I was thinking recently of things I’ve done, places I’ve been. At forty, I still feel young. New to the world, even though my body isn’t capable of what it once was. Looking back though, I’m astonished and overwhelmed at the people and events that have found their way into my lives.
Sometimes at Thanksgiving, the holiday has just come and gone. Good food, good friends and family. This year, though I spent a little bit of time reflecting. I count myself genuinely lucky for the breadth of experiences I’ve had, people I’ve known, places I’ve been.
Thank you.
I ended up “hiding” the remainder of the content below a “more” tag because on review, it felt boastful even though that wasn’t the intent at all. I am both proud and humbled by the list below. While some were certainly intentional, others are just a byproduct of my life so far — a life I feel incredible gratitude for right now.
I’ve:
- Rafted down the Colorado river
- Piloted a 2-seater aircraft to land at Washington Dulles Airport at night
- Piloted a 2-seater aircraft through spins in Canada
- Taken a few different steam trains.
- Powered a hand car with my dad
- SCUBA dived in a quarry in Pennsylvania
- Flown in “Upper Class” in a 747
- Been crammed in coach for hours on end
- Flown in a helicopter around the Grand Canyon
- Ridden the BART in San Francisco, the Tube in London, the T in Boston, the Metro in Paris, the subway in NYC, SEPTA in Philadelphia, and the Metro in DC
- Ridden the Eurostar under the English Channel
- Slept in sleeper cars on Amtrak
- Slept in regular seats on a train between Paris and Rome
- Taken a ferry on the North Carolina coast
- Taken a polish freighter across the Atlantic ocean
- Windsurfed
- Boated around canals in Venice
- Ridden in an air boat around Avery Island Louisiana
- Sailed small craft on lakes in the eastern United States, in the San Francisco Bay and the English Channel
- Paraglided at Devil’s Dyke
- Skateboarded
- Skied in Tahoe
- Snowboarded in New York
- Ridden in the top of double-decker buses, and the back of articulated buses
- Ridden a “century” (100 mile bike ride) in New Jersey
- Cycle-toured in the Eastern US, Ireland, and Great Britain from Lands End to John O’ Groats.
- Cycled all 5 boroughs of New York City
- Cycled naked through the streets of Brighton
- Hiked in Scottish moors and camped among California redwoods.
- Hiked along the Appelachian trail
- Motorcycled the length of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia
- Stayed at the YMCA in New Orleans
- Stayed at a posh hotel in the French Quarter
- Skinnydipped in the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel
- Lived in 2 countries, 4 states, and 7 cities
- Toured the United Nations in NYC
- Toured the smallest distillery in Scotland
- Been to the top of the needle in Seattle, the Arch in Saint Louis and the Eiffel Tower in Paris
- Stayed on the rock in Gibraltar
- Been questioned and inspected leaving Tel Aviv
- Been whisked around Budapest by a friendly resident who didn’t speak a lick of English.
- Driven nearly a quarter million miles
- Owned 2 cars, 2 houses, 4 motorcycles, and dozens of computers
- Worked for a global, multinational company with tens of thousands of employees
- Worked for a startup in San Francisco
- Worked for myself
- Lived in a shack with no running water or electricity
- Lived in a penthouse suite on top of a hotel
- Loved
- Broken hearts
- Been heartbroken
- Been a country music DJ on an AM station
- Been a classical music DJ on an FM station
- Acted on stage
- Shot camera for community television
It’s a long list, but it’s a short list. I could go on. After all, I’ve had a sandwich in Kent (not too far from Sandwich), but I haven’t yet had a Hamburger in Hamburg. There are whole continents I’ve not even yet set foot upon. The world is an amazing place, and but a speck in the Universe. Wow.