My Bucket List at 50: Travel, Experiences, and Food Goals

Tommy Falgout

Tue, July 14, 2026 · 3 min read

My Bucket List

I turned fifty this year, and while it was great having my friends tell me “Happy 50th!”, having AARP tell me “Congrats on turning 50!” did a number on me (pun intended). Last night, I also had an existential moment, thinking about my parents and their own mortality.

For years I’ve collected sparks from my friends about places they’ve visited or things they’ve experienced and written them down in a haphazard list. But I figure it’s time to put it out there and formalize the chaos into an actual bucket list.

This is a living document. I’ll add to it, cross things off, and fail miserably at a few. But the point isn’t to check every box (though that would be nice), because it’ll grow faster than I can complete them. The only requirement is that the inspiration must come from someone I know.

My goal is to aim at the cool stuff while I still have the time, health, and curiosity to chase it.

Money, Time, Energy

Misc

Launch High Altitude Balloon with Duckiehunt
Go to “space” (Stratosphere?)
See Halley’s Comet twice (Saw in 1978, next appearance July 2061)
Meet Terry Crews
Start a fire using just wood.
Go viral - Robo-Clippy had 300k+ views, 12k likes on Twitter/X, which was a fun moment of internet fame.
Grow a beard