Milestone birthday adventures?

[PeterPan]

Has anyone done something sort of special for a milestone birthday for themselves? I'm going to have one in a couple years, and I'm looking for inspiration for what I could do. Maybe something on the exotic/adventurous side. 😁

Edited November 19, 2023 by PeterPan

[Katy]

No, but I love the idea. 

[Lecka]

My mom’s friend went to Paris for her 60th birthday.  

[Just Kate]

I turn 50 in two years (right before Christmas) and I would love to take a trip with my family to the Caribbean. Last Christmas, dh and I took our kids on our biggest family vacation to the Dominican Republic to stay at an all-inclusive resort. Dd was only 15, so we had to stay on the family side. When I turn 50, dd will be 18, so it would be so wonderful to go back and stay on the adult side! Not sure if we will be able to swing it financially (like everything, lives have gone up there), but it’s something I’d love to try to do. 

[Kassia]

21 minutes ago, Just Kate said:

I turn 50 in two years (right before Christmas) and I would love to take a trip with my family to the Caribbean. Last Christmas, dh and I took our kids on our biggest family vacation to the Dominican Republic to stay at an all-inclusive resort. Dd was only 15, so we had to stay on the family side. When I turn 50, dd will be 18, so it would be so wonderful to go back and stay on the adult side! Not sure if we will be able to swing it financially (like everything, lives have gone up there), but it’s something I’d love to try to do. 

can you share what resort you stayed in?  

[bookbard]

Thanks for this topic, reminded me about my plans for next year, just in time for a sale on flights. I am going to go somewhere in Australia where I've always wanted to visit. My kids are adamant they aren't interested, so hey. I am even considering just going on my own if my husband isn't that keen. Haven't travelled alone in a while, and I miss it. 

[Beth S]

I turned 60 last week, & went out to lunch 4 times, with 4 different friends.
It's my favorite way to celebrate!

 

 

[Just Kate]

5 hours ago, Kassia said:

can you share what resort you stayed in?  

Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana (the adult side is Zilara). It was honestly the most amazing experience. The service was like nothing I’d ever experienced and the resort was just beautiful. Our (18 and 15 yo) kids had a blast - it was just a fabulous vacation.

 

 

 

[Terabith]

What about skydiving?

[Sunshine State Sue]

I hosted an over the hill party for myself for my 40th. Everyone had to dress in black. I made a graveyard cake and had a bunch of other chocolate desserts (chocoholic here). We played 1960 charades and had a hula hoop contest.

I invited friends for a hike at a local nature center and lunch on my 50th. I made all the food.

I had my brother take pictures of me next to a 55mph speed limit sign and used it for my 55th birthday party invitations. I made a vegan dinner and dessert for 8 friends.

My 60th birthday was during covid. I went with a few friends to a salt cave then to a park for a picnic afterwards.

Between my 50th birthday and my husband's 60th birthday (he's 9.5 years older than me), we went to Italy while my in-laws stayed with our son.

[PeterPan]

20 hours ago, Lecka said:

My mom’s friend went to Paris for her 60th birthday.  

Hmm, you know if I did a trip like that, I'm not sure I would take my teen ds. He'll travel with me, but he's such a pain in the butt sometimes and has to be catered too. Some adventures he would just do right with me (cliff jumping, whatever) but for a really GIRLY trip you're right I'd have to leave him. 

I'm just thinking out loud there. Fun to think about!! I had pondered doing a week of cooking classes in Paris, but that was back burner in my mind, more like just a thing to do if the guys are gone and I have some time to myself. I also want to go to London and take a week of cooking classes, indian food, yum.

[PeterPan]

16 hours ago, bookbard said:

Thanks for this topic, reminded me about my plans for next year, just in time for a sale on flights. I am going to go somewhere in Australia where I've always wanted to visit. My kids are adamant they aren't interested, so hey. I am even considering just going on my own if my husband isn't that keen. Haven't travelled alone in a while, and I miss it. 

You are the woman!!! What airline has deals and good prices to Australia? The tix were super high when I looked, but I could definitely be lured by deals. So you have a particular place you want to see in Australia? My knowledge of it is so vague. I know you can cruise from there, and you can do some things like cruising from Australia to Hawaii, etc. I took my ds on a land/cruise adventure which was pretty epic. I'm sort of lazy and love cruising, which solves the whole am I safe, do I want to be alone for that long, etc. thing.

So yeah, if you know how to get deals on flights to Australia, I'm all ears!

[PeterPan]

14 hours ago, Sunshine State Sue said:

I hosted an over the hill party for myself for my 40th. Everyone had to dress in black. I made a graveyard cake and had a bunch of other chocolate desserts (chocoholic here). We played 1960 charades and had a hula hoop contest.

I invited friends for a hike at a local nature center and lunch on my 50th. I made all the food.

I had my brother take pictures of me next to a 55mph speed limit sign and used it for my 55th birthday party invitations. I made a vegan dinner and dessert for 8 friends.

My 60th birthday was during covid. I went with a few friends to a salt cave then to a park for a picnic afterwards.

Between my 50th birthday and my husband's 60th birthday (he's 9.5 years older than me), we went to Italy while my in-laws stayed with our son.

I love all this!! And you're right, no one has thrown me a PARTY in a long time!! I'm kind of incognito in the community. 😁 

When I turned 40, I did this great adventure to WDW (Disney) with my girlfriend who is a decade apart. We took my ds as well, but it was this girly adventure with matching tshirts and hats and the whole nine yards. I've seen videos about Tokyo Disney and would love to go. I'm not sure if I actually could, whether the language issues would work out, whether I'd find anything to eat, etc., lol. Maybe it's not as much fun as it sounds? I don't have a girlfriend with time and $$ to  go to Japan. Nuts, I don't even know if I have money to go to Japan. 😂 Is going to Japan doable if you speak no Japanese??

I guess on the conservative side I could go cook in Paris and then go to Disney Paris. We dipped into France but didn't do much otherwise. I wonder what *I* would want to do if I were in France? If you were asking my ds, we'd probably go do tanks and WW2 stuff. 

If you could go to a cooking school for a week ANYWHERE, where would it be?

[PeterPan]

16 hours ago, Beth S said:

I turned 60 last week, & went out to lunch 4 times, with 4 different friends.
It's my favorite way to celebrate!

 

 

Ok THAT is precious!!! That's like all my girlfriends are around the country so I go visit each one. That has potential!!! If I don't do it this time, I'll hold it for the next one. But either way, I really like that idea, thanks!! 

[PeterPan]

15 hours ago, Terabith said:

What about skydiving?

You are a riot. You know, I just don't know if I'm there. I used to be, definitely,  and I'm just getting more boring. I'm down to equations like *if something goes wrong, was it worth it* and finding it skews to the conservative side. So I did cliff jumping and only jumped ONCE at each height, thanked GOD I had not gotten injured, and then stopped. 😂

I think I'm coming into the Land Rover stage of adventure, where I sit in the Land Rover as someone drives me to exotic places. I'd go on an African safari, if there's a no mosquito season. I was looking at cruises from South Africa up to the Med, which are surprisingly cheap (30 days, $3000, for two people??) and thought we could fly in, do something exotic first, then cruise up. But the fighting in the middle east is affecting ports, and I'm not sure what will be happening two years from now. The lure of that cruise was seeing both Africa AND having stops in Egypt (Petra, pyramids, etc.). That would have been super epic.

 

[Sunshine State Sue]

2 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

I love all this!! And you're right, no one has thrown me a PARTY in a long time!! I'm kind of incognito in the community. 😁 

....  Is going to Japan doable if you speak no Japanese??

It's been a long time since anyone threw me a bday party.  Bday is Dec 26.

We went to Japan this year on a tour with an acquaintance who had lived in Japan and was an Asian Studies professor all her career.  It was nice to be with someone who spoke Japanese. I would say 25% of Japanese speak English. I personally would not go anywhere in Asia or Africa or South America on my own with one exception (see below).  OTOH, my younger sister is an intrepid traveler and does that kind of thing.

We went to the Galapagos Islands on our own.  I told myself that it was an international tourist destination and therefore people would speak enough English for us to get by.  I imagine Tokyo Disney would be similar.

[bookbard]

6 hours ago, PeterPan said:

You are the woman!!! What airline has deals and good prices to Australia? The tix were super high when I looked, but I could definitely be lured by deals. So you have a particular place you want to see in Australia? My knowledge of it is so vague. I know you can cruise from there, and you can do some things like cruising from Australia to Hawaii, etc. I took my ds on a land/cruise adventure which was pretty epic. I'm sort of lazy and love cruising, which solves the whole am I safe, do I want to be alone for that long, etc. thing.

 

Oh sorry - I'm from Australia, so it's just internal flights (and they're all Qantas). If you're coming from the USA to Australia, just keep in mind that everything is super expensive at the moment due to inflation, but on the other hand, the US dollar is really high compared with the Aussie dollar so that would benefit you. 

 

6 hours ago, PeterPan said:

 Is going to Japan doable if you speak no Japanese??

We went there this year, super easy to get around, great place for a holiday. Go in winter though, it was crazy hot even in autumn.

[Carol in Cal.]

I had a milestone birthday last year, but DH had covid, so my major plans came to nothing.  (I’m so glad that he is OK.  He had a bad case but not a life threatening one.)

So instead I just did a day trip, since he was on the mend but still quarantined, and since I tested negative and did not need to quarantine.  I drove about 2 1/2 hours to a lovely Gold Rush foothill town that I have always wanted to spend more time in.  I visited an open air arts and crafts show and sale (only in CA could they do this outside in December!), and a couple of other trippy antique stores, and had a wonderful dinner in a new to me restaurant.  I bought myself a handwoven, hand dyed topper, a cross between a ruana and a shawl, that I love, as a birthday present to myself.  And then I went home the same night.  It felt like a trip, honestly, because it was so far afield and so new to me, and the drive was gorgeous as the often brown areas along the way had greened up thanks to recent rains.

5 years before that, at the prior major birthday, I planned a stay at a B & B in Cambria, a Pacific coast town I had only been to once before and always wanted to return to.  We had a great time, and serendipitously were able to commission a painting of my favorite place in the whole wide world by an artist that we already liked a lot.  That was so special!