As you’ve probably guessed (!) already, travel is one of my biggest joys and where I spend most of my disposable income. It’s true: the best time to do it is when you are young and have no children. I thought the list in this article, “30 Things Travelers Must See and Do Before They’re 30,” by Lacy Morris for Huffington Post  was worth posting and seeing how I measured up (I achieved all those crossed off by the time I was thirty.)

Some of the commenters say that it is not possible to do this without being rich or going into debt. I say this is definitely not true and depends on what your priorities are (i.e., fancy designer clothes and $14 cocktails while cabbing it home or saving for a few months.)

Below I’ve listed Lacy’s list items and crossed out the *things* I’ve done complete with commentary. How do you add up?:

1. Jump off something.
2. See one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This is highly debatable, as there seem to be various lists. I visited the The Roman Colosseum, Italy in May 2013. Didn’t go inside, though.
3. Party in Las Vegas.  Well, maybe not “party”, but spent a day and a half there around Christmas 2005.
4. Take a vacation that isn’t Spring Break. See my Destinations page- ’nuff said.
5. Attend at least one large celebration.  Unbeknownst to me, I ended up in Guayaquil, Ecuador during its Independence Day. St. Patrick’s Day in New York City a few times, obviously.
6. Hit up a nude beach. Gunnison Beach in Sandy Hook, New Jersey the summer of 2012. 
7. Spend several days with only what will fit in a backpack.
8. Swim in the ocean. I live and grew up on the East Coast. Duh.
9. Sleep somewhere where you have to light a fire to stay warm. In April 2006, I spent my birthday/Easter Weekend in La Ceja, Colombia (and yes, I took that picture of the sunset), a village about 45 minutes from Medellín. Because it’s in the mountains, it can be 80 degrees during the day, then you’ll need a sweater at night. I’ve also slept next to the wood burning stove in my childhood home near New York City .
10. Do some sort of adrenaline sport.
11. Hit up one of the Caribbean islands. Technically, though it is a small archipelago of islands of of mainland Panamá- not a Bahamas or Dominican Republic: Bocas del Toro.
12. Take one ultimate road trip.
13. Go somewhere alone. I go everywhere alone. Read this article about solo travel.
14. Take a train somewhere. I traveled all around Italy via train and from Kilkenny to Dublin, Ireland.
15. Go to a music festival.
16. Have one iconic Americana experience.
17. Go to at least one of the Smithsonian museums. I’ve never been to the Smithsonian, nor to D.C., but I live and grew up in New York and naturally went to the American History Museum a bunch of times during field trips.
18. Summit a mountain. My family and I drove our van to the top of Mount Washington in North Conway, New Hampshire in the White Mountains when I was about 11.
19. Be able to name your top five dream vacations. Oh, the places I’ll go…
20. See a game at a classic ballpark.  I grew up in less than an hour from the iconic Yankee Stadium. I saw a number of games at the real Yankee Stadium. I lived about five blocks away as it was being demolished.
21. Visit a neighbor to our north or south. I’ve traveled to Mexico and five other countries in Central and South America.
22. Do something so adventurous that it requires a doctor’s visit.
23. Save pennies to go somewhere you really want to go. I saved for months to go to Paris for my 30th birthday (before that it was Colombia- trice.) Never happened. Am I bummed? No: I lived the Dolce Vita in Italy instead! I used Pinterest to plan. Check out where I went.
24. Go to New York City. I grew up close by and where do I live, again?
25. Sleep under the stars.
26. Eat an iconic city meal. How ’bout pizza in Naples?
27. Know all of the best places to take tourists in your home city. I wouldn’t take them to Times Square, that’s for sure! I would take them here, however.
28. Have one close encounter with a wild animal. I should write about the time I got lost in Parque Tayrona in Colombia in 2007. I was ambushed by a frog about the size of my head. I’ve also swam with starfish who were about the side of a basketball in Bocas del Drago in Bocas el Toro, Panamá. The most beautiful beach I’ve seen to date. Unfortunately, about a day after that swim my camera was stolen. : (
29. Do something you can’t tell your parents about.  What happens in Colombia stays in Colombia. ; )
30. Know a dance well enough that you could keep up with the locals.  All I’ve got to say is Medellín 2010. Unfortunately, the bar with live music that I visited at least twice closed as of January 2013. 

SCORE: 21/30