30 Lifelong Side Quests Worth Taking

Thinking about life as an RPG. Here are my side quests.

Random Observation/Comment #899: Life doesn’t hand you a neat quest log, but sometimes it feels like one.

//Generated with GPT5

Why this list?

I realized we all have two kinds of quests:

• Side Quests – optional, playful, and sometimes silly little adventures that give us joy and stories. These are the bonus missions that are worth doing even if they don’t advance the “main plot.”

• Main Quests – the bigger arcs of life: building careers, raising families, facing mortality. They’re harder, heavier, but they shape the whole storyline.

This post is Part 1: 30 Lifelong Side Quests Worth Taking. Think of it as the fun tutorial levels. I’ll save the Main Questline for Part 2.

I kind of wrote a tongue and cheek version of this already here, but I’ll focus this one on the actual activities:

30 Ways Life is a Game

The main quest gets you through life; the side quests make it worth replaying. Here are the 30 side quests that I’ve decided to pursue:

1. Learn a Magic Trick (completed) - Unlock the “uncle at a party” prestige class. I think I still need a pack of playing cards. Why can’t I just be Barney Stinson? I should try to do all the hibachi grill tricks too.

2. Cook Through an Entire Cookbook (planning) - Achievement unlocked: Kitchen Alchemist. There are so many good choices for cookbooks. Maybe I’ll choose a YouTuber.
   

3. Plant a Tree (completed) - Bonus XP for patience. I actually did this last year at Evie’s school. It was a lot harder than I thought to dig a hole.

4. Master a Board Game (in progress) - I’m not very good at chess, but I still like solving the puzzles. I am surprisingly good at Connect4 and Checkers.

5. DIY a Piece of Furniture (planning) - Wobbly stool? Still counts. I would actually love to build a DIY whisky barrel table for my basement when it’s done.

6. Host a Themed Dinner Party (partial completed) - Menu + costumes = bonus XP. We went to an 80s murder mystery party in August, which was super awesome. I don’t know if I need to host exactly (or just know a lot of cool friends).

7. Volunteer Randomly (in progress) - Say yes to helping without overthinking. This requires some good influences around me. I feel like I need to be inspired by good hearted and good natured people to do this consistently.

8. Learn to Juggle (in progress) or Solve a Rubix cube (completed) - Classic side quest. I’ve been trying to juggle for such a long time. I feel like I just need to keep practicing.

9. Draw a Comic (in progress) - Unlock Bard/Artist subclass. Who remembers “All Cooped Up”? What a fun side project. I feel like I can do a pretty good job creating comic books with consistent characters now that I have all this vibe coding. Perhaps I’ll just make a 5 minute AI generated film.

10. Brew Beer(completed)/Kombucha/Mead or Ferment Kimchi (maybe, but wife might kill me) - Risk: explosions. Reward: bragging rights. I would avoid the kombucha based on the smell, but maybe I’ll try mead brewing with honey. Brew day is always fun without having to do all the cleaning and prepping.

11. Run a 5K in Costume (in progress) - +5 charisma, -2 dignity. I try to do a 5k ever year. Maybe I’ll wear a costume this year dressed as Bobby from K-Pop Demon hunters?

12. Take a Solo Trip (completed) - Side quest: discover your own company. I do solo trips all the time for conferences, so I feel like this has become a main quest. See:
    

13. Make a Family Recipe Book (in progress) - Food is the best lore. I feel like I can create one of these in Canva. There will probably be 30 recipes. I think this would be a fun project to do with my Mom and mother-in-law. I can visit them and cook with them for a while.

14. Sing Karaoke in Another Language (completed) - Unlock foreign language de-buff. I actually think this is a great idea for learning how to read quickly in other alphabets. I will make this more focused on a Japanese song next.

15. Collect Something Absurd (in progress) - Magnets are totally my jam. We got walls of them from travels. I’ve also enjoyed collecting these beer labels on the “Wall of Shame.”

16. Write a Letter to Your Future Self (in progress) - Open at level 60. This will be a fun time capsule project to do with my daughter. I did honestly fill out a physical version of “Burn After Writing”:
    

17. Build a Blanket Fort (completed) - I want to do this seriously on a weekend. we had a really good one that took up the whole living room, but I feel like I can also include the kitchen.

18. Try a Martial Art (in progress) - +10 confidence, +1 bruise. It has been a while since Aikido. If I wasn’t so prone to getting hurt, I would do this. I rather not hurt my back. I may replace this with something else less intensive, but I do appreciate an activity that includes community, skill building, mental clarity, and exercise.

19. Start a Tiny Side Hustle (in progress) - Bonus XP if it never turns into work. I did get paid to do a few random non-work related things. Maybe I’ll sell my cookbook. I have sold a few hundred copies of the lists of 30 books.
    

20. Sleep Under the Stars (completed) - Achievement unlocked: “Nature Mode.” We try to camp every summer. I think it’s a good escape from devices and an excuse to cook a lot of meat.
    

21. Memorize a Poem (in progress) - Cast spell: Instant Bard. I wouldn’t know what poem to memorize. Maybe I should choose a poem first. I haven’t memorized text in a long time. Maybe I’ll write a Graduation speech and memorize it.

22. Go to a Midnight Movie Premiere (need to plan) - Unlock the “over-caffeinated fan” buff. I haven't watched a movie premiere ever. I would normally just wait until it’s available on streaming. Maybe I'd switch this to going to a drive in movie theater.

23. Dance at a Festival (completed) - +30 joy points. Phish definitely counts. There will be many more Phishmas long weekends.
    

24. Learn Origami Animals (completed) - Paper dragon mount unlocked. During COVID, I completed a bunch of origami that now serves as our extra Christmas tree ornaments. I should try another one of these with my daughter.
    

25. Send Postcards to Strangers (considering) - Unlock “wholesome chaos” reputation. I have these cards that say “you're pretty fucking awesome. Keep that shit up.”

26. Paint a Self-Portrait (in progress) - Even if it looks like a potato. Especially if it looks like a potato. I would say that AI has made many portraits of me.
    

27. Create a Secret Handshake (in progress) - Best used in guild raids. Handshake with Evie seems like a good idea. I’m reminded of the Brooklyn 99 cold open where Holt does secret handshakes with everyone except Peralta. What a good show.

28. Do a 30-Day Challenge (completed) - The meta-side quest that spawns other quests. I’ll keep doing one per year. There are so many 30 day challenges:
    

29. Host a Game Night (completed) - +10 social bonds, -5 snack budget. Charades is always a winner.

30. Collect Old Stories From Elders (in progress) - Hidden lore unlocked. There's a way to collect these with an AI chatbot.

~See Lemons Complete Side Quests

Coming soon: Part 2 — 30 Lifelong Quests

Completed 30 Under 30

In Progress: 40 under 40

40 under 40 Action Plan