30 Fun Things To Do In Your 20s Before Your Knees Give Up

Hey! So you’re in your 20s too? Same here! Virtual high-five that awkwardly misses

Let me guess. Everyone says these are “the best years” while you’re just trying to figure out if cereal counts as dinner (it ABSOLUTELY does!).

I’m 24 and still Google stuff like “How long does milk really last past expiration date” daily. The secret nobody tells you? We’re ALL faking it! That friend with the impressive job? Still has breakdowns in Target parking lots!

That’s why I made this list of 30 fun things to do while we can still recover from bad decisions quickly.

Grab your almost-charged phone and whatever cash isn’t already spent on coffee. Let’s make some memories worth laughing about later! 😁

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A 20s Bucket List For People Who Hate Basic Bucket Lists

1. Try Skydiving or Bungee Jumping

There’s something amazing about jumping from crazy heights while your brain screams “WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?!” The rush is unreal, and honestly? Everything else feels way less scary after.

• Recommendations: Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, Fox Glacier in New Zealand, the Swiss Alps in Interlaken

2. Learn to Cook Proper Meals

Let’s be real. You can’t live on ramen forever. Learning to cook real food (you know, with vegetables) will save you SO much money. Plus, nothing impresses a date more than not setting off the fire alarm while making dinner. 😂 Start with something easy like pasta that isn’t from a box!

• Recommendation: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking

3. Have a Spontaneous Road Trip

Text your friend right now: “Pack a bag. I’m picking you up in an hour.” No plans, just vibes. The best stories always start with “So we were completely lost and then…” Make sure your playlist is fire, and your snack game is strong. Where will you end up? That’s future-you’s problem.

4. Travel Solo at Least Once

Just you in a new place where nobody knows about that embarrassing thing you did at prom! You’ll learn to actually talk to strangers (scary, I know) and figure out who you are when nobody’s watching. Bonus: you can eat ice cream for breakfast and nobody will judge you.

• Recommendations: Thailand, Vietnam, Spain

5. Participate in a Food Fight

Remember how fun it looked in movies? It IS that fun! Check if there are organized food fights near you (using expired food) so you’re not just wasting good snacks. You’ll laugh so hard your face hurts, take the BEST photos ever, and feel like a kid again. Just maybe wear clothes you don’t care about!

• Recommendation: La Tomatina in Buñol, Spain

6. Take Risks in Your Career

Hear me out. Now’s the time to try that weird job or apply for that position you’re “not qualified” for. Your 20s are for career experiments before you have a mortgage and tiny humans depending on you. That startup might fail spectacularly, but the story will be far better than “I played it safe for 40 years.”

7. Try Street Food in Different Countries

Skip the tourist traps and follow the locals to those sketchy-looking food carts. The best meals I’ve ever had came from places my mom would definitely warn me against. 😂

8. Go Glamping

You’ll get all the Instagram cred of being outdoorsy without having to pee in the woods or fight raccoons for your snacks. Win-win!

9. Join a Flash Mob

The moment before everyone breaks into synchronized dancing in the middle of a mall? Crazyyy!

Will people stare? Absolutely. Will you mess up the choreography? Probably. Will it make an incredible story? 100%. Bonus points if you recruit confused strangers to join in!

10. Crash a Wedding (Respectfully)

Before you panic, I’m not suggesting you ruin someone’s special day. Just dress nice, walk-in confidently during the reception, and be the life of the party.

The trick? Befriend the grandparents. They never remember who belongs to which side of the family. 😂 Free cake, great music, and maybe a new friend? Win-win-win.

11. Sleep Under the Northern Lights

Bundle up and watch the sky put on a light show that makes your Instagram filters look weak. Plus, the pictures will make your ex wonder if they made a terrible mistake. (They did.)

• Recommendations: Norway, Iceland, Fairbanks

12. Try Speed Dating at Least Once

Five minutes to impress a stranger is both terrifying and hilarious! Even if you don’t find “the one,” you’ll collect enough awkward stories to entertain your friends for months. Pro tip: bring your weirdest conversation starter.

13. Start a Collection of Something Weird

Forget stamps. Collect something truly bizarre – hotel shampoo bottles, novelty keychains from gas stations, menus from first dates. The weirder, the better!

By 30, you’ll either have a conversation piece that makes you seem interesting or something to dramatically throw away during your quarter-life crisis.

14. Participate in a Color Run

The color run is basically just an excuse to throw colored powder at strangers without getting arrested. You’ll finish looking like a unicorn threw up on you, but those photos will definitely beat your friend’s boring gym selfies.

15. Go Waterfall Rappelling

The cold water hitting your face while you’re dangling from a rope is both terrifying and refreshing. You’ll feel like a complete badass when you reach the bottom, even if you screamed the entire way down (we all do, don’t worry).

16. Try Every Flavor at an Ice Cream Shop

Make a promise to yourself to taste EVERY flavor they have, even the weird ones. Garlic ice cream? Bring it on!

You might find your new favorite or at least have a great story about the time you nearly threw up trying blue cheese gelato. The shop owner will either love your enthusiasm or ban you forever.

17. Attend a Cultural Festival in Another Country

Nothing beats being the confused foreigner in the middle of a celebration you don’t understand! Jump into whatever traditions they’ll let you participate in, whether it’s throwing tomatoes in Spain or getting covered in colored powder in India.

• Recommendations: Rio Carnival (Brazil), Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany), Songkran Water Festival (Thailand)

18. Crash at a Friend’s Place in Another City

Text that friend you haven’t seen since college and invite yourself over! Sleeping on their lumpy couch while catching up till 3AM beats any fancy hotel.

Plus, they’ll show you the non-touristy spots that don’t show up on Google. Just bring a good gift and don’t overstay your welcome (three days max before you turn into a roommate).

19. Take Up Roller Skating or Skateboarding

Fall down. A lot. In public. While teenagers judge you. It’s humbling and weirdly freeing! Bonus: you’ll look cool in an “elder millennial trying their best” kind of way.

20. Do a Multi-day Hike

Swap Netflix for nature and see what happens! Nothing makes you appreciate your bed like sleeping on the ground for a few days.

You’ll either discover you’re secretly a mountain person or that hotels exist for a very good reason. Either way, the photos will make everyone think you’re super outdoorsy. 😉

21. Try Your Hand at Graffiti Art (Legally)

Find a legal graffiti wall or take a street art workshop where nobody calls the cops. Plus, you can secretly tag your masterpiece when showing friends around town. “Oh, that mural? Yeah, I made that…”

22. Go Cliff Jumping

That heart-stopping moment between jumping and splashing? Phew! Find a local spot where others jump (so you know it’s deep enough). Your stomach will drop, your friends will cheer, and for a few seconds, you’ll forget about adult responsibilities completely. Just maybe don’t tell your mom until after you’ve done it.

23. Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride

This one’s expensive, but way cheaper than therapy for all those “what am I doing with my life” moments. The peace up there hits different.

• Recommendation: Cappadocia, Turkey

24. Pull an All-Nighter for Fun (Not Work)

Remember when staying up all night felt rebellious and not like torture? Do it again, but make it fun! Movie marathons, midnight beach walks, deep conversations about aliens – whatever keeps you awake. Your body can still handle it (mostly), and 3 AM friendships are always the strongest.

25. Have a Weekend Without Technology

The first few hours you’ll twitch like you’re detoxing (you are), but then something magical happens – you remember how to make eye contact and have conversations longer than a TikTok.

26. Have a Paint Fight

Grab some washable paint, old clothes, and friends with good humor. You’ll end up looking like a human art project and laughing until your sides hurt. Tip: Set this up in someone’s backyard, not your security deposit apartment. Some memories aren’t worth losing housing over!

27. Attend a Masquerade Ball

Be mysterious for a night! The mask permits you to be whoever you want – flirt shamelessly, dance terribly, speak with a fake accent.

28. Have a Glow-in-the-Dark Party

Draw on each other’s faces with that glowy paint and dance in the dark where nobody can see your moves anyway. The pics will be epic, and cleanup is way easier when you can’t see the mess!

29. Try Blindfolded Dining

Eat an entire meal without seeing it! Your taste buds go into overdrive when your eyes check out. Plus, it’s hilarious watching your friends try to be fancy while accidentally stabbing the table repeatedly.

30. Sing Karaoke Sober

Belt out your favorite song without any liquid confidence! Scary? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely! You’ll either surprise yourself with hidden talent or give a performance so hilariously bad your friends will bring it up at every gathering for years.

End of the Line

The clock in your 20s ticks faster than your phone battery dies.

These years aren’t about checking every box on some imaginary adulting list. They’re about collecting stories that make you interesting at dinner parties forever.

The adventures that terrify you now? Those become the tales you’ll never shut up about later.

So which bucket list item are you tackling first? Or have something wilder to add? Drop it in the comments.