30 Before 30

Maybe this is premature. Maybe I'm being melodramatic (again). Maybe I'm just being me, and this is the space for that, right?

So this 30 before 30 list. Here's the thing: I've always been a very goal-oriented person. I thrive on making lists, checking things off, and having a tangible running list of exactly how accomplished I am. Man, I sound like a jerk. But I'm not. I promise. Anyways, here goes.

30 Before 30

1. Write a little (or a lot) every day.
2. Develop a regular workout routine.
3. Buy a nice camera and learn how to use it and all the fancy settings.
4. Use said camera as a camcorder and record bits of daily life.
5. Learn more about graphic art design and use it to design a gloriously beautiful blog.
6. Travel somewhere new at least once a year.
7. Travel to every continent (except for Antarctica--well, maybe Antarctica, too).
8. Buy horrendously expensive, awesomely gorgeous shoes.
9. Go to grad school.
10. Learn a new language.
11. Cultivate meaningful volunteer experiences.
12. Learn to chop vegetables quickly like those fancy chefs.
13. Discover my spirituality.
14. Have a better relationship with my dad (and my whole family).
15. Increase my vocabulary.
16. Pick up a hitchiker.
17. Go on a LONG road trip.
18. Learn to draw portraits.
19. Develop an ethos about the food I ingest.
20. Work in a different country.
21. Go to Africa!
22. Build something.
23. Get a grown-up job where I can be creative and thrive.
24. Get out of debt.
25. Grow my hair out long.
26. Make a really awesome dress.
27. Learn to swim!
28. Make a measurable difference.
29. Ride an elephant.
30. Be happier each year than I was the year before.

Thanks for reading! I'm on my way to accomplishing number 20 right now!

The Seed

I had the massive fortune to be born into a rather - uh, worldly? - family, which fortunately and unfortunately for me, means the travel bug is encoded into my DNA. I love it. I love traveling, exploring, adventuring, getting lost and getting found, and the myriad forms it can take.

So I started googling--how all major tragedies in my life begin--and doing my research, which has provoked a major jealousy streak in me.

Reading about the Lost Girls (3 girls who spent a year traveling the world) and other backpackers has gotten me so FREAKIN' jealous that everything is tinted green. And when I want I figure out a way to get in the cheapest manner possible.

But the only exception here is that a world trip, aside from being horribly expensive and an exorbitantly huge investment of time and life-pausing and whatnot, offers so many choices. Too many choices.

How does one even begin to set goals for a ballpark figure to save for when I can look at a list of all the countries in the world and not be able to cross off a single one as "not interested" in visiting? How can I begin to save for flights when I don't know whether I'd rather buy a Round the World ticket or multiple Open Jaw tickets or what? How do I begin saving for a trip I don't want to take all by my lonesome when other people can be so unreliable?

Well, no matter the difficulties, I might as well try.

Ladies and gentlemen, the seed of an idea of a goal has been planted. And hopefully, it will blossom into "a big beautiful butterfly!"