50 before 30

Hi there, welcome to my blog. About this time every year, the new year and my approaching birthday (January 26 for those of you playing along) get me thinking about what I am doing with my life and how I can improve myself. I usually start panicking and throw myself into something I think I should be doing - last year it was applying to business school...no comment on that for now.

This year is a little more intimidating because I am turning 29, and there is no more denying that 30 is right around the corner. Rather than fret about a 5 year plan or why I'm not married, don't have kids, own no property and any other number of really good things to stress about, I've decided to give myself a break and pursue a completely exciting yet, somewhat frivolous goal. So I've come up with a project that I think will be fun and give me a sense of accomplishment, but one that I can't really put on my resume - I am going travel to all 50 states by my 30th birthday!

What sparked this whole thing is my friend Rachel's wedding in Hawaii this coming summer. I've never been there, and was excited to tick another state off my list. Curious about how many states I had actually traveled to or through, I made a list and found that I have already been to 29 states, thanks largely to a few road trips over the years. That's a lot more than I thought I'd been to! After the Hawaii trip I'll only have 20 to go, so I figure I might as well try to see as many as possible this year, and if time and money hold out, why not all of them?

I'll list the states I need to go to below, so if anyone has suggestions or stories I would appreciate your thoughts. I will also do my best to present a story or anecdote from every state I've been to so far so there will be postings during the weeks in between trips this year.

Thanks for checking out my blog and I hope you'll follow along!

21 states to go:

Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming