Rockin' Young People

As I was checking cnn.com this morning, I noticed a new section called "Rockin' Young People," and it contains profiles of young people who have done some pretty amazing, extraordinary or just different things so far in their lives. One of them was about a 25 year old guy who traveled around the middle east interviewing terrorists, their children and the under-30 crowd and then he wrote a book about it. I would definitely add that to my list of "must read soon" -- it's called "Children of Jihad."

But that's not the only reason I wanted to share my little find this morning. There was another person profiled who may not have done quite that, but she seems to be really inspiring in another funny way -- she is approaching her 30th birthday and has set out to do one new thing every day between her 29th and 30th birthdays, and she has a blog about it: http://www.jen365.blogspot.com/. I scanned some of the stories but decided I shouldn't just sit here at work and read her site, although it would be really easy to do that. Some of the things are funny, some are nice gestures, and she's had tons of visitors from all over the world reading her posts and posting comments or suggestions for other new things. So check it out! I think it's such an interesting thing -- funny, entertaining and inspiring.

The funny thing is a couple years ago when I was approaching 25, my co-workers at Clarian were asking me "So, do you have your list of things to do before your 30 figured out?" And I hadn't at the time. The only thing I could think of was skydiving (PS: now I'm not so sure I want to do that since people die sometimes). I think I had a couple more, like riding in a hot air balloon, and I recently got the idea from Eric that it'd be cool to travel to all the countries of my ancestors -- England (done), Denmark, France (done), Canada, Germany....I know there are others, but I can't remember. I'm kind of a mutt. I think I just like the idea of changing things up every now and then, getting out of your comfort zone, trying new things -- whether it's food, travel, hanging out with different people, trying a new sport, etc. So if you have other ideas of new things to try out, I think it'd be fun to hear what's on other people's lists. Feel free to share!

Here are some of the things on my to-do list (not necessarily to do before 30, just during my lifetime in general):
- travel to the countries of my ancestors
- skydive?
- snowboard
- make sushi
- ride in a hot air balloon
- travel to all the continents (except Antarctica -- I really don't think my fingers and toes would like the cold that much)
- go to the boundary waters for a long canoeing/camping trip
- buy a house
- sing on the mountain tops in Switzerland and pretend I'm in the Sound of Music
- go to Greece and eat real Greek food
- live in another country for an extended period of time (even if it's just 6 months)
- gain a better understanding of different world religions
- earn my master's degree
- learn another language (or at least enough to get by -- maybe improve my Spanish or ASL)
- own a cabin (anyone want to go in on cabin in like 5-10 years?)
- go flyfishing
- ride in a gondola

That's all I can think of for now. I might continue adding to this list...

Here are some cool things I've already done:
- rode a camel in Tunisia
- visited Carthage
- accompanied a friend to a doctor in Tunisia, where she got stitches without having any pain meds or anything to numb the pain (except a suppository, which is supposed to do the trick -- she refused to use it)
- lived in France for 5 months
- traveled to Normandy, France by myself and rented a van with 7 guys to tour the beaches, memorials and cemetaries
- wakeboarded
- skiied in Colorado and in the French Alps
- traveled to England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, the Caribbean, and many US states
- lived in the high desert in southern California for 6 months (on $700 a month)
- learned about the tough system the US has for welfare when I applied/fought for food stamps and used them during my AmeriCorps experience in Cali
- set foot in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
- rode on a catamaran in Atlantic Ocean and got scared of sharks so only swam for about 3 minutes
- wrote a thesis
- sang in a wedding
- read in a wedding
- ate octopus and other unknown sea creatures in a "seafood salad" in Italy
- spent two weeks traveling in Europe with my mom
- ran a marathon and 2 half-marathons
- completed 2 sprint triathlons
- rowed on a crew team for 4 years
- let someone cut my hair by snipping off my braid (Sam and Emily!)
- lived in a house with 6 girls (oh the fun and the drama!)
- bought a puppy and trained her to be well-behaved (most of the time)

This is too fun! It's kind of fun to look back at all the things I've done and all the things I have yet to do. You should try it. It kind of reminds me that I really have done a lot -- especially when day-to-day, you kind of forget these things and sometimes get stuck just doing the same ol' stuff (like for me, studying, making dinner, etc.).