It begins on the eve of my twenty-ninth birthday. No panic, no dread, I know that tomorrow will likely be the same as today, with a few more facebook notifications. Yet its the start of the last 365 days of my twenties. Growing up this was the goal. I would be married by thirty, have a family by thirty, be in a successful career by thirty, everything would be figured out by the time I was thirty. None of that is going to happen in the next 365 days. Thirty. One-third of my predicted life expectancy. Thirty. It's the end to all the wild and crazy misadventures of my twenties. Thirty. When everything will start to fall into place or it won't but I won't care as much. Thirty. The start to many new adventures.
I see the lists on Pinterest "25 things to do before you turn 25," "30 things to know by 30." those _<BLANK>_ age bucket lists. I had a friend do twenty-five things before turning twenty-five which ended in her skydiving for her 25th birthday. Others have done similar, but they are younger than me. Its a hindsight for me until now. This isn't an original idea, I think a lot of people with this idea complete it two ways. Either they begin the last month or two, trying to fit everything in in a short time frame. Or they spend months planning and if something doesn't work out they quit rather then adapt pretending to never fail. I am part of a third small group. Those that are stupid determined to complete and succeed but spend far too much time planning. I'm sure at the end few people will have even stumbled across this let alone clicked beyond this introduction. But this is for me and no one else. I'm sharing it with the world by choice.
For me this is four years in the making. I started with my own desires, I looked at all those idea lists and realized I had already had many experiences in my short life. I've traveled, I've snorkeled, zip-lined, cruised, flew, and sailed. I'm terrified of heights and I don't care for confined spaces. There are few things I've wanted to do that I haven't found a way to do already. So I started compiling ideas, making plans, looking at logical possibilities and wild crazy dreams. I wanted to do things that would make me a better person, someone I was proud to be going into my next decade.
The List
1.Blog the Whole Year ✔
2. Better Photos ✔
3. Feed the Hippo at the Zoo ✔
4. Artober ✔
5. See a Cirque du Soleil Show ✔
6. Cage Dive with Sharks ✔
7. Take Part in an Escape Room ✔
8. Be Part of a World Record ✔
9. Visit More States ✔
10. Southwest Adventure ✔
11. Do Something Out of Your Comfort Zone ✔
12. Colorado Wonderland ✔
13. Try Speed Dating ✔
14. Do more Yoga ✔
15. Cover-up Tattoo ✔
16. Road Trip with Best Friends ✔
17. Complete a Triathlon ✔
18. Visit the Grand Canyon ✔
19. Try Something 100% New ✔
20. Hot Air Balloon Festival in NM ✔
21. Compete in a 5K ✔
22. See a Broadway Show ✔
23. 30th Photo Shoot ✔
24. 52 Week Photo Challenge ✔
25. Experience an Avalanche Game ✔
26. Vegas ✔
27. 365 Photo Challenge ✔
28. Pay off Debt ✔
29. Reflections on 30 ✔
30. Goals for 40 ✔