Learn to Fly
September 2004, the FAA has offered a Sport Pilot certification for less than half the time and money (20 hours and $3,000) it takes to earn your traditional general aviation wings. Light sport aircraft are limited to 1,320 pounds and a max speed of 120 knots. Find a class in your area at www.sportpilot.org—because how cool would it be to load your mountain bike into your plane and fly to Moab for the weekend?

Get schooled to save a life.
When your kayaking buddy shows signs of hypothermia, you'll be glad you took the two-day Wilderness First Aid course ($175) or the nine-day Wilderness First Responder ($695) with Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities. The Conway, New Hampshire– based school of emergency and wilderness medicine offers courses throughout the country. www.soloschools.com

Buy a one-way ticket to a country where you don't speak the language—and stay until you learn it.
If you're going to commit, head for someplace beautiful—like the beaches of Brazil. Untie your tongue at Idioma, a Portuguese language center only five minutes from the sand in the city of Salvador. With three and a half hours of language instruction a day, you'll have time to sign up for their Afro-Brazilian dance classes, too. $485 for three weeks, lodging not included; www.portugueseinbrazil.com

Shoot a Hole in One
Golf Digest reports that the odds of a player making an ace in a given round are a slim 5,000 to 1. Two aces in a round? Sixty-seven million to 1. But getting an ace in a 5,000-round career, they claim, is "almost assured." At the rate of two games a week, it would take you just under 50 years—so keep swinging.

Live off the land for a week in the wilderness—solo.
Pack your tackle and a mycology text, then commune with the fishes and the fungi. Kluane Airways will fly you and a canoe to Caribou Lakes, in the Yukon, where you can pluck graylings from the Liard River as you paddle more than 100 miles to Finlayson Lake. Then you'll be shuttled by van to Inconnu Lodge (250-860-4187, www.inconnulodge.com) to celebrate your accomplishment with a real meal. $1,400 for flights, van pickup, and a night at the lodge; canoe, $35 per day; sat-phone rental, $25 per day

Climb Kilimanjaro (without losing your lunch).

Start a new tradition.