7 Ways to Celebrate Milestone Birthdays

It’s been said that the people we meet in high school or college will be our friends for life. This rings true for a lot of us. An interesting, yet not unexpected, phenomenon that happens in these situations is that a lot of life’s milestones and celebrations seem to happen in waves, from engagements to marriages to births and so on. Our friends group often becomes stronger and more closely knit as we experience and help each other through these things together.

Another of life’s celebrations that seems to follow this trend is milestone birthdays. Whether it be 18th, 21st, 30th, 40th or beyond, we all get to experience them together. This is currently the case with my husband and I. We’ve both had the occasion to celebrate a milestone birthday within the last six months, and we are both just a part of that wave.

For someone like me who loves to celebrate life as much as possible, this is practically the best thing that could ever happen to me! I love any excuse to get together with friends, and it’s still rather early in this particular wave since we both have early birthdays. This has me thinking about all the ways we can celebrate such momentous and joyful occasions, so I’d like to share:

7 Ways to Celebrate Milestone Birthdays:

1. Party! Whether you help throw the party, someone throws it for you, or it’s all a surprise, parties are the most traditional way to celebrate a birthday. This of course doesn’t mean that a party has to be traditional. There are loads of ways to mix it up, which leads us to:

Option A. Stationary party – This party stays in one place, whether it be your home, a bar, a banquet facility or someplace else (think about a throwback to childhood like a skating rink or bowling alley). Stationary parties can also be spiced up with yard games, food trucks, DJs, karaoke, and more.

Option B. Mobile party – These are parties that move from location to location. For example, in January I threw my husband a craft brewery mobile party. I rented a limo bus to take us and a group of family and friends to a few local craft breweries, followed by dinner at a local gastro-pub. This option also works well for wineries or bar crawls.

2. Travel. Maybe being the center of attention at a party isn’t what you have in mind. Another great option is to travel. This type of celebration works equally well for people who want to strike out onto an adventure of their own, for couples, for families, or for friends groups who want to make great memories. Options are nearly unlimited, including going on a cruise, renting a beach house for a week, enjoying an all-inclusive resort, or booking a tour through Europe.

3. Get outside your comfort zone. What better way to celebrate being alive on a milestone birthday than to do something out of your comfort zone? Go skydiving, try an exotic food, take a scuba diving class, tell someone how you feel. The rush will be memorable and exhilarating.

4. Make it permanent. Consider commemorating the occasion with a tattoo or piercing. This idea is particularly great if it’s something you’ve been wanting to do for a long time but have always made excuses not to do.

5. Keep a memento. Take pictures, collect a drink coaster from each bar, or have all of your guests sign a “guestbook” of some type, whether it be a growler, a wine bottle, or their photo booth photos.

6. Reflect. Think about the things you’ve accomplished in your life so far or over the past decade and set goals or make plans for the next ten years.

7. Make it last. Who says a milestone birthday has to be celebrated in one day? Consider spreading the fun over a week or the whole month with fun activities, lunches with friends, your favorite things, and more!

Tell me what you favorite way to celebrate the day is in the comments below.

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