GETTING OLDER DOESN’T MEAN GETTING BORING.
50 BEFORE 50.
Fifty extraordinary adventures before my fiftieth birthday. Big challenges, new skills, a few nerves, and plenty of stories worth telling.
This is my way of making room for the things I keep saying “someday” about. Some adventures will push my limits. Others are about curiosity, connection, and making memories with the people I love.
I’m sharing the list as it takes shape, including the stories behind each choice. The official kickoff is February 2027, but apparently a homemade flying flamingo couldn’t wait.
FOLLOW THE CURIOSITY.
THE LIST. THE STORIES.
THE ADVENTURES AHEAD.
Choose an adventure to find out why it made the list and follow its story. Browse by theme or follow whatever catches your eye.
Search the list
Run with Jasmin Paris in Scotland
Some people change what you think is possible. Jasmin Paris is one of mine.
Host, film, and pitch my own adventure episode
I studied broadcast journalism. Now I want to bring that storytelling instinct into an adventure of my own.
Complete a long-distance open-water swim
A challenge that asks for endurance, preparation, and a different kind of confidence.
Give up control on a fully planned YES trip
Let someone else make the plans. My job? Say yes and go along for the ride.
Host an adult field day
Because grown-ups should still get to play.
Take a one-on-one adventure trip with Ella
One daughter. One adventure. Time that belongs to just the two of us.
Take a one-on-one adventure trip with Nora
A shared experience, with Nora helping shape the story.
Compete in a pickleball tournament
Trying a skill is one thing. Putting it into competition is another.
Host a Swedish fika with seven sweets
A trip to Sweden brought a very sweet idea home with me.
Camp on the Greenland Ice Sheet
Spend a night on the ice, somewhere completely outside my everyday world.
Launch the Taylored Adventure Fund
Adventure is better when everyone gets to play.
Canoe the Boundary Waters
An iconic wilderness adventure, here in Minnesota.
Earn my next sailing certification and crew offshore
I’ve finished Sailing 101. Now I want to keep going.
Attend a silent retreat
Not every adventure needs a helmet.
Visit the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings
The last North American landmark left to check off in my Landmarks book.
Return to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
Sometimes the adventure is going back.
Compete in Red Bull Flugtag
Six dance friends. A giant flamingo. A spectacular commitment to the idea.
Go on a week-long horseback riding adventure
Horses keep showing up in my life. Okay. I get the hint.
Get scuba certified and dive a shipwreck
Curaçao gave me a glimpse of another world. Now I want to go a little deeper.
Compete in another Red Bull event
Apparently, one homemade flying flamingo wasn’t enough.
Go winter camping
A separate challenge from Greenland, with a different kind of preparation.
See polar bears in the wild
An encounter with the wild, and a reason to look north.
The list is growing. The stories have already begun.