Just Call Me a 21st-Century Indiana Jones

Well, someday, maybe.

Today @ptklein, @laurenkrizel and I wandered over to the National Zoo for a while to enjoy the weather (it’s free, and you can literally just walk in–one of the best things to do on a pretty day in DC, if you ask me). Being in the zoo sparked all of our more adventurous sides, and naturally we got to talking about safaris, traveling the world, and long-shot career options like nature photography, etc.

But Paul brought up a great point, and it made me start to think. We’re the first generation who isn’t brought up to be just one thing in life. Very few of us anymore set out to be only doctors, or only businessmen. I’d even be willing to bet that if I surveyed 500 of my closest college-age friends, very few of them would be able to pinpoint one answer to the age-old question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?”

I’m far from being able to answer that question, too. My degrees are in marketing and communications, with some study in statistics. So where will that leave me? In a PR firm? Doing marketing for some big company? I’m not sure that’s where I want to be.

Instead, what if I put my marketing and social media skills to use in a high-profile political campaign? Or took them into humanitarian work abroad? Or used them to document the natural world on wild African adventures? Or maybe I could take them into the government, working in the White House; as an elected official connecting with my constituents; or maybe even in the State or Defense Departments, working to keep our country safe and secure?

See what I mean? I can envision thousands of possibilities for my skills, and who knows, my degrees might not even be relevant five years from now. For all I know Twitter and Facebook will be a thing of the past, this blog will be a relic, and I’ll be on to bigger and better things.

As long as it’s exciting, I’m ok with that. If there’s one thing I fear, it’s living a boring life. I’m pretty confident I’ve avoided that so far, and with a little luck I’ve got nothing to worry about in the future. My life-long goal is simple: to have good stories to tell when I’m old. I want to be a 21st-century Indiana Jones (perhaps minus the Nazis), one adventure after the next, living, learning, and, well, living.

What do you want to do? What adventures can you imagine in your future? Sound off in the comments, or chat with me on Facebook or Twitter.