50 Before 30

I made a list with my best friend called 30 before 30.  Naturally, it was a list of 30 things to do or see before I turn 30 years old.  Sounded great when I was writing it, but I soon discovered that those 30 things would not all be happening.

I had about two years to complete the list.  Frankly, the timetable does not matter.  Not when you've put down to run the Boston Marathon.  This one was a stretch, to say the least, since, as of right now, I don't even know if I'll run another marathon in my life and I'm okay with that.  Other, more feasible goals included reading a certain number of books, which I exceeded; visiting New Zealand, which I got very close to accomplishing but it basically didn't happen because of scheduling; go to a Coldplay concert, which was epic; ride a motorcycle and see Mount Rushmore, both of which happened in SD; and visit friends in other states, which has been done a lot with all my traveling lately -- seeing dear ones in Massachusetts, Vermont, Missouri, Iowa, and more.  So, I didn't get them all crossed off but don't worry, I still plan on doing everything, just not before I'm 30. 

I've had a change in plan, seeing as how my 30 year of life is coming up this August and I've been going from state to state so often.  I've now decided to do 50 before 30.  Yep, that's right!  Same concept, different kind of list. 

I'm going to attempt to see all 50 states before I turn 30.  Boom. 

Now some question what it takes to count a state as "seen" or "visited."  One friend's family say that if you use the bathroom in the state, then you have visited.  You can check it off the list.  Haha!  I feel you have to go and have the day there or partake in an event.  For instance, Justin Bieber is a talented artist and I like his music. (I don't care what you say.)  I needed to do something in North Dakota to check it off the list.  So, yeah, that concert happened. 

This new goal of 50 before 30 came about because, well, I'm pretty positive I can do it.  It's always been on my life bucket list but why not do it before I'm 30?!  I also sorta keep track of which states I've been to and I realized I only have three more to visit before I have all 50.  Thus was born the "I have to do this!  This would be so cool." mentality.  

Seriously.  I scrapped my trip to Iceland so I would have enough time to get to the last three states needed -- Arkansas, Oregon, and Utah.  I can go to Iceland some other time, maybe when friends can join too.  Besides, there was an added bonus of seeing good friends before I ventured out on my new adventure :)  

I planned my route, re-routed a lot based on stuff like my friend joining me and crashing a wedding, looked at flights, etc.  My backpack is about to burst.  I have no real agenda, other than to step foot in each state.  I can do whatever I want.

I'm pretty pumped and I'm ready to do a lot of hiking and camping :)  My friend, who I haven't seen in far too long, will join me for a couple of days but I'm mainly going solo.  At the end of it, I'll hopefully be joining some more friends at a beach so I'll have a nice, long vacation with the best of both worlds, beach and mountains.

Honestly, the US is so diverse and beautiful that I could happily go back to any state and find something fun or relaxing.  And there are several states I definitely want to go back to because one little day trip is not enough and especially because I have many friends across the country now.  Can't wait to see what happens as time unfolds but maybe a life goal should be to see all 50 states every 30 years!