They say having children changes everything. While it’s unquestionably a remarkable time in one’s life, I can also see how the transition introduces obvious limitations. Suddenly you have dependent beings of life to care for. Responsibility kicks in, compelling you to dedicate a significant portion of your time and attention to the best interests of the little ones. Combine this with the obvious physical and lifestyle limitations that come with age and it seems to me that there are several activities to check off the bucket list before settling down to start a family.
Here’s our list of 70 things to do before having children. For us, it’s simply about conquering as many life experiences as possible. We’re not quite there yet, but we’re getting closer. 😉
- Live in a high rise condo with an amazing view.
- Take a month long vacation on the opposite side of the world in a city with a completely different culture.
- Attend the Super Bowl live.
- Jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
- Make love in places you aren’t supposed to.
- Swim with the sharks.
- Scuba-dive to a large ship wreck.
- Audition to be on TV or in a movie… even if you’re just an extra.
- Throw the house party of all house parties. Supply all the booze and invite everyone you know.
- Take sexy photos of yourself (keep them somewhere safe).
- Learn to fly a plane.
- Become skilled with a musical instrument.
- Live in southern California for at least a year.
- Live in the heart of New York City, Chicago, Boston or another major city for at least a year.
- Spend a few weeks vacationing on the beaches of Kauai with your partner.
- Surf a Hawaiian wave.
- Learn to speak a foreign language.
- Visit the North Pole.
- Attend The Tonight Show or The Late Show as an audience member.
- Read at least 30 books.
- Jump off a cliff into a natural body of water in an exotic location.
- Go mountain climbing.
- Go deep sea fishing and learn to filet and cook your own fish.
- Go horseback riding on the beach with your partner.
- Drink warm beer out of a barrel in a real Irish pub.
- Spend a night pub-hopping in London.
- Stage dive and crowd surf at a rock concert.
- Take a set amount of money and hit the Blackjack and Craps tables in Las Vegas.
- Visit a high-end Las Vegas strip club.
- Embark on a month-long road trip across the country with 3 of your best friends.
- Ride a camel across a sandy desert.
- Go white water rafting.
- Go snowboarding in the Rockies.
- Get in great shape and enter some kind of fitness competition.
- Attain a solid understanding of how the government works in your country.
- Master one particular style of dance.
- Fall in love.
- Write a book… even if it’s short and never gets published.
- Drive through a (somewhat safe) portion of a third world country like Mexico or Costa Rica to gain perspective on what true poverty looks like.
- Go skinny dipping in a large body of water at midnight.
- Take a shower under a waterfall.
- Decide on your current life goals and write them down.
- Spend New Years Eve in Times Square.
- Go on a blind date (or a couple’s dinner date with new friends you hardly know).
- Sleep on the beach under the stars in Key West.
- Hit up Oktoberfest in Munich.
- Hit up Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
- Hit up Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
- Experience Spring Break in all its glory in Cancun, Mexico or Panama City Beach, Florida.
- Catch a ride in a hot air balloon.
- Rent a fast sports car and speed down the Autobahn.
- Switch jobs until you find one you truly enjoy.
- Buy your first house.
- Own a convertible sports car.
- Hike the Grand Canyon.
- Attend a Red Sox vs. Yankees game in Fenway Park.
- Spend a whole day making love without every leaving the house.
- Learn to make one mixed cocktail like a pro bartender.
- Run a marathon.
- Stand up in front of a large audience and tell a great joke.
- Shoot a gun.
- Swim across the English Channel.
- Bicycle ride down a mountain road.
- Learn to sail a sailboat.
- Learn the basics of a martial art.
- Visit the Amazon Rainforest.
- Bare all on a nude beach.
- Master one really cool magic trick.
- Master a few fancy dinner recipes.
- Finish up your formal education (but continue learning).
What’s on your list?
Also, check out these books for more awesome bucket list ideas:
- This Book Will Change Your Life
- 2Do Before I Die: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to the Rest of Your Life
- 100 Things to Do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can’t Miss
Photo by: Dawvon
Inspired by them says
Chica- Its sad that you think kids are only dirty diapers waiting to be changed. I thought my life was great when I was childless and in my 20’s. Now I have 2 small children and think life is even better and it is fuller than I ever could have imagined. I have traveled all over the world and have had great life experiences, but the best thing about kids is that now I know how to appreciate it all.
Tia- I couldnt agree more.
TD says
You missed one: Have a vasectomy! J/K 😉
Anke says
Um, two hints for anyone planning on “51. Rent a fast sports car and speed down the Autobahn.”
First, we locals would appreciate if you did that at night, so that if you lose control of a car you are not familiar with at speeds you (presumably) never reached before, it’s more likely you wrap yourself around a tree rather than crash into a bunch of other cars.
Second, pay at least a bit of attention to the speed limit signs. True, most people drive faster than allowed, just saying that contrary to popular belief outside Germany, in most parts, there are limits, so you might end up with a ticket. And some of these limits are in effect because of damages in the street, dangerous curves, feeding into the first hint.
Well, anyway, have fun.
Slim Fast Girl says
Sleep as much as I could.
Andrey says
These are 70 things to do before you take a mortgage =)
Bethany GM says
Between my hubby and I, I’d say we’ve covered more than the majority of your list. I’m 24 and he is 30. I’m surfing the net trying to decide if we are absolutely ready to try to have a baby. 😉
I think I may put it off now to spend just one more year enjoying Hawaii, since we are stationed here, though!
Audra says
I see both sides of the equation here. I was fortunate enough to fulfill a “mental” list of wishes and dreams before my baby. Now, I’m just starting to build a new “mental” list of wishes and dreams to fulfill in the future because baby is bigger. A child changes your life, but it’s hardly the end of having a life. I think these are wonderful ideas listed here, but by no means definitive for every person on Earth. Make your own list and make your own way. 🙂
Kris says
Some of these can be combined. I’m an Estonian and by temporarily moving to S. California I completed these items:
# Take a month long vacation on the opposite side of the world in a city with a completely different culture.
# Live in southern California for at least a year.
# Learn to speak a foreign language.
# Drive through a (somewhat safe) portion of a third world country like Mexico or Costa Rica to gain perspective on what true poverty looks like. /side note: Probably not quite like in Mexico or Costa Rica, but there’s povery I’ve never seen in S. California too.
Heather says
I’ve actually done 39 things on your list…and have my own long list that has been going on for 40 years. It didn’t cost me much because I chose a career that required me to travel and not settle down…so I have no kids, no husband…I’m trying to conceive and now my eggs have dried up… I have great memories, great photo album, but probably a lonely existance without family later in life to share those stories and photos with. My suggestion is to try and have your cake and eat it too.
snaper says
Don’t go stage diving at a rock concert. BAD BAD BAD IDEA. I’ve seen 100’s of people get injured doing this, including myself. TWO BROKEN ARMS, and a broken wrist! I was out for months and months. STUPID IDEA!!!
SportsGirl says
What I think many of you parents and naysayers are missing is that when you have children your life changes. Marc and Angel are not saying that it changes for the worse, simply that your priorities and possibilities change and no one can argue that.
If you can accomplish all that you can and live a full life before having children than you will continue to live that full and happy life after. You’re bucket list just might change. There is never the “perfect” time to have kids but to approach starting your family with a plan like theirs is the best way.
And just so no one jumps on me for not understanding, I have 3 boys 12 and under so I completely know that life doesn’t end when you have kids.
camaleon says
Well, I my culture (méxico), all the youngs couples start their marriege life very soon, and have children very soon.
It´s not a bad idea, have a list like this.
I mean, there´s another list after having children, isn´t it ?.
By the other hand, México have big problems like drugs, or economy, but we are not a third world country, O.K. ?
habed says
I have a problem with #39. I’m Mexican and had lived in the US 5 times now in different places and travel trough many times. I may know more states in your country than you and can tell you this. Endeed, we don’t have access to everything you have in your country and we may have more poverty. But I have been in some places in the US way worst than in Mexico in terms of both, security and poverty. In fact, I’ve had a gun pointed to my head twice in the US and got in the middle of a shoutout at a subway while I have never been robbed in Mexico. I love your country, there are so many beautiful places to visit and wonderful people to meet (While the majority of people don’t like Americans, I do and a lot) but instead of telling people to come and experience “poverty” tell them to come and visit our beaches, colonial cities, the very modern Mexico city, volcanos, pyramids and just to come and meet us, not for nothing they call us the amigo country. Comparing poverty among countries is not good, is like if I compare México to some countries in Africa. And here’s something I bet you didn’t know, Mexico is second in the world in expending in luxury goods, that means cars, jewlery, clothes, hotels and services, etc. We expend more money in Armani, Boss, Zegna, Cartier, and many more than every other country. Come and visit us, there’s a side of Mexico you haven’t seen. Don’t keep the Hollywood image they show at the movies. We don’t ride Burros and sleep the siesta sitting at the streets wearing a big sombrero. If you say it so people can value more what they have, tell them just to seat and watch a Sunset, go to Rocky mountains or yellowstone park. Ask them to go to Alaska or walk in the streets of NY or Boston and really look around all the beauty and magic that surround us. Ask them to carry a baby in their arms, hear and enjoy any kind of music. It’s better to value what you have by enjoying and loving what you have instead of comparing yourself to others who may not have your same opportunities. Remember, there will always be people with much more that you, and for that you will not feel worst, will you?
Regards
DominaDea says
Strange… I’ve done about half of what’s on this list, most of it AFTER having had and raising two amazing children. Life doesn’t end when you welcome a child/ren into your life, and it makes carving out “us” time for doing things like this all the more amazing.
Steve Orriss says
That’s not my list, but then you don’t have my fingerprints either. If we were all the same it would be a boring world indeed.
The biggest adventure in my life has been my kids. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
Elise says
Good list! I think it’s interesting that there are so many different viewpoints on this. 🙂 One thing I will say, is I’m not married, but I’ve done several of these things with my parents and it was wonderful! I’m in college now, but I know I’ll always be tight with my family because of the great adventures we’ve had around the world. If you have the opportunity/means to bring the kids along, do it! Your kids will love it, and looking back, you’ll love the time you spent with them.
Also, for those of who with no money, I understand, trust me. I’m a poor college student. One thing I’ve learned from my parents though, is that if you really want it, you’ll make it work. Look around online, there are TONS of websites with tips on how to travel cheaply.
Ketch Rudder says
If you haven’t done all of those sexual things by the age of 24, you’re not daring enough.
Moreover, you’ve lived a dull life.
Learning so that you gain skills and experiences (shipwreck diving, snowboarding) shall bring you to self-discovery and shall help you grow.
Attending those events (Super Bowl, Yankees game, Mardi Gras, Carnival, Oktoberfest, rock concerts, London pub hopping) could be fun.
Yet, you shall not become enriched from them. You shall not grow from such experiences.
The most useless of all would be to live in a high-rise or living in the heart of New York or Chicago.
A man needs little time to adjust to surroundings.
Yet, the negative sides of such living would become a drag on daily life.
Kudos at least to the minds who took time to conjure up a list.
Most likely, when the list makers find themselves at another stage in their lives, they would come to see many to-do’s on their list as no longer meaningful.
Hannah says
done em all cept swim the english channel
josh thompson says
You should add more stuff to the list that helps people find the true meaning in life.
Luly says
for all of those who enjoyed this i definately recomend the website 43things.com. It basically allows you to share your goals with people. The things you want to do and when you’ve done them you can tell people about it and help them too.
Matt says
Yeah sure, if I survive this list I guess I deserve to procreate.
tanya says
i’d add milk a cow 🙂
Tony says
I agree with you 100%. I put off having kids until I fnished doing the things that I wrote down on my own list many years ago (many of those things happen to be duplicated here) Now that I have reached 50 years of age I am still pursuing the things left to do on my list and I have given up on having a family and kids. At some level I regret that, however I have lived life on my terms and in the process have experienced things that most people can only dream about. And I started in 1983 with $1400.00..and I have never been broke. I am not a professional and have never asked family or friends for money. Today I live on the beach in the Cayman Islands..work 8 months a year and travel (and knock out more “stuff'” on my list) for 4. I have made my life worthwhile and I literally treasure every minute and live by a very simple motto:
Don’t be afraid of dying..be afraid of not living..
Peace- and make it happen.
Tony says
By the way..I have done 61 of these!!! Living in Southern California was the best of all (Lived in Newport Beach for 5 years..actually Balboa..right on the tip of the Penninsula..awesome!)
Scoobydoo says
Hey dredawg,
So maybe you can’t afford to live in a foreign land for a few months-most of us really can’t. Do you like to be outdoors? Find a great state park or lake and spend a weekend camping, swimming, fishing, and watching the dog chase the birds around in circles. Find something!
Amanda says
These are hilarious and unrealistic. I will never want to pick my life up and live in random and expensive places for one year, where I don’t have a support system. One month abroad? Sure! LA for a year? Not in a million years. Swim the English Channel? Sounds good, probably wouldn’t end well. I think the dirty pictures, although fun, aren’t a good idea for anyone. We should all have learned from the mistakes of people like Cameron Diaz and Paris Hilton. The moral of this story is: have fun before you have too many responsibilities.
Amanda says
Oh, and I have done 28 of these things.
Lteefaw says
OMG I’ll be like 50 before I had kids if I did all this stuff!!! It’s still a great list and I think I’ll do a few things from this list in the next few years
dan says
First time reading a list like this. I’m a numbers person, and this list, excluding the purchase of homes or living in specific locations, would definitely cost over 100k to complete. In addition to quantifying this list, I have a list of my own, though informal, I would like to share that may put some perspective on what is important to me. And while I do enjoy an awesome party or visiting exotic countries, it’s the people I’m with that make it memorable, not the other way around. So, my short list: Earn a MS Engineering (In-progress), take the PE and LSAT (possibly go to law school), learn an instrument (piano), take ballroom dance classes (started, but expensive), learn another language (Spanish, in-laws), volunteer, sail the Caribbean, start a business (probably dreaming), get married (done), have children, camp at all the major US state and national parks, buy a house, read the classics, save 100k by the time I’m 30 (expenses are about 6k/mo. in NJ). As for the original list, I completed 18 items. To put things into perspective, I didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so spending money on expensive vacations just seems wasteful to me, although I wish I could get over that.
Colin says
Awesome list.
All of these things are completely realistic. Money is always an obstacle, but only if you believe it is. I’m 21, and I’ve done 13 of these things already (2 and 4 were life-changing). All it took for me was working extremely hard for the money. In terms of traveling, it is completely reasonable to save for any adventure in the world over a long period of time, even if you save only 10$ a week. What is unreasonable is to believe that any of this is complicated or impossible at any age. Just think positively and focus on your true desires for adventure, instead of how much it will cost or how difficult it will be to accomplish (not that anyone really needs that kind of statement from a kid…). I think all of this is simple, obvious, and only difficult to conceive if you make it that way in your own mind.
Shea says
I appreciate the spirit of adventure behind this list, and am certainly happy that I’ve done the fifteen things on it that I’ve done so far. However, I resist the attitude that people need to have so many of these kinds of experiences in order to have full lives. I would add to the list: “Learn to be experience wonder and adventure wherever you are,” and, “Accept that you will never feel that you have achieved enough if you are always chasing something else.”
No one has enough years or money to do ALL of these things (especially all before the age of 40!), and that’s okay. The point is that we should retain a sense of possibility and joy in our lives. Don’t let convention or habit box you in. Yes, you CAN move to another country for a while if you really want to! It takes work and guts, but you can do it. However, I would add that if parenting at some point sounds more rewarding than having easy access to fancy martial arts training or nude beaches… I wouldn’t spend any energy lamenting what you “missed.”
(And you are right. If it’s REALLY important to you, you can do it after you have kids!)
Tiffany! says
I linked to this post on my blog. It is by far the best list on Google. I love that you combined crazy things with practical things like reading 30 books. Thanks!
Edward says
You forgot the one in which you buy a sword
Bob Loblaw says
My list includes getting a job that pays enough to do all of this. And also offers month long vacations, and the ability to relocate anywhere in the world. I’m being facetious of course, it’s quite a good list.
[email protected] says
I have a list I’m working on, with many of the same goals as your list:
http://hundredgoals.com/100-goals/
…and I’ve done 18 of the things on your list!
PageWrite says
I am a little bit list obsessed, so I love this idea. I think it is time to start writing one of my own.
Nikki says
Great list for yourselves. I will say I have done a few things on your list after I had my children such as buying a home and finishing my bachelor’s degree. I think this has been great for my kids to see as we have learned together. I think that the notion “life stops once you’ve had children” is pretty cliche. Much of my greatest experiences in life have been after children, being there is so much to show them.
michelle brooks says
nice list & most i have done… but NOTHING on that list compares with being young enough to play with my GRANDchildren.
Jenny says
This is a great list!! I made a ton of these types of lists when I was 18ish. I hate to say it but I’m 25 now and still trying to make the money go to places like this. With the way things are now adays it’s really tough and I’m trying to help support my family. I’m getting too close to the age I want to have kids too! hehe
Lordmorepain says
Buddy, nice list, but i have 25 years old and i have done at least 50% of the list im in so trouble now, because i dont have a girlfriend, lol, but let me recomend u if u go to the oktoberfest, drink only Franziskainer, that is wheat bear, is better 4 ur body,besides the mardigras in New orleans ill propose hear a live jazz concert in that town, is just magic, and of course see some vudu ritual! but the planes.. mate i dont like planes, and i know im not capable of jumping from one of them…
Cheers from some Venezuelan guy who lives in the south of Tenerife / Spain… ::D.
PD: my sport car was a old rusted mustang, i love the damn thing till the engine just start”s this fire.. and was no more mustang, lol.that was in Caracas.
zmajeva says
I think we all can do those things after kids, too!
If we really want to, and if we don’t, we don’t have to do them before.
Sarah says
I was actually looking for a list of things I should do before I have kids, just to get ideas for my own personal list, and I thought this one was great! It contained things I already had on my list and some I never thought of.
I was really bummed to find so many negative comments about this list. These are obviously based off personal opinions and should be taken for what they are. No one is asserting that this is factual and needs to be taken seriously. Yes you can do these things with kids! Should you? Is it easier/harder? Is it financially possible? It’s all subjective, so get over it!
I know I don’t have all the money in the world to do everything on this list, but I know what to budget for and a general idea of how long it will take. Besides I could always quit my job and bum around trying to get some stuff done. There are always excuses and even solutions.
Anyways, I really like your list.
Oh, and perhaps people should read the intro before the list starts. It helps set the tone.
Cristina says
Very interesting post! I am inspired to challenge my friends to create such lists. I am curious about what we will come up with.
It is the first time I am visiting and I really enjoy your web site. Congratulations!
Robert says
Got educated, married young, had triplets and 25 years later they are also educated. Wife died, looked around and found a beautiful, educated real nice 15 years younger girl who has a great money making job and a rich father. My wife & I work 3 months then take a month off and after 22 years we have done most on your list plus many more. I am now a great grandfather and still going strong. Have never written a book or been to Kansas.
wiwi says
this list is centered on the us, how about another list for people living in europe?
jay says
what about helping each other live more equally while celebrating our differences and distributing the wealth so every single person can live comfortably like one big family? Where you walk outside and you see your best friend right around the corner or in the supermarket.. all at the same time giving high-fives to your other best friend walking by and loving everybody everywhere where there’s no borders where we can live free as one community, free to fly anywhere we want, free to live the life that was meant to be where everywhere u go there’s your fellow brother, sister, best friend. Your blood relative. All at the same time enjoying the luxuries of life and exciting things we have created. All at the same time loving each day because hey, we’re all on this planet together.
Colleen says
Wow, all those things would cost a fortune. I wish I could afford them AND still have kids.