Thanks to Skype, I have been able to experience a great deal of colossal changes in the lives of my loved ones. Many of them are embarking on parenthood, some are retiring their “little black books” and devoting themselves to one partner, a few are changing career paths, and one is absolutely dreading her upcoming 35th birthday.
I carefully dodge questions pertaining to the above daily living in India as a single, foreign woman, but all this change has me thinking about where I want to be in the future. Gracious me. I can’t even tell you where I see myself in a year, let alone 5.
Although I have always stuck with my dear friend Karina’s expression “no fixed plans and no intent of arriving”, I am taking the plunge and cataloging 30 things I still want to do before 30. Pardon my mistake, I will do before 30. Here we go.
1. Decked out in nautical stripes and cute boat shoes… learn to sail.
2. Bake bread that actually rises
3. Watch the World Cup. Live.
4. Smoke authentic Cuban cigars in Havana
5. Spend 24 hours silent. Ha.
6. Sip wine in Napa
7. Gulp wine in Tuscany
8. Learn samba and shake my hips at the Rio Carnival
9. Explore Croatia
10. Experience the adrenaline rush of the “Fly-By-The-Wire” in New Zealand
11. Write a children’s book series
12. Swap stories with the tiny grannies in the hill tribes of Laos
13. Go on an African safari
14. Take a machine gun course. If my sweet little mother could do it, so can I.
15. Become a cheese connoisseur
16. Attempt salmon fishing in Alaska with my ever-loving grandfather
17. Speak in person with Muhammad Yunus
18. Learn how to change car oil and tires
19. Ride a camel in the Sahara
20. Hike the Grand Canyon
21. Sleep in a castle
22. Survive a trip to Isle Royale…… with the entire family.
23. Learn to drive stick shift, then learn to drive to stick shift of our 1960 baby blue VW bug!
24. Waterfall rappelling down Iguaza Falls
25. Be completely surrounded by butterflies during the annual Monarch Migration
26. Road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway
27. Master public speaking or rather learn to speak in public without wanting to crawl under a table
28. Drink a beer at Oktoberfest in Munich
29. Have a picnic during Hanami in Japan surrounded by thousands of cherry blossoms
30. Participate in the world’s biggest water fight during Thailand’s Songkran festival