生日快樂：我的49次全新嘗試

I began my career as The Travel Mom in 1996 when my kids were young. I studied Early Childhood Education at college and was teaching parenting classes， preschool and Mommy Me. Travel was something I really enjoyed， and at that time no one was really talking to moms about making it less stressful. Through 1)trial and error， I took on the task of trying to make family vacations more enjoyable for everyone and became one of the early “mommy experts” on television. I was thrilled to be able to marry so many things that I loved and make a living doing it.

My children grew up， life changed， and I evolved too. Once the kids both went off to college I felt grateful to have had the opportunity to travel with them， but I wanted to continue my journey. The nest was empty and it was time for me to do things that I always wanted to do.

I turned 49 in January and challenged myself to have 49 brand new， first-time experiences before my 50th birthday. I started keeping this at a blog and video series: www.49Before50.com. Some of these adventures have been thrill-seeking. I’ve jumped from the roof of the 2)Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas， rode in a 3)bobsled down the ice track at Utah Olympic Park， 4)skydived， hang glided， and 5)BASE jumped from the 6)Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls， Idaho.

Others have been more about learning to do something that I’ve always been curious to try. I took a 7)bartending workshop in Las Vegas to learn to make the perfect dirty martini (that’s my drink!)， participated in a training session at an indoor 8)shooting range so I could fire a gun， and spent the day with a chef picking fresh produce so I could finally learn to make homemade 9)salad dressing.

The most meaningful of these challenges have been those that are naturally uncomfortable situations for me. I pushed myself to try to be comfortable with these activities and grew a great deal from them. Some of those included visiting the Phoenix 10)Herpetological Society to get educated about snakes and try to conquer my lifelong fear of 11)reptiles， and taking a pole dancing class. I’ve never been “that girl” who is comfortable with “that part” of me， so it was particularly tough to let that side of me come out.

All of these new experiences produce fear. If I didn’t feel afraid of trying some of this stuff， I would really be 12)nuts. Fear lets me know that this is real， and there are consequences， and I am alive. Feeling the fear is a good part of this journey.

1996年，我從寫“媽媽旅行者”博客開始了我的事業，那時我的孩子們都還很小。我在大學里學的是幼教專業，所以那時我也在幼兒園和“媽媽和我”學習中心教一些親子課程。我熱衷于旅游，但那時候很少有人能給媽媽們支招教她們怎樣輕松親子游。經過反復試驗，我開始著力于創造使人人都樂在其中的家庭旅行，并成為電視熒屏上最早一批“媽媽專家”中的一員。能將各種自己熱愛的事物揉合并化為自己的事業，我真的感到無比的激動與興奮。

我的孩子們慢慢地長大了，生活在變化，我也要往前走。等到孩子們離家上大學時，我很欣慰能有機會和他們一起旅行，但我更想繼續我自己的旅程。巢空了，是時候去做我一直想做的事情了。

今年一月，我度過了4 9歲的生日，并自我挑戰在50歲生日之前要做49件全新的，從沒做過的事情。我開始在 www.49Before50.com 這個網站上傳這些事情，并持續更新博客和上傳視頻。其中一些冒險真的是很刺激。我從拉斯維加斯的高塔酒店頂端跳下，在猶他奧林匹克公園乘雪車沖下冰道，高空跳傘、滑翔傘，在愛達荷州雙子瀑布市的皮瑞尼鐵橋嘗試定點跳傘。

我還嘗試學習一些自己一直很好奇的事情。我去了拉斯維加斯的一家調酒師工作室學習制作最棒的橄欖汁馬提尼酒（我的最愛！）；報讀了一期室內射擊訓練課程，讓自己可以在射擊場上盡情“讓子彈飛”；花一天時間跟隨大廚一起采摘新鮮蔬果，最終學會自制色拉醬。

這些挑戰最大的意義還在于去嘗試些原本會讓我覺得不自在的事。……