THIS IS A GUEST POST from Malia Yoshioka, a writer for WhyGo Hawaii and a part of the BootsnAll Travel Network. After reading my personal Life To Do List, she decided to share the story about the lessons she learned while crossing a few items off her own list…
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The year I turned 25, I thought I had it all figured out. I was saving for a down payment on my first apartment, working as a paralegal in Honolulu, and training to run my first marathon. I was full of rosy optimism and grand plans for the future. Being the type-A person that I am, I decided to start a list of “30 things to do before I turn 30″ which included big things like buying that apartment and finishing the marathon. I also had a few “random” items thrown in, like trying out a local shrimp truck, taking piano lessons, and doing a hike under a full moon. But far and away the largest part of my list was travel-related items. Oh, how I love to travel. My list included things like “share a romantic kiss in Paris” and “hug a koala bear in Australia” and I figured that 5 years would give me enough time for a few trips to the various continents in order to check everything off.
At 28, I was slowly letting go of the dream of owning an apartment, due to the ridiculous prices in the housing market it Honolulu. So I cashed out my IRA, sold everything I owned except what would fit in my Toyota Camry, and set out with a friend for a six month trip to Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. When we landed in Australia, my first plan was how we’d make it to the zoo to pet a koala. Yet I kept being thwarted! On our first attempt, we arrived an hour after the feeding time so the koalas were asleep (who knew they sleep something like 18 hours a day!) and then two days into our stay, I got violently ill and spent most of the week stuck in our hostel. On a last ditch effort on our very last day in Sydney, the koalas had been removed to a separate exhibit so my friend, trying to cheer me up, surrounded me with plush koala bear dolls in the gift shop. It just wasn’t the same.
My six month trip eventually turned into nine when I added a solo trip to Paris for a month-long writing workshop and took my time in Europe before returning home to reality. So did I get that romantic kiss after all? Nope! It was slowly becoming apparent to me that I was not going to check off a majority of the travel items on my list. I also came back in the fall of 2008, just as the mortgage crisis was pulling the entire country into a recession. Suddenly, I couldn’t find a job and my savings were completely depleted. With seven months and counting til my 30th birthday, I was starting to feel really disappointed in myself and the fact that I wasn’t going to finish something that I’d set out to do. I’m not the kind of person who takes these things lightly. I could feel the negativity creeping in and realized that I needed to make a change.
Then suddenly one day I woke up and that proverbial light bulb went on. Was I crazy? Here I am disappointed that I didn’t get to see the pyramids before I turned 30. Boo hoo! I’d been to 18 countries in less than a year, filled up an entire passport, and had eaten my way through most of Southeast Asia. I was living my dream of traveling and writing about it. I had wonderful friends, family, and my health. What was there to be down about?
After an attitude adjustment, I took up the task of editing my list. Instead of unrealistic travel destinations, I added in things that challenged my comfort zone here at home, like skydiving and posing nude for an art class. (Guess which was scarier?) I paid for a meal for the person behind me in a drive thru. I finally took that midnight hike.
By the time the big 3-0 rolled around, I had finished all but two items from my list. My 25 year-old self would have disapproved of coming so close and not finishing. But my 30 year old self knew better. Those two items? They got moved to the “35 before 35″ along with that romantic kiss in Paris. Although I learned to be flexible and to see things in a positive light, I still believe in having goals!
So what’s on your list? Leave a comment below.
Bio:
Malia Yoshioka is the resident Hawaii expert over at WhyGo Hawaii where she dishes out tips on where to stay, where to play, and what to eat on your trip to Hawaii. She’s currently working on her 35 before 35, getting that romantic kiss (if it kills her!) and hugging those pesky koalas.
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