korean Spartan Race & NJ Tri Athalon
12) Move out:
13) Publish something: I’ve published over 300 articles on my blog!
14) Finish a Masters degree:  I’ll be done Xmas 2016!
15) See the Olympics in person: Next time!
16) Write a memoir of my life before 30:  Memoir maybe not but I’m counting all of the writing on my blog!
17) Perform on stage:
18) Create a blog:
19) Create a piece of art that I will proudly display in my home: Love having my photos printed 🙂
20) Try something new at least once a year:  Ballroom Dance, Marching Band Instructor, Teaching Special Education, Learning Korean, AcroYoga
21) Climb a mountain:  This seems a bit ironic now haha I lost count at about 20 mountain peaks.
22) Become Debt free:  Almost done with those pesky student loans!
23) Travel somewhere with Ben
24) Volunteer in a 3rd world country
25) Work in a foreign country
26) Try SCUBA diving:
27) Learn to dance
28) Visit Ben abroad: N/A since he’s living in Texas full-time
29) Go on Birthright
30) Teach high school:  Fell in love with my elementary kiddos instead