It’s 4:28AM in Niamey, Niger, and I’m jet-lagged as shit.

The previous night, when I woke up a full hour earlier and vainly tried to will myself back to sleep (a trick I have never been able to pull off), a random thought popped into my head: how many beds had I slept in during the course of my life?  The answer, between hotels, hostels, and friends’ apartments, was predictably impossible to divine.  I could, however figure out how many different beds I had slept in for at least 6 months (the answer: 18).  This led me to other counting exercises.  Not sheep, since sleep seemed like a lost cause at that point, but other significant digits in my life.  How many jobs have I held?  How many cars have I owned?  How many girlfriends have I had?[1]

What began as a mere counting exercise began to reveal a broader pattern.  What did these significant digits say about my life?  They spoke to the choices I’ve made and the person I’ve become.  They were fascinating.  Or concerning.  Smile inducing, hand-wringing, and ultimately revealing.  The pattern revealed a person who often chose breadth over depth.  Someone who has experienced a little bit of a whole lot.  A whirling dervish who, still, after all these years, can’t manage to sit fucking still and follow simple guidelines.

As always, this is part exercise in self-indulgence and part curiosity about the way my experiences compare to yours.  What are the significant digits of your life?  What story do they tell about you?  About your choices, your priorities, and your journey.  Perhaps, unlike me, your numbers are noteworthy for the time you’ve spent in one place, one job, or one relationship.  Maybe this exercise provides you an opportunity to reflect.  Maybe it’s just an opportunity to reminisce.

Perhaps you want to share your numbers with me (ideally in a personal message) or possibly with someone else.  Maybe you just want to put them to paper, take a gander, and throw it into the ocean.  Either way, it was fun and insightful for me, and I hope it might provide a useful window or mirror for you as well.  Here goes…

My life by the numbers:

12 apartments: My apartment in Shanghai was the most luxurious (a 35th floor, 3 bedroom apartment), the one in Port-au-Prince the most fun (vive Ibo Lele #7!), and the one I shared with my brother in DC the most like home.

18 roommates: Some forgettable ones but mostly a collection of quality people who have tolerated my penchant for late-night antics, beer-soaked gatherings, and guilty-pleasure TV shows and movies.

4 dorm rooms: I lived in a dorm room at 17 again at 27 and yet again at 31.  It doesn’t get better with age.

18 beds: My all-time favorite was the use water bed I bought from my buddy Bill Robertson on my way to my first duty station in San Antonio, Texas.  It was the most comfortable bed I ever owned, and despite patching it for leaks and disassembling and reassembling it no less than 5 times (thanks Art Harrison), I absolutely loved sinking into it at night.

17 jobs: I started working in the summers at the age of 12 and have never held the same job for more than 2 years.  My favorite was unquestionably teaching high school (and probably in Rio if I’m being honest).  My least favorites: editing a military almanac during the day while waiting tables at night.  “I’m in the weeds!”

17 gyms: The number of different establishments at which I have been a member.  Rio might have had the best distractions, but Santo Domingo the best facilities.

81 countries visited: As of Sunday.  But my three favorites remain Ireland, Brazil, and Israel.

10 return city visits: The number of times I have been back to Barcelona, the most re-visited city on my litany of travels that isn’t my hometown of Washington, DC.

8 girlfriends

3 great loves

2 great regrets

7 cars: I’ll always love my first car: a black 1983 Chevy Blazer on which I painted an American flag on the driver’s side door and an Irish flag on the passenger side door.  But my favorite was the black Jeep Wrangler soft top that I had in the Air Force.

3 motorcycles: The timeless1982 Honda Ascot I bought in 1996 holds a special place in my heart.

12 The number of times I have seen The Dave Matthews Band; 3 more than the number of times I have seen The Old 97s, Blues Traveler, Barenaked Ladies, or Guster.

3 The number of separate times I have taken both Intermediate Microeconomics and Introduction to Statistics.

6 The number of times I have read my favorite book: Dune.

33 The number of times I have seen the original Star Wars (give or take a few).

 

Feel free to change up the categories to reflect your idiosyncrasies.

And now it’s your turn.

[1] This counting exercise quickly also became an exercise in classification and definition.  What counted as a girlfriend?  What didn’t?  Was the threshold time or seriousness?  These are the things that keep me up at night.  Literally.