30 Before 30 Update

Right after I was 23, I made my first 30 Before 30 bucket list post (2018).

Every year since, I’ve updated it: when I turned 24 in 2019 and when I turned 25 last year.

With my 26th birthday a few days away, it’s time to update again! Obviously, with COVID-19, this last year has been slow, but now that I’m fully vaccinated I hope things will return to “normal” soon and I can start living my life again.

LIFESTYLE

Have my own place. Yes! Kind of. I moved to Seattle at the end of last year and live in a house with my boyfriend and two roommates. This situation is working brilliantly: I’m out on my own but saving money and getting to know people.

Change my surname. Last year, I said “My passport expires in 2023 so I will look closer at making that happen in my later 20s as well.”

Become totally fluent in Spanish. I practice Spanish on DuoLingo everyday and with some regular customers at my marine hardware store job. Although I can’t really talk about specific products (como se dice “schedule 80 90-degree elbow PVC”?), I can answer basic questions and ring people out.

Get a car. This was completed a few years ago now! My 2009 Honda Civic, Pearl, is still running like a charm. Over the last year, she survived about five round trip drives from Tucson to Seattle with only a single flat, which is pretty amazing.

Double my tattoos. At the time of writing the original post, I had four tattoos. I got one in Brighton two years ago (probably my favorite) and I got a little Friday the 13th a year ago, only two to go until I’ve reached this goal! I’d like to do a large piece soon now that I’m fully vaccinated.

Get a dog. Now that I’m in a house with a little yard, I might consider fostering dogs.

Read 250 more books. Last year, I changed this from read 100 books to 250. At last year’s time of writing, I read 136 books. Since then, I’ve read 110 books… so 246 books! I might change this to 500-ish books depending on my reading patterns over the next year working a real full-time job.

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!” Anyone want to be my partner?

See 30 musicals in my adult life. I’m at 20 right now and slacking. I’m going to go to all the touring shows once they resume again.

Read 30 classics. This was an addition last year, and the classics I’ve read are as follows: Animal Farm, The Alchemist, The Great Gatsby, And Then There Were None, Murder on the Orient Express, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Brave New World, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Hobbit, The Outsiders, The Count of Monte Cristo, Lord of the Flies, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The House on Mango Street, Of Mice and Men, A Christmas Carol, The Giver, The Little Prince. I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few or some of these might not count but right now I’m at about 20.

Join or start a book club. I love reading and I’ve recently wanted some people to talk about them with! Whether it’s online or in person, but I’d prefer the latter.

Attend a cooking and drink making class. I’m what you might call “domestically challenged” so I want to get better at cooking and learn to like it.

Continue to pay off debt consistently and invest. I hope to pay off all my debt by 30, but as long as I keep paying it off consistently in some way, I’ll be content. I’ve also added the investing bit now that I’ve built up a bit of a savings. Basically just be more financially literate.

See half the NHL teams play. I think I’ve seen about 10 play, so I hope to see at least five more play to achieve my life goal is to see all of them play! With the Seattle Kraken starting next season I can’t wait to go to games again.

TRAVEL

Visit six continents. Four down.

Visit 35 countries. 21 down.

Do 150 dives. 60-ish down.

Complete the Camino de Santiago.

Go skydiving and/ or bungee jumping.

Visit six more U.S. states. With observing, I reached my original goal of visiting three new states (Alaska, Washington and Oregon). Now I’d like to visit three more states.

Take a holiday with one or both my parents.

Go to a music festival.

Spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square.

Visit five national parks anywhere in the world. I’ve visited Channel Islands twice since my original post, most recently in November and also visited Joshua Tree for the first time. Three to go! Hopefully they will be the three in my new home state of Washington.

Book an impulsive trip.

Take a cross-country roadtrip. I’d like to either do the 101 or US 20.

Revisit three places. It looks like Grant and I will be taking a trip to the UK at the end of this year, which I’m sure will put me well over the five places mark!

CAREER

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.

Become a dive master.

Go to a conference.

That’s 30 this time! I hope to chip away at this more before my next birthday.

What’s on your 30 Before 30?

Photo by Connor DeMott