By the time he was 27...

...Stephen Arnold Douglas had been appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court.
...van Gogh had been a theology student, a semi-trained evangelist in the slums of London and the mines of Wasmes (in Belgium), a French tutor, an unsuccessful art salesman and spurned by love. [I got to that one way earlier!]
...Yann Martel was earning his living as a writer.
...Cho Chik-un held four major Japanese titles as a player of 'Go'.
...Orson Welles had already made Citizen Kane.
...Louis the XV had already fathered ten children.
...Tom Brady (quarterback for the Patriots) had already won three superbowls.
...Alexander the Great had already conquered 90% of the known world.
...Kurt Cobain was dead.

Hmm. Maybe I have some work to do? Or maybe I'm doing pretty well?

(By the way, there are now more holiday snaps on the Flickr page)