30 Before 30 Update

Right after my 23rd birthday, I made a 30 things to do before I turn 30 bucket list post.

Now a year later after just turning 24, let’s see what progress has been made…

Lifestyle

1. Have my own place. I’m still at a place where this isn’t my top priority. Maybe in my later 20s.
2. Change my surname. My passport expires in 2023 so I will look closer at making that happen in my later 20s as well.
3. Become totally fluent in Spanish. Obviously still far from it, but I’m getting better at practicing.
4. Get a car. Done… twice. I got a car in the U.K. in June (2006 Ford Fiesta) and sold it when I left in December. It’s basically impossible to live in the U.S. without a car of your own so I got another car here, a 2009 Honda Civic.
5. Double my tattoos. At the time of writing the original post, I had four tattoos. I got one in the last year (probably my favorite) and hope to get another big piece on my legs later this year.
6. Get a dog. It will probably be a while until I can afford a dog and place big enough to house one. In the mean time, I hope to get a smaller, low maintenance pet like a rat, snake or cat.
7. Read 100 more books. Since May 2018, I’ve read 47 books. I think I’m in pretty good spare to read 50 more in the next six years.
8. Attend a dance class. For the longest time, I’ve wanted to take a dance class. I’m dismal at dancing, but I find it so fun and would love to learn properly!
9. See 30 musicals in my adult life. At the time of writing, I have seen 19 with the most recent one being Chess for my birthday. In the last year, I only saw one, The Lion King, for me and Diego’s anniversary. I’ve been spoiled in that all of the productions I’ve seen have been massive, I hope to pick up the pace I can see smaller, local, more affordable productions of musicals.
10. Complete the Fellowship Quest… because what’s a bucket list without something alcohol related? I’ll have to get on this next time I’m in the U.K., especially as I have a few friends in Hampshire.

Travel

1. Visit six continents. Three down.
2. Visit 35 countries. 18 down. 19 down, with Norway being my only new country in the last year.
3. Do 150 dives. 35 down. I have not dove since my South Africa trip in April of last year, but I look forward to getting about 20 more under my belt with my Thailand trip coming up soon.
4. Complete the Camino de Santiago.
5. Go skydiving and/ or bungee jumping.
6. Visit three more U.S. states.
7. Take a holiday with one or both my parents.
8. Go to a music festival.
9. Spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
10. Visit five national parks either in the U.K., U.S. or elsewhere for that matter! I visited one this last year, Channel Islands, and it was so lovely. Four more to go!
11. Book an impulsive trip.
12. Revisit five places. This is new this year, I hope to revisit five places I’ve been before, maybe with someone who has never been. Top of my list are Paris and Berlin.

Career

1. Be a published scientist. Now that I’m not longer in the world of academia, I’m not sure how practical this is. I love research and hope I can land a job that will help me get published.
2. Become a dive master.
3. Publish a book.
4. Go to a conference.

“It doesn’t take a mathematician to notice that my 30 Before 30 list isn’t actually 30 items long. That’s because as it’s so far away, I would like some flexibility to add and edit the items.” – my last year’s post. I’ve added one new goal but hopefully I can think of a few more things to add for next year.

What’s on your 30 Before 30?

Photo by Elio Santos.