The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

In late 2018 I started looking at 2019 with a tinge of sadness. Turning 50 seemed like a judgement on all the things I hadn’t yet accomplished. There was so much more to learn and so much more to experience. Places to go and people to see.

Enter the idea of #50for50. What if I had a plan of attack for 2019 that would give me the most experiences possible in one year? What if I asked my family and friends for suggestions on great adventures and challenges? The plan started taking shape with massive input via Instagram and Facebook. I love the ideas I received and some of them that didn’t make the 2019 list will be saved for future use.

I reviewed all of the ideas and many I had already experienced like Amtrak, zip lining, Broadway shows (although technically I still need to see them on Broadway I guess), and others. I also narrowed the list to fit my budget and heart’s desires.

I am so thankful for all the offers of help on some of these experiences. I will definitely need adventure buddies and also advice along the way. Some of my 50 are small and won’t seem like much to others and some of these are major life changing accomplishments I am going to have to put time into training/planning/executing. I hope you’ll follow along as I post #50for50 on my FB, Instagram, Twitter, and also on this blog.

So for those of you who have been waiting for the big reveal – here is the list. In NO particular order of when I plan to experience. I have tried to credit everyone who were first or early on the suggestions. You’ll see I also had a few ideas of my own although a couple were later mentioned by others. Again I apologize if I didn’t give credit where credit is due. I am so thankful for the awesome input – trust me!

1) Start a meditation practice. (Rebecca Boer)

2) Silent Weekend Retreat (Cameron Kempson)

3) Sky Diving (Joyce Creech)

4) Stand Up Comedy (Ryan Hanley)

5) Stand Up Paddling (Julie Bryndal)

6) Kayaking (Dee Gillespie)

7) Pottery Wheel class (Claying Around and Karen Speer)

8) Belly Dancing class (Merit Wolff)

9) Play Blackjack in a Casino (Jared Bellmund – to be fair he said poker but I changed)

10) Parasail (Amy Humphrey Hoffman and Elizabeth House)

11) Surfing (Ryan Hanley)

12) Pole Dancing Class (Ashley Fitzsimmons and Sadie Simpson)

13) Ride a mechanical bull (Jamie Ball)

14) Get a tattoo (Me and several others)

15) See Queen in Concert (Wendy Oakley)

16) Float Tank (Ashley Fitzsimmons and Connie Jackson)

17) Read the entire Bible in a year (me)

18) Drive a Go Kart around a track (me)

19) Go deer hunting with Mike (Jenny Schweigert)

20) Pub Cycle (Sadie Simpson)

21) Stomp Grapes (Harmony Johnson)

22) Tour New Belgium Brewery with 7 of my friends (me – I won this in a silent auction)

23) Food Fan Foot Tour with Stu Helm (me)

24) Summit in Great Smokies National Park IN SNOW (me)

25) Take Alex camping or backpacking (me)

26) Learn to play chess (me)

27) Learn to home brew (Ryan Hanley and Kelly Bryant Proctor)

28) Perimeter Trail – 20 miles around Sewanee Campus (John Teasley)

29) Whitewater rafting (Gayle Cotton)

30) River Tubing (Hannah Miller)

31) Hike gorge/Talulah falls with Kelley Herrin (who I haven’t even met yet LOL)

32) Murder/Mystery Dinner (Karen Marino-Brueggeman)

33) Learn how to fly fish (Dean St. Marie)

34) Learn to waterski/kneeboard (Coker Metcalf)

35) 50 hrs of volunteering – doing things I have never done such as serve at a soup kitchen (Karen Marino-Brueggeman and Robin Lenner)

36) Shoot a Precision Rifle Series (PRS) match (Mike O’Brien)

37) Climbing wall…to rock climbing (me)

38) Pass the Cicerone Certified Beer Server course (me)

39) sprint TRIATHLON (Woody Brown and Jared Bellmund)

40) Learn to swim laps (me – see #39 for reason why)

41) Thru hike the Art Loeb Trail (me)

42) Make one UNIQUE food at home from scratch each month, such as sushi, cheese, soufflé, etc. (Robin Lenner and me)

43) Ride the Virginia Creeper Trail (me)

44) Horseback Riding Lessons (Karyn Kattermann)

45) E-publish one of my book length manuscripts (Trish Beirne and Suzette Tingley)

46) Aerial Silks Class (Dawn Martin and Sadie Simpson suggested aerial yoga but not finding any in WNC)

47) Lead a group hike (me)

48) Discovery Flight (Antonio Canas)

49) Cut down my own NC Christmas Tree (me and Mike O’Brien)

50) Blog about all 50 experiences (Antonio Canas and Dasya Duckworth)

IF I get out to Albuquerque this year I will be sure to check out any of Cheryl Hamel’s awesome suggestions. I hope to visit Tad Dodson in the Sierras even if I am too accident prone to snow ski. I would rather shoot than golf sorry y’all who suggested. I also need to learn Spanish but have been trying that for over a decade. I definitely want to drive across country some day like Nichole Michele mentioned or see the sun rise and set on Grand Canyon like Lori Martin recommended. Just not in the budget this year.

It’s still going to be an exciting year – I hope you will follow along and let me know what you think or share your own experiences on some of these things.