If you hadn’t noticed I’m currently having another existential crisis over here. (Is our generation the only one to have so many?) And I think it’s because I like to have #goalz in my life to be able to function properly. I have to have something to look forward to, something to work towards, a 5 year plan of my life ready at any one time. And right now, I’m just kind of winging it.
For a long time my goals were based around places I wanted to travel to in the next few years – like my All-American Road Trip or our Bali getaway or showing Josh Australia. Then there was the engagement, baby, house, all the adult stuff, blah, blah, blah. And here we are, out the other side, and I need some things to plan and get excited about.
I should mention that I love my life with my gorgeous family and nice house and some good bloody people supporting me. I’m extrememly fortunate. Hashtag blessed. But I wanted a bucketlist for the rest of my thirties so that I have a bit of direction. So that if I start feeling like this again I can look at the list, pick one I want to do next and bloody well make it happen.
Oh and I’m omitting things that are ongoing. Like, in this decade I want to save money and exercise more and look after myself more. But that’s kind of a given.
I’m also on that manifestation hype and feel like writing this all down and putting it out there into the world will help make them a reality. Just saying.
A Bucketlist For My Thirties
Find the Forever Home
I know we only just bought a house 6 months ago, but it’s very much a 5 years maximum kinda house. We love it and it suits us perfectly right now. But I’d like to get a longer term house after that. Somewhere with a garden, somewhere a little bigger for my family, somewhere with a home office (because obvs I will be making my millions by then…).
Get Married
Oh yeah, there’s just the matter of, y’know, actually getting married. We got engaged back in April 2018, but the whole planning-a-wedding thing has taken a back to seat to, well, everything else.
But it’s important to me to get married, I want the commitment and I want the same surname as my daughter. So during my thirties, I will eventually get hitched. Promise.
Visit Japan
I’ve been thinking about Japan for ages and just haven’t got around to visiting. I’ve been uhmming and ahhinh about whether it’s a family trip kind of destination, and if so, what age Indi should be when we go. But to be honest, with the whole coronavirus epidemic at the moment, I’m not sure how comfortable I feel taking my family to Asia. But I’m sure in the next few years I’ll find the perfect time to explore Japan. I hope so anyway.
Take a Family Road Trip
Talking of family trips, I really fancy doing a road trip with Josh and Indi. In the short term, whilst Indi is a toddler, I’m thinking a road trip around Scotland could be awesome, or we could venture into France or The Netherlands. I know people that leave at like 2am so that the kids can be asleep in the back and wake up in a new country, and I like the idea of that a lot. Ooh I’m excited to plan one of these soon actually!
But also when Inds is a bit older, I’m thinking a USA, Canada or New Zealand Road Trip could be on the cards during the school holidays. Go big or go home.
Write Something Substantial
Since starting my blog in 2012 I’ve toyed with the idea of writing a book. I actually wrote a good 30,000 words of a non-fiction book about backpacking. Y’know, my whole ethos of travelling with the things that make you happy, not just the bare necessities. But then I lost the love for it. It felt a bit like I just regurgitated half the posts on this website, and so I dropped it.
I also attempted fiction a couple of times and wrote a chapter or two of each. One about yes-I’m-predictable going travelling. And another about my day job at the time – working as a Buyer’s Assistant for a High Street Retailer. Because the world of buying and merchandising is a unique one, let me tell ya.
Now, I’m not sure what I’d like to write, but I know that I get the urge to write something big quite a lot. Something substantial that I can have on my shelf and doesn’t get lost in the dizzy depths of lost blog posts with poor SEO (AKA most of my blog posts). We’ll see I guess!
Go on Another Friends Holiday
I’ve travelled with my group of friends in my twenties. We went to Australia for a wedding and went wine-tasting in the Barossa Valley and glamped the Great Ocean Road. It was a lot of fun. We also went to Copenhagen together for my 30th birthday, and I did a city break to Amsterdam with a couple of friends. And I just really like it. Sure there are pros and cons to travelling with friends, but it’s just nice to have these awesome experiences together.
So I’d like to do more of them. I do have a couple of my friends’ hen dos coming up (and eventually my own) but I’m also talking about doing a villa holiday with some friends so that we can take the kids in the group. Should be fun!
Be an Entrepreneur
A life goal of mine is to have my own business. Yes, this blog has turned into a bit of a side hustle for me, but it’s unreliable and doesn’t exactly pay the mortgage. But I have bigger dreams. Josh and I always talk about opening a coffee shop or starting a food truck or a fashion line. I think the problem is that we never can settle on just one, which in turn means we never start any of them. But I’ve decided that I’m doing this in my thirties. I’ve given myself a timeline and it’s going to happen. I might fail, but at least I’ll have tried.
Master my Signature Dish
I’m a good cook. I make everything from scratch and the consensus is that the meals I make are good. But they’re not great. I think it’s because the dishes I cook are good midweek meals, like a decent chilli or a good jambalaya. But when I have friends round, I don’t really have an exciting signature dish I can whip up.
Josh makes amazing carnitas, so that tends to be the thing he’ll cook. I just think I need to find my showstopper. Maybe in my thirties I’ll figure it out…
Learn Something New with Indi
For a long time, I would put learning new things on my bucketlist. I wanted to learn Spanish and French, I wanted to learn how to play the guitar and the drums, I wanted to learn crafty things and cool things. But I’ve become a bit more realistic in my old age. I know that the “wouldn’t it be nice to know how to do that” things, aren’t things I’m going to spend my time learning. I just don’t have the will power, which is why I never learned how to do it in the first place.
BUT. I have a child now. A child that is learning new things every day. And I had the realisation that I could learn something WITH her. I’m not sure what just yet, but I feel like this is the perfect motivation. It’s something we can do together, a mother-daughter experience thing. Cute, right?
Start a Podcast
This one is scary. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, and yes, I want to start a podcast. I have a name for it and topics I want to talk about and a dream list of guests. But I’m just scared to start it. I’m scared of the judgement and of what my voice sounds like on tape. Will it be shit? Will it be boring? Will people I went to school with listen to it and laugh at me? Will no-one even listen to it?
It’s stressful. But I know these are all silly reasons to not do it. If it scares you, you should do it, right? Ok, it’s happening. It’s hopefully happening this year. Oh god. Send help.
Run an Event
Another scary one, but I would quite like to run an event at some point in my thirties. I have a few ideas, and I don’t want to give anything away. But I think it’s something I’d actually be good at in terms of the organising part. Running it would be out of my comfort zone, but see above re: things that scare you. AHHHHH.
Learn DIY Skills
I know I said that I’m shit at learning new things because I don’t have the will power, but one thing I genuinely NEED to learn is basic DIY skills. I’ve been renting my whole adult life so my DIY skills are solely focused on using Command Strips to put photos up.
But now I’m AN ACTUAL HOMEOWNER, I probs need to upgrade my skills. I have shelves to put up and walls to paint and lol I’m clueless. My dad helps us a lot but I want to be a #StrongIndependentWoman and all that.
Get an Astrology / Tarot Reading
I’m doing this one soon! You see, I’m low-key obsessed with astrology and manifestation and might have bought my first crystal this year… And well, I want some kind of spiritual reading. It’s something I would tell myself was a waste of money but actually I want to do it and it’s something I’m interested in, so it won’t be a waste.
Luckily my friends are into this stuff too, so we’re currently booking a tarot reading and arranging a vision board sesh! Lol. Don’t hate us ’cause you ain’t us.
See South America
Ugh this one feels like it’ll never happen. I’ve wanted to visit South America since my mid-twenties but it just has never worked out. I’m not sure about visiting with Inds though so I think maybe this is one for the mid-late thirties. Or possibly a honeymoon thing. But yes, Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Peru and Chile are all on my hitlist at some point!!
Ok there are some pretty huge things on this list so maybe I should end it here!
I think you’ll agree I have some amazing experiences I want to achieve in my thirties, and honestly, just writing this list has got me out of my slump. I just need to decide which one to do first. Start planning our family road trip or start recording my first podcast episode…. eeeeeek.
What’s on your bucketlist for your thirties? Or alternatively what are the biggest things you achieved in your thirties?
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