Remember Steve Fossett, the Millionaire Adventurer who died in a plane wreck in September of 2007?

It’s okay if you don’t; my own head was kind of exploding when it was being reported, so I didn’t hear anything about it until a year later, when they finally found his remains.  I never met the late Mr. Fossett, on account of I don’t really run around with very many independently wealthy people, but his legacy will forever live on in my heart.  He changed the way I think about life.

The man was a Millionaire Adventurer. That was his title—a Millionaire Adventurer.  Not a CEO, not a Real Estate Executive, not Doctor or Lawyer or Therapist Fossett; a Millionaire Adventurer.  Can you imagine?  “Hi, what do you do?  Oh, you’re an attorney?  Fascinating.  My name’s Camille; I’m a Millionaire Adventurer.” Yeah.  That would be amazing.

Actually, though, it’s not so out-of-reach as I would have you believe.  Truth be told, I’m halfway there:  I’m already an adventurer…

…now I just need the millions.  I’m almost positive it’s my calling in life to be a Millionaire Adventurer (though I’ll be smart about it and try not to die in a plane crash right when I’m at my peak).

Now that I think of it, however, I could probably go one step further.  According to this article at npr.org, some guy named Sir Richard Branson (a good buddy of Steve Fossett), is a British Billionaire who helped fund many of Fossett’s record-breaking Millionaire Adventures.  If I had to choose between being a Millionaire Adventurer or a British Billionaire…I wouldn’t. Instead, I would combine the two and become a British Billionaire Adventurer.  That, my friends, is my true calling in life.  I’m pretty sure of it.

The only problem I foresee with being a British Billionaire Adventurer is that I would be too embarrassed to ever tell people what my profession was.  I mean, it’s bad enough when people ask me what I do and I tell them I’m getting a degree in English.  “Oh, you’re going to be a teacher?” they ask.  Nope, a writer.  It’s always sort of awkward when I announce I want to write professionally; it’s kind of like art students telling people they’re going to be paid artists someday: “Oh, well, isn’t that…nice?” I’m sure every English major in the world assumes she is going to live by her pen alone, and the chances of it actually happening are quite slim.  There’s just…a lot of competition.

So if I’m embarrassed just to tell people I want to be a writer—a paid, professional writer—when I grow up, think how much more uncomfortable it will be when I start saying I’m going to be a British Billionaire Adventurer.  You have to admit, it is pretty far-fetched…

…I’d better just stick with Millionaire Adventurer; it’s much more conceivable.

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