So I turn 30 at the end of June. Kind of looking forward to it, yet trepidatious at the same time. No big deal, though. Anyway, I’m chatting with my mom on the phone, and she brings up the fact that, because this is a milestone of sorts, she doesn’t want to just buy me someTHING, but would rather get me some sort of experience. Something I can do.
I asked her for an example, and she brought up skydiving (which is odd, as she’s told me in the past that if I ever decide to go skydiving, I’m not allowed to tell her about it until after the fact). So, since then, have been trying to come up with ideas of what this experience could be. Skydiving seems like a knee-jerk reaction/cliche, so am trying to look beyond that…like storm-chasing on the Great Plains, or something. Decided I’d throw the question out to y’all and see if you had any ideas or things you’ve done that might qualify.
Some background on me…
Just relocated from Michigan to the South Bay area outside of LA. Most of the people I know are from work, so still getting used to the area and the locals.
Single, so the activity doesn’t have to accomodate more than one person. Or it could include meeting new people.
Employed full-time, so while it would be ideal if such a thing could be encapsulated locally in a weekend, I do have about two weeks of vacation left for the year where I could extend that to a three or four day weekend and travel somewhere.
My passport just expired, but would get on the ball about renewing it if the idea was enticing enough. I still have a Michigan license and Michigan plates/insurance, so might have to deal with all that in one fell swoop.
A present Michigandere here! My suggestion is to take a hot air balloon trip, it’s really amazing. I’m sure you have better scenery there than here, and I understand it’s particularly stunning over the desert.
Whichever way you go, make sure to plan it yourself; I left my 30th to the BF at the time and and he ‘never got around to planning’ anything. Just took me to dinner and was puzzled why I kept leaving the table to cry. :smack:
I’m turning 30 this year too, and did a sky dive a couple of months ago - I’m normally a very cautious person, like to be in control etc, but the experience was a total leap of faith (hah!) and have months later still left me with an amazing feeling of confidence that I can handle whatever life throws at me. Obviously you may feel differently, but would be the sort of thing I would recommend if someone wanted to give it to you as a gift, and is definately a rite of passage experience.
Or she could buy you the other thing I did this year for my 30th - a year living and working in the UK! Slightly harder to giftwrap though.
I didn’t mean to sound as if skydiving wasn’t an option…just that it was the first thing that popped into my head, and I was having trouble thinking of anything else…
Other things that are on the table…
Kayaking
White Water Rafting
Threesome (my roommate’s suggestion…don’t think that will fly)
Instead of doing something, how about learning something, like a new skill? Instruments come to mind, but something physical, like karate or dance, would also be a great experience. It’s not something you can do on your b-day, but something you start as you pass a milestone. Just a thought.
I decided that 30 simply didn’t work for me as a concept…
so I didn’t.
The day before I would have turned 30, I got on plane and flew west - across the international date line. I landed the day after I would have turned 30, and skipped the process of turning 30 altogether.
As I see it, in order to be 30, I needed to turn 30 (which I didn’t). And in order to be 31 (or any age above that), I’d need to be 30 first, (which I wasn’t).
I’m now ageless.
The federal government may disagree, but who really trusts them anyway?
And I got a cool vacation to New Zealand out of it, too.
