So that there in the picture above? That’s me.
No not the guy in the middle (he’s a professional rugby player), and no, not that guy on the right (he’s in the process of starting up his own successful financial planning business).
I’m the guy to the left, with the band-aid on my wrist from falling down, the polo purchased from Lowes for a tennis themed party, and the three year old shorts that are clearly too tight.
If you feel that’s self deprecating…. well you’re wrong. It’s the reality. Take it or leave it.
My name is George Allen Davey, and I’m just another shmuck 20-something year old in the city of Sydney running that invisible race called life, where everything is measured, benchmarked and rated based on where you fall on the professional & social hierarchy .
The above picture was taken at the beginning of 2017.
I’m 28 in this picture and will be 29 in early September. One year away from that “milestone” age 30 where we’re told we’ll have our shit together….
But you know what? I don’t feel like I necessarily want to have my shit together by then. I miss the days where it was ok to fuck up, it was cool to do something daring and take risks, or simply follow something that you just enjoy!
Which brings me to this.
It was back in May that I was standing in the shower, looking out the tiny window to the bathroom and decided to myself that I’m going to do something that’ll last a lifetime and be slightly centre left (reflective in the above pic again) to what everyone else in similar circumstances to myself is doing.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not special. Hell, I’m a dime a dozen in this town! Lets quickly go to the stat board:
- White middle class upbringing
- Enjoys sports
- Works full time
- Forgets the toils of work by erasing my mind every Saturday
So as you can see, you can probably apply these parameters to most of your mates and find common ground with me. Again, I am not special nor saying that I am.
Anyway, back to my shower.
I’m standing there thinking to myself, what is something I can do that combines a passion of mine, with risk, the unknown and adventure. Something that no one else I know has undertaken or even thought about?
It came to me so suddenly that I was shocked I hadn’t thought of it before. See, in 2013-14 I lived in Los Angeles where I was living and working in a city I had frequently vacationed. It was here that a good group of mates (local LA guys), got me to fall in love with America’s past time – Baseball!
Now again, I’ve always had a thing for baseball and would often watch the playoffs with friends back in Sydney. But now that I was in LA, I completely immersed myself in it.
Dodger Dogs, the first pitch, home runs, Mexican waves, stolen bases, strike outs, pitching master classes, the lights, no clock to hide behind, seventh inning stretch I COULD GO ON! It was like a drug! I quickly fell more in love with the game and would try attend weekly. Didn’t matter who was up for it, I wanted to be at Dodger Stadium. Didn’t matter that from my house in Marina Del Rey it took two hours in traffic, I wanted to be at Dodger Stadium!
Again, because if you’re reading this I’m sure you want to… let’s go back to my moment in the shower.
I stood there with the water hitting my back. The shock of the idea just coming to me was like a bolt of electricity. I said in my head – “I’m going to hit every baseball stadium in the Major Leagues, before I hit 30…. and I’m going to do it in a car!…. and write a book about it!! and the book with be called “Thirty before 30″…. and on the road I’ll keep a blog (the one you’re reading now). OH MAN THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT!
I told only a few people at the start and was surprisingly met with positive feedback with elements of “yeah, sure George”. But I honestly didn’t care. I was going to go for it.
So here I am. Writing the first post of the blog for this adventure. It’s 9:14pm, and just another Monday is in the books. But right now I’m feeling slightly elated. I’m feeling elated as this is no longer just an ordinary Monday. Now that words are on paper this feels real. It feels like the countdown is on, and everyone or no one who reads this is with me on this crazy idea!
I’m not sure how often I’ll post in these early days, but I’ll do my best to keep it uploaded. Please feel free to tell your friends, family or anyone else who simply enjoys the game of baseball and wants to see if from the lens of a crazy Aussie.
I’ve also started an email account with is george.thirtybefore30@gmail.com (the address I wanted was taken ok!)
Have a good one, and come back soon.
George
Thirty before 30 