An update on “24 before 24”

Last year, when I was young and overly ambitious, I decided I would make a list of 24 things to accomplish before I turned 24. You can read my thought process on that here.

It’s been a month since I turned 24, so I decided to go ahead and see how I did with this list, even though I was over it about 6 months in. Here goes:

1. Try sake. √
This was one of the first things I checked off.

2. Read 14 books.
Nope. Not even close.

3. Have a mentor.
Still working on that.

4. Redesign my blog. √
Yes, I did it! It’s time to update it again, actually.

5. Go on a double date. √
Yeah, and it was a pretty cool date.

6. Watch all of Titanic. √
I was not impressed. 

7. Make something knitted.  √
I felt so accomplished after making this tiny blanket.

8. Do a photo scavenger hunt.
This isn’t even a hard one, I just need to plan it out.

9. Learn how to make latte art.
This will be the year. I’m sure of it.

10. Take a horse back riding lesson.
I didn’t do it, but I have before so who cares.

11. Make apple pie with my mom’s recipe.
Not yet. But I have become more interested in cooking and baking lately!

12. Organize my room and get rid of stuff.  √
Yes, I did this! I had to do it before I moved.

13. Take a trip with friends. (Possibly a road trip)
My friends are up for it, but I need money.

14. Dye at least some of my hair a crazy color. (pink or blue, perhaps?)
I decided against this. I like my natural brown color.

15. Complete an internship and officially graduate college. √
Yep, I’m a college graduate.

16. Join a professional organization. √
I’m on the Girls in Tech Los Angeles leadership board.

17. Correspond with a pen pal. √
I did for a little bit. There’s no blog post to show for it.

18. Go past Tijuana in Mexico.
Maybe later.

19. Go to a batting cage.
Didn’t happen.

20. Go on a 10 mile hike.
I didn’t want to when it came down to it.

21. Go to a karaoke bar.
Nope. I thought I would go with my cousin in Boise, but we did other cool stuff.

22. See a UCB show.
Still haven’t. :(

23. Make tamales.
Nah.

24. Go to Vegas.
I’m 24 and I still haven’t been, but I’m hoping I’m not missing much. 

Hmm. I did 9 out of 24 of these things. Maybe I should turn it into a “life list” instead. I’ve seen those around the internet.

Have you ever looked back at goal lists and decided not everything was worth going for? Maybe your ideas about life changed or your priorities didn’t match up with the goals you made at a specific point in time? I think that’s what happened here.

It’s great to plan for the future, but life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect. Sometimes it’s better. Or just different.

On a somewhat related note, I took that photo above in Boise, Idaho. I wouldn’t have expected that I would get to go on a road trip with my aunt this past summer, traveling from the Los Angeles area to Boise with stops in Berkeley and Reno along the way. She asked me to go with her and I feel very lucky for that.