thirty.

some years back, i set a goal, or at least thought about setting a goal to see the world before i was thirty. this milestone unofficially marks the end of youth, a point at which you theoretically have to slow down your wanderlust, not by choice but as a necessity. after all, the older you get, the more tied down you are; to work, relationships, etc., and the harder it is to find time to step away.

my goal had a pretty open-ended objective, as it's difficult to quantify what actually counts as "seeing the world." did this mean literally visiting every country or territory within reason, or merely touching ground on all continents? or was it even just an excuse for stepping away from life as i knew it to open myself up to new experiences? as the big three-zero loomed ever closer, i leaned towards that final, more practical option.

in true steve spirit, i managed to put off my biggest trip to date until the 11th hour. turning thirty on the road seemed like the perfect way to acknowledge reaching my goal. or reaching it in the easiest interpreted manner, at least. additionally, i cherished the idea of celebrating the big day in a truly unique experience. sure, dinner + drinks at one of my favorite restaurants with friends back home is always nice, but wouldn't it be great to ring in the new era by watching a sunrise from the top of a volcano in indonesia?

as nice as that sounds, it didn't happen. i'm still in cambodia, geographically close but logistically quite distant from the volcano in question. but i can't say i have any complaints about plan b...

ankor wat, siem reap province, cambodia

watching the sun rise over one of mankind's greatest achievements ain't a bad way to spend a morning.

i always wondered what it would feel like to turn thirty. would i panic? would it be depressing? would i feel like i was missing out on life, worried that i'm way behind on reaching my goals and fulfilling my dreams? or would i take it all in stride? in the past few months, mostly when celebrating other people's thirtieths, i'd get an antsy feeling for a brief moment. it was the same sensation i got as a kid at the end of summer vacations, when, looking back, i wondered what i could've done differently to maximize my fun and adventure. eventually, those feelings subsided by the time the school bells rang, as i accepted my fate and realized there was nothing i could do to change the past. ditto for grown-up steve.

thirty's no big deal, especially when you've adapted the "you are as old as you feel" mentality. and hey, if i can bike 50 kilometers in 95 degree heat, follow that up with a night out until 3:30 am, then wake up 90 minutes later for another full day of biking and temple gazing, then i'm just as young now as i was ten years ago.

jay-z was right. thirty is the new twenty.

-sg