Things That Must Be Done in Life
A life menu of experiences worth having, with the ones that are genuinely time-sensitive marked.
What a fun question to think about. Here's my take — a life menu of experiences worth having, with the ones that are genuinely time-sensitive marked with ⏳.
The Physical & Adventure Experiences
Run a marathon or complete a major endurance challenge — your body is more forgiving when you're younger, but people finish marathons in their 70s too. ⏳ Elite-level physical feats (competitive sports, mountaineering Everest, etc.) realistically need to happen before 50-60 for most people.
Swim in a bioluminescent bay at night.
Scuba dive a coral reef — and soon, before they degrade further. ⏳ Some reefs and glaciers are disappearing within decades.
Learn to surf.
Skydive at least once.
Sleep under a truly dark sky full of stars, somewhere with zero light pollution.
Float in the Dead Sea. ⏳ It's shrinking measurably every year.
Hike a multi-day trail (Camino de Santiago, the Inca Trail, Appalachian Trail, etc.).
Go on a proper safari in East or Southern Africa.
The Travel & Cultural Experiences
Live in a foreign country for an extended period — not just visit, but live there, learn the rhythms. ⏳ Much easier before you have career/family obligations, and language acquisition is dramatically easier when young.
Attend Carnival in Rio, Holi in India, or Dia de los Muertos in Oaxaca — experience a culture's celebration at full intensity.
See the Northern Lights.
Visit Antarctica.
Walk through ancient places that make you feel the weight of time — Angkor Wat, Petra, the Pyramids, Rome's ruins.
Take a long, slow train journey (Trans-Siberian, Glacier Express, cross-country Amtrak).
Eat your way through Tokyo, Istanbul, Mexico City, and Bangkok — the world's great street food cities.
The Creative & Intellectual Experiences
Learn a musical instrument well enough to play something that moves you. ⏳ Starting young makes mastery far more achievable, though enjoyment has no age limit.
Write something substantial — a novel, a memoir, a collection of letters to someone you love.
Learn a second (or third) language to conversational fluency.
Take a class in something completely outside your expertise just for the joy of it.
Read the handful of books that genuinely change how you see things — and these are different for everyone, so you have to keep searching.
The Human & Emotional Experiences
Fall deeply, vulnerably in love.
Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.
Have a friendship that spans decades.
Be present at both a birth and a death — witness the full arc. ⏳ Having biological children, if you want them, has real biological windows — roughly before 40-45 for women, and fertility declines for men too, though less sharply.
Forgive someone when it's hard.
Apologize when it costs you something.
Spend meaningful time with your grandparents or elders while they're still here. ⏳ Obviously irreversible once they're gone.
Do something that terrifies you socially — give a speech, perform on stage, be radically honest with someone.
The Solitude & Inner Experiences
Spend extended time truly alone — a solo trip, a silent retreat, a week in a cabin.
Meditate or develop some practice of sustained inner stillness.
Sit with grief without trying to fix it.
Experience genuine awe — standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, inside a cathedral, watching a total solar eclipse. ⏳ Solar eclipses are rare at any given location; if one is coming near you, don't miss it.
Journal consistently for at least a year.
The Generosity & Purpose Experiences
Give money away in an amount that actually changes someone's life.
Volunteer in a way where you see the direct human impact — not just writing checks.
Build something — a business, a community project, a house, a garden — that exists because you made it exist.
Fight for something you believe in, even when it's inconvenient. ⏳ Political and social movements have moments; showing up when it matters is time-bound.
The Pleasure & Sensory Experiences
Eat a meal so good it recalibrates your understanding of food.
Drink great wine or sake or coffee in the place it's made.
Dance until sunrise at least once.
Swim in the ocean at night.
Watch the sun rise from a mountain summit.
Listen to live music that gives you chills — a symphony, a jazz club, a concert in a tiny venue.
The real pattern behind this list: most of it is available at almost any age. The things that aren't are mostly about biology (having children, peak physical performance, being with people before they die) and a changing planet (glaciers, reefs, the Dead Sea, certain ecosystems). The rest is just about deciding to actually do it rather than assuming you'll get to it later.