I have decided to formalize a list of dreams that I have had bouncing around my brain for some time now. I’m using this post to challenge myself to meet these goals before I turn 30 years old. Some of them are a real stretches in terms of feasibility but you can’t do anything if you don’t try. The lists below are in no way inclusive of all of my dreams and are not in any sort of rank order.
Before I turn 30, I would like to learn to (through experience) . . .
- sail and maintain a sailboat (because it seems like the only way to be free and travel the world),
- scuba dive and free dive (there is just way to much that most people never get to see down there),
- fish including spearfish, deep-sea, etc. (mostly because I love fish, like the taste I mean),
- hunt in general (c’mon it’s practical),
- clean and cook what I catch (otherwise it’s just a waste),
- garden and cook what I grow (plants are pretty darn cool),
- speak Spanish on a informal, conversational basis,
- as much about micro-finance and micro-business as possible (obviously),
- trade weather derivatives effectively,
- trade synthesized stock and bonds (risk profiles and creating your own investments are just awesome and useful skills to have),
- about weather patterns and global climate change (everyone probably should),
- how nonprofits function effectively,
- I am definitely forgetting some things here . . .
I would also want to learn any other languages possible, which is a real stretch. I just think Spanish would be a good place to start after French. I will most likely be learning Fon in the PC, that is if I am posted in or around where I think I might be in Benin. I am really open to anything though.
Before I turn 30, I would like to go to / see . . .
- Benin (Obviously),
- Morocco (did a project on Morocco once, fell in love with the idea. Check out Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations episode on Netflix and you will too.),
- Algeria,
- Senegal,
- Mali,
- Egypt (pretty sure it’s a must see if you are in Africa),
- The Canary Islands (I’ve heard they’re just incredible),
- Kenya,
- Ethiopia (I love everything to do with coffee and I would love to see plantations here),
- South Africa,
- The Antilles,
- Somewhere in the South Pacific / East Asia (really anywhere will do, I’d like to spend some serious time in this world region at some point though),
- Anywhere else I can get to (I’m really not picky, North Pole, Sahara Desert, Middle East, whatever, I’m down) . . .
I would really like to go everywhere on earth, this is just what might be feasible before I turn 30. Also I am going to try to get all over Africa when I have time in the PC, the above African countries are simply my priorities.
Other things I would like to do include:
- obtain my MBA in Finance from a top-tier school,
- obtain my CPA license in the process,
- launch my Hedge Fund (I have an idea for this),
- Be completely self-sustainable,
- Feel like I have done my best to help the world,
- Be in good shape and eating healthy,
- Own a sailboat,
- Again, there are things that I am not thinking of right now . . .
Yeah, this is less feasible section of my dream list, but let a fella dream right?
Welcome to my blog! My name’s Benjamin and I’m a soon-to-be college-grad sitting at the bottom of a debt blackhole as deep as Mount Kilimanjaro is tall (get it? cause I am going to Africa . . ha ha). Anyway, I’ll be graduating magna cum laude with B.S. degrees in Finance and Accounting and a B.A. degree in French Language and Literature. Now, my original intention was to sell out to a big investment bank, work 16 hour days, 80 hour weeks, and make enough to pay down my school loans faster than you can say “Mergers & Acquisitions”. But, unfortunately for the loan agencies and (hopefully) fortunately for my soul, I have decided to join the Peace Corps instead. In other words, I am taking my skills to the streets, instead of to the Street.
Ben in Benin 