Thirty adventures before I turn thirty. Which means I have until November 4th, 2016 to cross everything off this list. While the list may or may not be realistic (probably the latter), it will be fun to attempt regardless. I’m currently 25 (as of this original writing, 2012), almost 26, over half way through my twenties. I have no idea how this has happened. Ok, I know how this happened, but the past five-almost six-years has gone by at such a whirlwind speed I can barely catch my breath. Didn’t I just turn twenty two? The fact that I’m now closer to thirty than twenty, admittedly, freaks me out, just a little. OK, a lot. I know age doesn’t really matter. But it does to some degree, for me anyway. After all, I do want to have kids some day and there is a very real biological clock ticking away in that regard. So thirty has always felt like official “adulthood.” And while I have no intention of letting that number define my life or choices (as much as is reasonable) it does feel a bit like a pinnacle. And there is much I’d like to do before then. There is much I have done. Plus, I love lists. I will find any excuse to draw up lists.

So here is a list of things I have done, and am aiming to accomplish travel-wise by the time I turn thirty, and you know, magically poof into a real adult.

ETA November, 2016: Well, here I am, 30. And these are some of the things I’ve done over the past decade. It’s been a whirlwind adventure to say the least. And while I can’t anticipate what is to come in the next decade I know it’ll be full of adventure, small and large, near and far. I can’t wait!

1. Visit Fifty Countries. Spring 2016 Final count: 53
   
2. Run a Half Marathon. Fall 2015
3. Walk across a country. Camino de Santiago (Francés), Spring 2015
4. Go trekking above 4,000 meters. Ethiopia, 2013
5. Summit a mountain over 5,000m. Mt. Kilimanjaro, Fall 2009: 5, 895 m.
6. Go on Safari. Fall 2009: Tanzania. Summer 2011: Ghana Winter 2015:India
7. Experience a long-haul flight in first class. Summer 2012 SF-HK on Cathay Pacific.
8. Travel solo for at least a month. Spring 2012, India and Nepal
9. Live abroad. Ireland, 2012-2016
10. Do one adrenaline-fueled activity out of my comfort zone. Canyoning, Vietnam, 2011
11. Eat at Alinia, Chicago, IL. Fall 2011
12. Eat at Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark. February 2013
13. See Petra, Jordan. Spring 2016
14. Get Scuba Certified. Summer, 2012: Koh Tao
15. Take a cooking course in Thailand. Summer 2012
16. See Hagia Sophia. December 2013
17. Visit the Dead Sea. Spring 2016
18. See Machu Picchu. Winter 2010
19. See the Taj Mahal. Spring 2012.
20. Ride Motorcycles through Vietnam. Summer 2012
21. See the Great Pyramids. Fall 2009.
22. Cross a country border on foot. France-Spain, 2015
23. Go Dessert Camping Summer 2014-Morocco
24. See Angkor Wat. Summer 2012
25. Run a Marathon.Spring 2016
26. Eat my way through South East Asia. Summer 2012. Delicious.
27. Visit Iceland.February 2013
28. Trek in the Himalayas. Spring 2012. 
    
29. Go on a road trip. Fall 2016
30. Take an extended trip of at least 4 months. Summer 2012, 4.5 months.