33 Things I Want To Do Before I Even Think About Getting Married

1. Travel to at least four continents.

2. Be able to 100% take care of myself financially, and still be able to afford going out to dinner, traveling, some frivolous spending, buying gifts for my family members, etc.

3. Learn to keep my place very clean as my norm, as opposed to my exception.

4. Get a dog, train the dog, consider just marrying the dog.

5. Be able to build a piece of furniture by myself, without calling anyone, freaking out, or having to Google which tools to use. (Actually, maybe I’ll just always need Google.)

6. Here’s a novel one: ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO AFFORD A WEDDING. I mean, yeah, that would be ideal.

7. Feel grounded in my career, and like I am earning the money I deserve, working hard, and have stability in my career.

8. See (or think of) any ex I have and be able to look at them and realize that I’m not missing anything, but they are.

9. Have a general plan of where I might like to live if I were to buy a house. Also, have a general plan of how the hell I’d be able to buy a house.

10. Keep a calendar. Properly. And actually consult that calendar on a regular basis and carry out what’s on it.

11. Do some sort of physical challenge just for me.

12. Attend a lot of other women’s bachelorette parties as someone who isn’t married and have an absolute blast without worrying about when “my turn” is.

13. Catch up on all of the television I’ve been wanting to watch forever. Finish Game of Thrones, finish Mad Men, and finish everything else that’s stored in the list inside my head.

14. Organize my desk. This will take several years.

15. Control my social media addiction, and in general, be slightly less addicted to my phone. I am not going to be one of those parents who snapchats. Sorry, other parents, I really do love seeing your babies, but that’s not the life for me.

16. Live with someone I think I could marry for a while. Like, a couple years. Or more? I don’t know. But definitely consistent cohabitation before tying any knots.

17. Host a holiday at my apartment. And not, like, a Halloween party. I mean Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas Eve, or a fancy New Year’s party. I want something LEGIT.

18. Live abroad for a few months. And study the language for several months before I go. I don’t want to spend the time traveling to bordering cities, as if I’m on study abroad, I want to stay in one place and really get to know it.

19. Road trip within the U.S. With a friend, by myself, with a significant other. Anything.

20. Feel in control of my life, to the extent I need to feel to be comfortable about going through my day-to-day life. If I feel like things are out of control, then it’s totally possible that I’ll drag someone else down that chaotic spiral with me.

21. Successfully meditate at least once. I mean, ideally, once a week. But once would be a win at this point.

22. Make sure I’m comfortable dedicating time to myself, when I’m in a relationship and when I’m not. Ultimately, I will always need to be with someone who knows I need a lot of time to myself.

23. Figure out how the hell I would actually have a wedding. By the time you’re 27-35, say, do you know how many people you’re obligated to invite? An INSANE amount. I for sure do not want to do that. Come to think of it, I have no clue what I’d do when tasked with planning my own wedding.

24. Go on a vacation with just my girl friends, whether it is one friend or a whole group. And this can’t be for a bachelorette party. Or at least, it can’t be for mine.

25. Get involved in a volunteer project. In college and high school, I was always involved in a cause I believe in, and that fell to the wayside after I graduated. It’s definitely something I want to focus on over the next few years more than I want to focus on engagement rings.

26. And on this subject, really, really get to know the family of whoever I’d be marrying. Because if I’m going to get married into a family, I am not going in blind.

27. Get to know myself better than I do now. Rely on myself for support, and for best friendship, and feel content in that.

28. Make it through Halloween without eating most of the candy I bought to give to little kids.

29. Try something I was once good at, just to see if I can still do it. This could be in any category of my life.

30. Comfortably manage other people at my job. I want people to report to me, and I want to be able to give them great guidance. And, come to think of it, I wouldn’t hate being able to delegate.

31. Keep a bowl of fresh fruit on my kitchen table, and actually maintain it, instead of just letting the old bananas rub up against the loaf of bread I threw in the bowl, thus making my toast taste vaguely of banana.

32. Introduce aesthetically pleasing organizational boxes into my life. And shelves. And maybe one of those racks that holds my pots and pans. Basically, elevate my apartment’s organization.

33. In general, live my best life without needing someone else to get me there. Then, they can just be a welcome addition to my best life.