30×30: The Final Tally

The day has come and gone. I turned 30 early this week–a milestone I was very much looking forward to. It was a simple day, but special and I spent it with a few folks who mean a lot to me doing some of the things I love most. It was the first solid, uncomplicated birthday I’ve had in a while. I’m hoping for more like it in my future. But I digress…

I didn’t not accomplish all of my 30x30s. Only half of them, and truthfully, that’s okay. Because of the list, I got to do a lot of things I never would have before, but my experiences over the past few years certainly aren’t limited to the list either. Below is the final tally:

1. Stay awake for 24 hours – Feb 2010
2. Freelance as a day job – May 2012 (and still going in July 2014!)
3. Get my motorcycle license
4. Sleep under the stars sans tent – Do two half-events make a full event? Feb 2012 slept in hammock outside on a beach in Colombia (but technically, there was a building over me, so no direct star-gazing), and in April 2014, I went “camping” with my sister and her family at Disney World.
5. Visit a farm sanctuary – Jan 2013
6. Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity (goal change Jan 2013: Volunteer with a worthy organization of my choosing.) – May 2012. Hello, Kings County Tennis League.
7. 10-Day Master Cleanse Fast (goal change Jan 2013: Need to find replacement, don’t think this is healthy.)
8. Get a tattoo
9. Integrate yoga into my life (goal change Jan 2013: Need to find replacement, merging this with martial arts/boxing.)
10. Watch a roller derby game – October 2010
11. Hang my artwork in a gallery – April 2012
12. Learn a martial arts or boxing or yoga.
13. Design a t-shirt
14. Watch all the Back to the Future– March 2010
15. Plant a tree – May 2013
16. Master gnocchi making (goal change Jan 2013: Master cooking.)
17. Visit all 50 states. 13 down, 37 to go. – This is the other big thing on the 30×30 list. 37 states is actually a lot to do. 7+ states each year. UPDATE: My finaly tally was 36 states plus Washington D.C. Not bad, that’s 23 states in under four years.
18. Complete a half-marathon – January 2012
19. Apprentice with a photographer
20. Go to the U.S. Open – August 2012
21. Go on a vineyards tour – September 2010
22. Bike the MD-PA trail (goal change Jan 2013: Or any long, long stretch of multi-state trails.)
23. Find a creative collaborator / partner in crime
24. Go to the firing range – September 2010
25. Have writing published
26. Be a guest speaker/lecturer
27. Bet a $100 at a roulette table – In honor of R. It seems only fitting. Except, you know, with less money.
28. Payoff my student loan – February 2011
29. Make/sew a quilt
30. Get a pet – November 2012

Travel Plans: I separated these from the 30×30, because big travel plans sometimes involve more money, time, etc. So as long as these happen sometime, I’d be pretty happy.

1. Visit Scotland (and Ireland if time.)
2. Visit the Great Wall of China
3. Ride a wild elephant (thus go somewhere where that is possible.)
4. See the Northern Lights