30 Before 30

Do you ever just have a moment when somebody asks you how old you are and you have to think a minute before saying, “I am ___ years old.  Wait what? I AM ___ YEARS OLD???” I do…all the time.  This year, I will turn 21.  Depending on who you ask, I am pretty much an adult.  I will graduate college next year and have to figure something out.  I have a general plan that definitely will not be easy (or conventional), but I am actually pretty terrified.

If I live as long as data says I should live, I am already at least a quarter of the way through my life, and what have I accomplished so far? NOT MUCH.  If I died tomorrow, there would not be much to say other than I graduated high school.  I have had a fun life so far and I believe that it has been relatively meaningful, but there is so much more I want to do and so much more I want to accomplish.  I want to leave my mark on this world.

I am a goal setter.  I need lists to get through my day.  I thought that I would share the thirty things that I would like to do before I turn thirty.  I am almost exactly nine and a half years away from this, so I will use this same post to cross things off and add pictures as I go!

1. Travel to Europe
2. Graduate college
3. Ride in a gondola in Venice
4. Visit Spain
5. Swim in Waterfalls in Hawaii
6. Backpack through Costa Rica
7. Publish a book
8. Eat a baguette in front of the Eiffel Tower
9. Road trip across America
10. Live in an apartment in a big city
11. Make a career out of freelance writing
12. Reach 100,000 views on my blog
13. Spend a significant amount of time as a missionary
14. Live in another country
15. Invest in a small business
16. Become fluent in a second language (probably Spanish!)
17. Become somebody’s mentor
18. Visit all 50 states (I am halfway there!)
19. Camp at Dry Tortuga National Park (in the Keys)
20. Go to Haiti for a mission trip
21. Take a family vacation to a cabin in the mountains
22. Go backpacking in Australia
23. Be able to write full time without worrying about $$$
24. Buy a house/apartment
25. Visit the Amalfi Coast in Italy
26. Attend Oktoberfest in Germany
27. Grad school (at least start!)
28. Throw a bridal or baby shower for a friend
29. Make a family tree
30. Establish a solid following on my blog (at least 5,000 followers on one medium)

Now that I am posting this for the world to see, I now have to commit!  I have noticed that so often people push things off with the intentions of coming back to them later (myself included) and they just never happen. Since I have been making a solid effort to live a more meaningful life, I have recognized the importance of not pushing things off.  Life is too short.

What are somethings that you want to do in your life?  If you are older, what are somethings that you wish you would have done?  If there is something on my list that catches your eye, LET ME KNOW! We could do it together!