Originally posted on October 16, 2006 (my thirtieth birthday) update coming soon
I will be honest ten years ago when I started out on a quest to travel, I never once held this as a goal. In fact, I had never even totaled up the countries I had visited until returning from the Mongol Rally. Upon turning twenty, I had been to exactly two countries; Canada and the United Kingdom. My twenties were packed with travel far and wide, sadly it is highly doubtful that I will ever see times like that again. It was all capped by this little trip called the Mongol Rally. While on the rally, Barry of the Dukes introduced me to one of his goals, to visit thirty countries before he turned thirty. He’s two days older than me, the old man of the convoy I might add.

Upon my return to home, I sat down and totaled up my countries, ending up dismayed with a 28 count. After a bit of pouting, I reflected and realized I had forgotten a few very significant locales; Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Singapore. Though I felt a bit guilty, I was happy nonetheless with the achievement. The fact that there were a slew of British occupied territories that I could not count eased my guilt. I have been to Anguilla, Grand Cayman, and Gibraltar, all of which still report to the Queen.

So today was my thirtieth birthday, it was depressing and adequately mundane. I ate cold pizza across the table from my daughter, who departed the birthday table in favor of chasing the cat around with Bob. I sat there alone, gnawing on the rubbery day old pizza, contemplating the past and the future. I am not one for birthdays and I am not afraid to let people know that. As a result, my birthdays are generally about self absorbed pouting. I am not proud. Despite what some may consider a pretty decent life, I feel like I lack any real accomplishments, outside of the ball of fire chasing the cat. I guess that’s what drives me to do stupid things and I hope to continue doing stupid things. In that light, I have assembled a list of twenty random things I hope to accomplish in the upcoming years.

1. Participate in a televised game show, the cheesier the better
2. Visit Antarctica
3. Establish and run my own business
4. Be listed as either a director or producer for some sort of video or movie
5. Teach my daughter to snowboard
6. Heliboard in Alaska
7. See some sort of literature of my creation in print
8. Operate heavy machinery (I’m talking stuff that moves serious earth)
9. Complete the Northwest passage snowboard trip, visiting Greenland, Baffin Island, the Gaspe, Newfoundland, and Iceland
10. Live out of a truck for a summer out west
11. Have a beer named after me
12. Learn to operate snowcats, design and build a snowpark for a ski area
13. Finally take Jen on a honeymoon
14. Compete in a Demolition derby at the Addison Field Days
15. Organize and promote an eclectic music festival in Vermont
16. Served in state level elected office, preferably governor
17. Perform volunteer work in an impoverished country
18. Get on television holding up a highly sarcastic sign at some sporting event, preferably an event like badminton
19. Become competitive at curling, with an ultimate goal of the olympics
20. Organize and participate in a rally similar to the Mongol Rally starting on American soil

I will keep you all posted on my progress. ciao ciao Seth