On April 3rd 2020, I celebrated my 29th birthday. I was in Modena, Italy and in the midst of a very tough lockdown in which we could only leave the apartment to go to the supermarket. At the time I was working as an English teacher and thankfully had a balcony and flatmate who I continue to get along very well with. It wasn’t the birthday I had planned but beer, pizza, zoom chats and FaceTime made it extremely bearable and I comforted myself by saying ‘thank goodness it isn’t my 30th’.
After my 29th birthday I started to compile a list of 30 things I wanted to accomplish before I turned 30 this year. This list was full of travel – both domestic and abroad, trying new food, going to a restaurant or bar I really wanted to but not yet had the chance or experiences such as segway, the zip line in Snowdonia. You get the idea. However, I never published it due to the sinking feeling that restrictions wouldn’t be lifted for me to have the time or opportunity to complete them and unfortunately it turns out I was right!
So with restrictions looking to be in place for my 30th birthday, I started to compile a list of ’30 things to do before I’m 30 – The Lockdown Edition’ in early January and to be honest, it was incredibly boring! Running 5km, learning to play a specific song on the guitar or reading 15 books didn’t inspire me and it would not have made for good reading so I scrapped it.
Due to feeling a little lost and unmotivated this month, my mum she suggested ’31 Things to do before I’m 31′ and after much deliberation/editing/deleting/changing my mind, my final list is below..
- Give blood at least 4 times (1st Donation: 09/06/2021, next donation 29/09/2021)
- Go paint balling
- Learn to play the guitar
- Explore Edinburgh
- Climb Snowdon
- Visit the Lake District
- Visit Bath
- Read all the books in my jar
- Complete a charity race
- Learn to play the ukulele ✅
- Play an instrument socially
- Go to a show on the West End
- Eat at Outlaws in Port Isaac ✅
- Outdoor swimming ✅
- Visit Ireland
- Go to a drive-in movie
- Watch a rugby game at Sandy Park
- Make Sourdough
- Raise at least £1000 for charity
- Make croissants
- Make Panettone
- Celebrate St. Patricks Day in Birmingham
- Take a dance class
- Start regular yoga classes
- Have full body massage (Booked)
- Take a train journey through the Scottish Highlands
- Go to Oktoberfest (UK)
- Own a car
- Go to a Farmer’s Market
- Learn to juggle (I am learning- it is much more difficult than I thought it would be)
- Watch at least 15 classic films
Due to Covid restrictions not looking likely to be lifted anytime soon, I have purposefully chosen places to visit within the UK. As soon as I complete one of these goals, I will upload a story about the experience and include any photos and videos I have.
Desperately Seeking Alix 