Thirty Before Thirty

As a self declared huge fan of thirty going on thirty I ave low-key fantasised my thirties ever since I was a child and even though I have just had my twenty first birthday (during lockdown, RIP) and still have plenty of time to go all this spare time whilst I'm between my undergraduate and my masters has seriously got me thinking about what, besides my upcoming publihsing MA, I want to achieve over the next decade. I have seen this trend across youtube and various blogs and, in a desperate attempt to be productive rather than cave and live through Jenna Rink, I have decided to string together a list of my own thirty goals. Here they are, I sincerely hope I don't come back at twenty nine and laugh at myself but let's not rule anything out. 

Disclaimer: I won't be going into about all of these goals but that doesn't any of them are any more or less important to me. 

1) Live in London - For as long as I can remember I have known city life was for me, This may have had something to do with being stunned by Meryl Streep and her flawless performance in The Devil Wears Prada and having the fattest girl crush on her ever since. Publishing is the industry I want to break into and London is the perfect place for that. Despite being an incurable introvert London...

2) Adopt a pet 

This is jasmine, my parents adopted her 9 months ago. 

3)Have a masters degree 

4) Go to Paris 

5) Be confident in speaking French- As a long term admirer of Audrey Hepburn I have always wanted to be able to speak french and pretend I'm one of her film characters. I have taken lessons on Duolingo and really enjoy it and I would love to be able to go to France and feel comfortable there for a week or two or maybe even live there for a few months. 

me at vegan nights, London

6) stay vegan for as long as I can (already 18 months in the making) 

7) Go to Disney world Florida 

8) Have my own office 

9) See at least five west end shows- I have seen Wicked twice, it was soon to be three but then the world got a little crazier. I love visiting shows, I miss performing. Chills every time. Humans can be so darn talented. It is always such a pleasure to see theatre. I have Tickets to Heathers but I am not confident that performance will go ahead. I would love to see Waitress, Les Mis, The lion King, Jamie and Dear Evan Hansen.

10) attend London bookfair 

11) Live with my boyfriend 

12) Watch every Audrey Hepburn film

13) Read 1000 books- I only got my Goodreads account when I was about 15 so If I had to guess I'd say I'm probably sitting on around 300 books or so but since having a job and being slightly more independent the amount I read each year has sky rocketed. I am from a fairly low income family and wasn't allowed to the library too much but I adore reading. It might take me to 35 to get to 1000 but i'm determined to get there. 

14) Go to Italy - My mother was adopted and we have been told her biological father was Italian, It sounds silly but as someone who struggles to relate to a lot of people I meet, I can often feel very disconnected, I'm really interested to visit Italy and see if I feel any sort of connection to the country and the culture. 

15) Still be best friends with Freya and Ben 

16) Go to the secret cinema 

17) Have a published article online- I love writing, Blog writing, journalism, poetry et cetera. Nothing is as fulfilling and challenging to me as sitting down with my laptop or a notebook and pen and scratching my brain. It would be such a life goal if I could get my work published online by The Bookseller or someone equally as prestigious. 

I am a student journalist and blogger with published work,I'd love to continue this. 

18) Have enough for a deposit on a house 

19) Earn over 35k in one year- This was something as a large family my parents never came close to. My mother is a cleaner and dad works in food storage and distribution, both of them left education at young ages with minimal qualifications but are very hard workers. I'd love to be able to take a paycheck to them and show them look- your dedication to us children payed off, I'm well off.  

20) Be a good big sister

21) Get another tattoo (My one is an Audrey Hepburn quote) 

22) Run a marathon or half marathon for charity 

23) Read every Shakespeare play- My inner book nerd would love this and it would tell me I got more out of my undergraduate degree than I currently believe I did. Any contemporary novels or films based on Shakespeare plays I could get a lot more out of plus the fact it makes you seem instantly smart is an added bonus. Othello and The Winter's tale are current favourites of mine as of today I have finished Julias Ceaser bringing my read Shakespeare plays to 9 out of 37. Time to get cracking. 

24) visit Auschwitz and the Anne Frank house 

25) Visit New Zealand 

26) convince at least five people to go vegan 

27) do more charity/volunteer work 

28) Become confident with cooking- Like many things I maintain that my inability to cook is the fault of my parents. I have grown up on cans on tuna and beans and an abundance of frozen food; frozen fish, pizza, chicken, chips, hash browns have all been staples in my diet for the majority of life. Due to my parents overlapping working hours they never had time to cook and hated cooking when they did have the time so I didn't really get home cooked meals and as a result of this, was never taught how to make them myself. I always live in flat shares and halls of residence and as someone who battles an anxiety disorder I have never felt able to experiment with cooking in my communal kitchens. I would love to be able to cook things like a soup or a curry. 

Lockdown has got me working on my baking (vegan, of course)

29) continue going to counselling sessions and grow 

30) Learn to drive- again, something my parents did so is also completely alien to me