Plan a Thrilling Palm Springs 30th Birthday

Thrilling might be an overstatement but since you’re here have a look anyway...

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Exterior of Clé du Soleil, Plum Guide home in Palm Springs

So you’ve made it this far. Congratulations. Next up, the wonderful thirties. Here comes an exciting decade of self-reflection, personal development, excruciating back pain, incurable week-long hangovers and self-imposed curfews on weekdays. That’s definitely worth celebrating. Let’s get to it while you still have some fight left in you. If you’re looking into a Palm Springs 30th birthday trip for your big day, then you’ve obviously made the right choice. What better place than a famous spring break party destination turned into a retirement country club bingo haven? Not a hint of irony there - we here at Plum Guide would never. Let’s explore a few harmless and prudent ideas for you to spend your 30th birthday in Palm Springs.

A day trip to Joshua Tree National Park

Located in Twentynine Palms, about an hour north of Coachella Valley, the vast Joshua Tree National Park spans for almost 800,000 acres and is split into two diverse ecosystems: the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert. Here you can spend your birthday hiking or rock climbing away from all your newly manifested adult life problems. This site is also a designated Dark Sky Park which -in short- means that it features an exceptional nocturnal environment and an extraordinary quality of starry nights. Don’t be too hesitant to wish that you were twenty again when you spot a shooting star. We’ve all done it.

Want to stay overnight? Choose from one of our unique homes in the area like this desert hideaway.

Dividing Line, Plum Guide home in Joshua Tree, California

Dividing Line, Plum Guide home in Joshua Tree, California

Ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Beat the phobia of heights you never knew you had until you reached thirty and board the exciting Aerial Tramway to marvel at the magnificent 360-degree panoramas over Palm Springs and Coachella Valley in the world’s largest rotating tramcar. By its end, this ethereal spiritual ten-minute journey will inevitably provoke the same suppressed disbelief you have about your twenties: Was that it? Why, yes it was, but life goes on. Once you reach the top of the San Jacinto Mountains, you can choose between wining and dining at the Mountain Station or hiking in the wilderness of San Jacinto State Park. Bear in mind that the temperature in the mountains is dramatically different from that of the desert below and pack accordingly – you really can’t afford to be reckless at your age.

Join a Palm Springs Architecture Tour

You might think that this activity is a tiny bit fancy but you’re thirty now and you can stop being reluctant about enjoying the finer things in life. After all, Palm Springs’ unmistakable fascinating mid-century architecture that materialises in the form of opulent homes designed by the likes of Albert Frey, John Lautner and Donald Wexler -to name a few- is one of its most prominent attractions. Our reputable home critics all agree on that. And if you cannot trust Plum Guide on matters of aesthetics and design, who can you trust? Take a tour with an expert guide through the city to learn about the area’s history and try to sneak peeks into the homes of Hollywood celebrities. Better yet, browse through our curated selection of Palm Springs homes and give yourself a proper gift with a stay in one just like this gorgeous space.

Clé Du Soleil, Plum Guide home in Palm Springs

Clé Du Soleil, Plum Guide home in Palm Springs

Blow your very last allowance at the casino

Who goes to Las Vegas for their birthday anyway, right? The greater Palm Springs area is known for its luxurious casinos that range from tiny gambling holes to colossal establishments filled with slots, game tables, entertainment venues, cocktail lounges and high-end restaurants. Try your luck at Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs in downtown Palm Springs or Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio. Just be careful not to go all out -or in- and gamble away all of your money. You’re going to be needing it to start a pension fund soon. Stay away from the high-limits rooms. Also, don’t get any ideas about actually booking a room at any of the hotels that house the casinos for your Palm Springs 30th birthday trip. Resorts are a thing of the past and you’re not that old – we’re just messing with you. Try one of our hand-picked homes in Palm Springs like this mid-century delight instead.

Living area in Mid-Century Meets Modern, Plum Guide home in Palm Springs

Living area in Mid-Century Meets Modern, Plum Guide home in Palm Springs

Try your skills at a golf course

The great outdoors is a great place for you to ponder upon life, think about everything you’ve done wrong so far and revisit your most embarrassing moments in your head. Still, we can’t have you standing around doing nothing on your birthday. Do what any other sensible secretly depressed adult does and try playing golf for a change. Test your drive at Escena Golf Club or O'Donnell Golf Club, both of which are just a tee away from the Palm Springs international airport. If it’s your first time playing, focus on having fun and don’t worry about the complicated golf lingo or counting pars. Unlike your age, your score is just a number. And if the game goes wrong, fear not – just head back to your Plum home-from-home for a relaxing evening before trying again in the morning.

Fire and Ice, Plum Guide home in Palm Springs

Fire and Ice, Plum Guide home in Palm Springs

Visit a unique museum

We briefly considered the famous Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as the last addition to this list, but let’s be real here. Sometimes you think you want to go to a crowded event until you actually get there. Ask anyone a couple of years older. Instead, we are going to help you come to peace with ageing by recommending a few museums for a truly hair-raising Palm Springs 30th birthday like the Palm Springs Art Museum downtown. Or the Palm Springs Air Museum where you can see the largest collection of flyable WWII aircrafts in the world. Fascinated? You might catch yourself building vintage airplane models at the home office sooner than you thought. Finally, stop by at Ruddy's General Store Museum, a real-life simulation of a general store in the 1930s where you will get a delightful grasp of how quickly time vanishes and a warm fuzzy feeling of impending doom. From all of us here at Plum Guide, happy birthday.

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