Over the last year I’ve seen posts from female friends saying they are staying "29 forever" or how thirty will be the last birthday they celebrate because they don't want to get old, most males don't even note it. We have put importance on specific birthdays. One- the very first, Two- terrible twos (a baby kind of), Three- no longer a baby, Five- a child begins kindergarten and school, 10- double digits and they leave 'childhood', 11 & 12- the dreaded preteens, 13- teenager, 16- drivers license, 18- considered an adult, 21- can legally drink, 25- can rent a car and insurance rates drop. But they start to dwindle the older one gets. Thirty, forty, sixty and beyond. In my first thirty years I have had amazing opportunities and experiences. I’ve studied abroad and finished multiple degrees. I’ve been to twenty-one states and fifteen countries. I have loved and been loved and am ready to love again.
My next thirty years will be an adventure.
My goal for 40 is larger but smaller at the same time. I want to do one trip or goal a year with 3 minor parts to go with it. Something that I look forward too and can plan in immense detail. Or that I can do spur of the moment. This is the starting line for those ten plans, ten adventures that I will remember for a lifetime and that will inspire others. Prior to now most adventures were spur of the moment, luck, or based on what others wanted. Planned for myself solo, with friends or with a significant other. I'm not going to let someone stand in the way though. They don't want to go then they don't have too, want to do something else....then we can figure out how to do both. But my goal for my 30's is to do things for me and no one else… because for most of my twenties I postponed first and altered for others.
1: I would like to paddle board or sail on each of the Great Lakes. Including going on shipwreck tours and related museums, coastal drive of each lake and some boating even if its short and visiting Chicago.
2- Route 66
3. California coast- either wine country or the drive the length in a convertible.
4. South America
5. return to Scotland
6. Run a half marathon (Disney)- and feel good about it
7. Go to Fez
8. Go on a cruise.
9, Finish the West Coast
10. Go leafing- Either the North East coast or even Colorado on a true adventure.
As I look back on my late teens and early twenties I will always regret certain things. Going to LCCC instead of UW, not sticking with Anthropology from the start, not traveling more when in Scotland, sleeping with Andrew, and clinging to Jason. The two year not relationship with Travis and not trying one more time with Abi. But I also know if I hadn’t stayed in Cheyenne I would have never been HQ, I wouldn’t have the degrees I do and probably wouldn’t have gone to Scotland. I wouldn’t have an amazing 14 year friendship with a guy who knows me better then anyone. Travis and Abi both taught me a lot about people, family, and the effects on others. I still regret not traveling more while in Scotland but that’s the only thing I’d change. My 20’s made me a person I am proud to be, my 30’s I hope will give me the chance to share that person and new experiences with others. I am happy to enter my 30’s with a small group of friends from around the world instead of a large group of antiquates. The next ten years, thirty years, and even fifty years will be lived forward.