Next Boulder Trip planned!

Heading back to Boulder! Melissa and I are going to head out there June 16 - June 20, to see what she thinks of the place. Sydney is going to stay with the grandparents... thanks guys!

Goals for the trip:

• Do some hiking!
• Visit with James, Maria Florencia
• Hang out on Pearl street
• Check out various parts of town... where would we want to live?
• Eat at Southern Sun
• Bump into a couple of the startup-scene folks I met at Boulder Startup Week
• Soak in the vibe
• Not go nuts being away from Sydney for 5 days :)

In other news, I'm getting fairly close to ticking off 2 things from my impossible list... more to come soon.

Boulder to Raleigh

So Boulder was pretty much incredible. I utterly can't do justice in words to the feeling that this place (and the people there) created in me; I felt like Cinderella finally putting on the glass slipper and becoming a princess.

OK, terrible analogy... but this place fits me like a glove.

Boulder is often called "the happiest place on earth" (sorry Disney) and I think that is true. This is a town where you can truly be yourself -- as long as "yourself" is a real person and not a front like many places seem to require... If you want to wear a viking helmet and go drinking downtown -- great. If you want to take 2 weeks off and hike from peak to peak -- great. If you want to start a club or event or group or company -- great! In fact, the town has your back for starting just about *anything*. This is a place for people who like to do things (anything), create things, and generally just live out loud.

I have never been in a place that was more supportive of each other (even strangers), more positive, less judgmental, more outdoorsy, less jealous, more into having fun and less into appearances. People help each other out expecting nothing in return, and celebrate each others' successes.

One week ago today I was packing for Boulder and was filled with uncertainty about what I wanted to do next, just having left my job of 11 years... by Thursday, I was pretty sure I knew where I need to try to take this next chapter of life -- and by Saturday I was sure. I was centered, relaxed, and almost felt I could literally fly for the first time in forever... good feeling!

So many great events and people last week. Now that I'm home and have a bit of time, I'm planning to write a post a day with my notes about the day one week  before... by the end of the week It'll be clear enough which direction I'm heading.

I'm also now going to have to actually start using Twitter, LinkedIn, etc properly -- just didn't have a need before, when I was at WebAssign... to that end, I'll soon be setting up a separate blog to start talking about my new career adventures, and once that's up and running this one will just be about personal stuff.

Boulder Startup Week day 1

Great day today! First day of the Boulder Startup Week conference... www.boulderstartupweek.com

Met more interesting and passionate people today than in the past few years in Raleigh. Really hope we can make the move out here soon - great energy, great people... Great opportunities to do something special I think.

John, Heather, Drew, Ben, Grant, Russ, Peter, Matt - you guys rock. Hope our paths cross again soon.

David, Brad - thanks for the book and the talk... I feel like I see a bit of myself in you. Hope to be part of something like techstars (or maybe the thing itself) some day.

During the last two events today I got to hear mini-pitches and offer advice... I think I may have already helped 2 founders out, and that feels great! Would love to do that for a living...

- Scuba Steve

Location:Colorado 119,Longmont,United States

(Draft of) My Impossible List

So I was inspired by the "Blog of Impossible Things" to draft a list of my own. If you haven't checked it out, it's worth a read...

This is a slightly different take on a bucket list; some of these are things that I want to "check off", but others are just things that will be fun, that I want to make sure I make a priority at some point -- otherwise all those "someday" adventures might not happen! This is also a list that can be added to at any point; for example as I tick off some fitness or travel items, others will rise up to take their place.

The list below is very rough; I've really just begun to draft this... but I thought I'd go ahead and post it publicly to give myself incentive to refine and then start working towards ticking things off!

There is at least one category missing: "Life Goals"... this is a biggie, and I'm working on that separately (at least for now).

-Steve



Fitness Goals

• Run a 5k race
• Run 5 miles (Realized that this is really not important to me. I'm not a runner. Getting back in shape through climbing, HIT training, biking instead.)
• 100 consecutive push ups
• 50 consecutive pull ups
• Get back down to 170 lbs (177 as of 5/13/11) Done 7/2013
• Get back down to 165 lbs Done 10/2013
• Get a respectable six pack Getting there 11/2013
• Bench 225 lbs (again)
• Earn a second blackbelt
• Replace car with bike for routine errands (Summer 2013)

Travel Goals

• Visit Central America (Costa Rica, 1997-98)
• Visit Thailand (1999??)
• Spend a season in the Italian countryside
• Visit Ushuaia
• See the Southern Cross
• Spend a month in Asia
• Visit Australia & New Zealand
• Watch a soccer match in England
• See the running of the bulls
• 3-month US roadtrip with an RV/trailer
• Attend Octoberfest
• Spent 6 consecutive months outside of the US
• Visit Alaska
• Go on a cruise

Green Living Goals

• Ditch cable TV (Fall 2011, again Summer 2013)
• Rainwater capture for garden (Spring 2013)
• Solar power for home
• Grow 25% of veggies we use (did OK in 2013...)
• Grow almost all of the herbs we cook with
• Skip meat at least one day/week

Adventure Goals

• Sky Dive (2000?)
• Surf respectably, once (2005?)
• Go non-tandem skydiving
• Scuba a shipwreck
• Dive with sharks
• Dive with dolphins
• Learn to kitesurf
• Windsurf respectably, once
• Fly a paraglider
• Climb a mountain (TBD)
• Top-rope an ice climb
• Month+ canoe trip in Canada
• Backpack for 3 weeks
• Snowboarding trip (TBD)
• Climb in Hueco
• Fly fish
• Go snowshoing
• Go cross-country skiing
• Whale close-up

Rock Climbing Goals

• Redpoint Slash and Burn (5.12d -- The New)
• Re-redpoint The Trophy (5.12c -- Vegas)
• Redpoint Pet Shop Boys (5.12d -- Vegas)
• Redpoint a 5.13a
• Send Scary Monsters (v6 -- Joe’s)
• Send Midnight Lightning (v8? -- Yosemite)
• Climb El Cap
• Climb Half Dome -- any direct route
• Climb Epinepherine with Sydney

Random

• Become comfortable in 3 foreign languages
• Spanish
• Italian? Greek? Chinese?
• Build a house
• Create a piece of art
• Invent something patentable
• Take down a deer with bow & arrow

Professional / Financial Goals

• Start a business (2012)
• Sell a business
• Be a CEO (2012)
• Raise money for a business (2012)
• Sit on a board of directors (Realized that this is really not important to me.)
• $2M in liquid assets (Realized that this is really not important to me.)
• Mostly-passive income stream(s) covering our routine needs