Turning 30 is one of those things that makes you re-evaluate your life. This isn’t really news to anyone, of course. It stung a little bit, I’ll admit, staring at the inferno that blazed on top of that little cake. But it was turning 31 that made me realize that I was poking along through my life in the slow lane—at least by my own assessment. I’m one of those people who, at some point, made a list of things I wanted to do in my life. One incarnation might have looked like this:
1. publish a novel
2. have novel turned into blockbuster screenplay starring John Cusack and Sandra Bullock
3. tour the world, beginning with Scotland, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand
4. become an archaeologist and unearth something spectacular in Egypt
5. drive a ’67 mustang on a race track
6. become a famous painter
7. go to Alaska
8. fall madly in love
Those were meant to happen by age 30, by the way. That’s a partial list.
So while my life has thus far been an eclectic collection of (mis)adventures, I realized as I blew out 31 candles that there were far too many things that I haven’t done—things I thought I would have done by the time this day came around. My wish, when leaning over this cake, was to be braver, be bolder—stop making excuses and start doing the things that I’ve been putting off. I’m pretty sure that travel brings adventure, but I’m equally sure that I don’t always have to leave the country to find it. So what follows is one girl’s search for a life less ordinary. It might be a different state, it could be another continent, but there’s a good chance it could be just down the street in the town where I live. My hope is that when 32 rolls around, I can scratch a few things of the list. I expect, along the way, to chart those events that are unordinary, earth-shattering, and just plain bizarre.
Days until 32: 220
