My Year in Activities, 2012

Published on December 30, 2012 (↻ March 3, 2024), filed under Adventure (RSS feed for all categories).

I wrote a short and sweet book about all these activities: 100 Things I Learned as an Everyday Adventurer!

Similar to the Year in Cities series I’m going to move the Year in Activities series I decided against moving either series over to Google+. And I’ll make an adjustment: As opposed to former years I won’t talk about the activities in detail—read at the end, why.

1. Vacuum forming workshop
2. Ice skating
3. Paintball
4. First ice hockey game (San Jose Sharks vs. Calgary Flames)
5. Soap making
6. Glass blowing
7. Snowboarding
8. Trike gliding
9. Book binding
10. Damage assessment training (emergency response training, ERT)
11. First choir performance (listening, not singing 😉)
12. Flying an airplane (Cessna)
13. Donating blood (U.S. regulations didn’t permit me to)
14. Emergency O₂ administration training (ERT)
15. Flower arrangement training
16. Fire extinguisher training (ERT)
17. Writing training
18. First ballet visit (watching, not breaking my bones 😊)
19. Floor warden training (ERT)
20. Perfume making
21. My first straight razor shaves
22. Camel riding
23. Tuk-tuk rides
24. Getting mugged (okay, not quite an activity)
25. Laser cutting and etching workshop
26. Beekeeping
27. Introduction to ham radio
28. Motocross (rather: dirt bike) training
29. Letterpress printing
30. Stand-up paddleboarding
31. Krav Maga
32. Indoor skydiving
33. Laser Tag
34. Bartending education and certification
35. Fencing
36. Ikebana
37. Rafting
38. Drawing training
39. Taser training and certification
40. Radar certification (ASA 120)
41. Body butter making
42. Pilates
43. Bowhunter online education and certification
44. Babysitting online education and certification (ha! ha!)
45. Photopolymer platemaking
46. Acupuncture
47. Drive-in movie
48. Facial expressions online training and certification (yes… law enforcement thing)

As I said before, constantly trying new things doesn’t only make you grow, it also makes you look back at a year and say, “yeah, that makes sense—time didn’t just vaporize.”

Now, why do I just throw a list at you, and not share a bit more as I did in the past? Because I decided to write about all of this “for real.” I have several plans for new books, but one will be about my activities. I have done so many things over the years, and learned so much from them, that I think it’s worth sharing more in a little different format. And I would, as of my—given how rarely I write these days—ambitious plans, also talk a bit more about the necessary mindset, logistics, and cost. I hope I don’t over-promise, but that’s the plan. [And it worked out.]

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a frontend engineering leader and tech author/publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead for companies like Google and as an engineering manager for companies like Miro, I’m a contributor to several web standards, and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development (and engineering management), but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (Be critical, interpret charitably, and give feedback.)