I turned 25 in December and inspired by the wonderful Rachel from Rachel meets China I decided to put together a list of things I want to do and achieve in the next five years. It’s just a bit of fun and I might not manage to tick off every single one of these items but I’m going to give it a good go! So here we are, thirty things I want to do before I turn thirty years old:
- Everest Base Camp
Anyone who knows me we will not be surprised to see this on the list. I love me a mountain and Everest is the mother of all mountains. I’m not crazy enough to attempt the summit but base camp seems manageable. I may or may not already be researching a trip to Nepal for 2020…
2. Visit Cape Town Again
My first solo travel experience was way back in 2012 when I didn’t own a smartphone and Instagram wasn’t even a thought in my mind. There was no blogging or worldwide internet access back then, my only contact with home was an internet café which I visited once a week to sign into Facebook. Now I’m writing this post from a little coffee shop in Vietnam, WIFI is basically a human right and I can phone my mum from the backyard of nowhere if I really wanted to. Times have changed, and I want to visit the city that gave me the travel bug with this new-found connectivity so I can share it with my family the way I share my travels through Asia!
3. Become Fluent in Another Language
I’m not sure what language yet, the logical choice would be Chinese, but it is rather a difficult language to become fluent in, so we will see how that goes. I find it so frustrating to be in a country and not be able to communicate with anyone. I always try to learn a little bit while I’m in a country, as a result I can speak a few words of Thai and I can communicate in Chinese to an extent, but I am nowhere near fluent in any language apart from English and I really want to change that.
4. Climb Ben Nevis
This has been on my bucket list for a long time, but for one reason or another I have never actually gotten around to doing it! My mum recently climbed Ben Nevis and it has made me determined to climb it before I turn thirty. So, Scotland friends, who’s coming with me?
5. Travel the Mekong River
I don’t know how many people have seen Sue Perkin’s travel series about her trip along the Mekong river but ever since I watched it I knew it was something I wanted to do. The Mekong River starts in the Tibetan Plateau and runs from China’s Yunnan Province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It covers such a diverse range of countries and cultures as well as passing through some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in Asia. It is the travellers dream trip, well it is this travellers dream trip at least.
6. Learn to Swim
I know, I know how does a girl make it to the age of twenty-five without learning how to swim?! I really love the ocean and spending days on the beach but for some reason I just never learned how to swim. I put it down to a combination of Scotland being too cold to ever encourage swimming, a bad swimming teacher when I was really young and a fear of putting my head under water. I want to change this though as there are so many incredible experiences that I am missing out on because of my lack of swimming ability.
7. Study an Online Course
Again, I am not sure what yet, I have a few ideas but there is so much to choose from out there that I just can’t pick quite yet! Technically my original TEFL course was an online course but I did that when I was twenty-three so I’m not counting it!
8.Learn to Snowboard
This one I have already started on. I spent the first week of 2019 learning the basics in Yabuli and I can’t imagine a better way to have started my year! I have learnt that I need to strengthen my core if I ever want to be able to stand up on a snowboard in a dignified manner, but I think I made pretty good progress in the three days we had. Practice makes perfect.
9. Road Trip America
This is another thing I have wanted to do for a long time, but this one requires a bit more planning. I hope I can do this before I turn thirty, but it might be a bit of a big ask considering the amount of money and time it will take. I’m leaving it on the list though because you never know where life will take you and if the opportunity presents itself then I will be there with bells on. Also, it is the perfect way to visit all my American friends that I have made over the years!
10. Learn to Surf
Ok this one is going to take a bit of work. First, I as I mentioned earlier I need to learn how to swim and then I need to gain some upper arm strength and maybe work on my balance a little bit but after I sort all of that out then I WILL learn how to surf! I have actually taken one surfing lesson before, in Cape Town, but I can’t exactly say it was successful… see photos below.
11. Start Writing a Novel
Inspired by my lovely coffee shop best-friend who for about three years told me every shift that my life could be the next disaster novel; I have decided that maybe I can change some of my utterly embarrassing, sometimes wonderful and completely bizarre life experiences into an interesting book. I have always fancied myself as a bit of a writer anyway, hence the blog… This is probably on every hipster, traveller, art student, millennial’s list but that isn’t about to stop me from trying.
12. Go Interrailing
I’m a bit late to the game on this one, I know, but I realised recently that I have hardly seen any of my own continent which is really bad of me! If you don’t have a clue what I’m on a bout interrailing is a railway ticket available to European residents that allows them to travel through Europe by train for a lot cheaper than other forms of transport. Most people go inter-railing when they finish secondary school, but I was more interested in travelling to Africa than exploring the countries closer to home. Not that either one is better than the other but maybe I should have gone inter-railing sooner… did someone say Brexit… Hopefully I still have time!
13. Get My Kilimanjaro Tattoo
I have had a tattoo planned to commemorate my Kilimanjaro climb since I got back from the trip, but tattoos aren’t exactly cheap, and this isn’t a small tattoo. Most of my tattoos have a meaning behind them and I like to mark special events or experiences by getting a tattoo and this particular one is long overdue!
14. Go Full Vegan
I am currently a vegetarian and have been for about three year now, but I know that I can do better. I’m not here to preach that everyone should be veggie or vegan, but I know myself how much healthier I have been since becoming a vegetarian and how much better it is for the environment. I know it is not impossible to be vegan while travelling and it has been pretty easy to be vegetarian this past year, so the transition shouldn’t be too difficult. The only thing that has put me off so far is having Coeliac Disease and being vegetarian is already a pretty limiting diet so adding Vegan into that mix is a bit of a daunting prospect.
15. Become Good with Money/Learn to Budget
This sounds like a pretty simple thing to do but anyone who knows me will know how much I like to shop, and this can be my downfall when I am trying to save money. I have started at this already, I found a really good travel budget app which has been helpful on my Vietnam trip so far. I hope that by keeping a record of everything I spend I can stop myself from buying things that I really don’t need. This will also help me save up for more adventures so that is my main motivator right now.
16. Visit Australia
Some people might not know but I was supposed to be heading to Australia about this time according to my original plan. The plan was six months in China, six months in Vietnam and then a year in Australia… well it’s safe to say that plan went out the window. Instead I spent a year in China and now I’m off to Myanmar for six months and Australia is but a distant memory of a plan that never came to be. This is just the way I live though; I plan and it changes about as quickly as I make it. I do still want to visit Australia though so hopefully I will make it over there before I’m thirty!
17. Learn to Love Exercise
It can’t just be me, surely, but exercise is my least favourite thing. I am probably the unhealthiest human I have ever met if I’m honest. I have just never found a form of exercise that has kept me interested for long enough to keep me healthy. I used to run twice a week when I was training for Kilimanjaro and I was definitely fitter back then than I am now, but I can’t say I loved running. I just didn’t want Kili to kill me! I love hiking, but this isn’t always an option, so I can’t really use it as my main form of exercise. I tried kick-boxing in Uni and did actually really enjoy it but after I finished Uni I just stopped. Any suggestions for a fun form exercise that I can do while travelling are greatly appreciated!
18. See the Sunrise Twice in One Day
Ok, this one might be nearly impossible but I’m putting it on here because I really do want to do this. It’s going to take a lot of planning and good amount of luck but I think I can pull it off. Anyone crazy enough to try this with me?
19. Learn How to Play a Musical Instrument
I played keyboard and guitar when I was younger but I cannot remember any of what I learnt so I will pretty much need to start from scratch. I am hoping, like riding a bike, that some of it will come back when I start learning again but I know that it is probably wishful thinking. I don’t know what kind of instrument I want to learn yet, but it does need to be portable so maybe the Ukulele is my best option?
20. Go to a Red-Carpet Event
I’m not talking super fancy here, any sort of event or party with a red carpet. I just want to feel posh for a night!
21. Climb Mount Fuji.
Ever since Blue Peter went to Japan way back when I was still in Primary School I have wanted to climb Mount Fuji and see the cherry blossoms in Japan. The climb can take anywhere between eight to twelve hours but thinking of the view from the top is all the motivation I need to put this on the list!
22. Invest in Good Quality Camera Equipment
I love my camera and it comes everywhere with me but when I bought it I was a skint student who went for the cheapest option to get her started in the world of photography. I want to improve my skills as a photographer and one of the ways to do that is to start collecting good quality equipment. At the moment I only travel with one lens, the one my camera came with, mainly to save space in my backpack, but hopefully I can expand my collection to include a few more lenses and a better-quality body.
23. See Llamas and Alpacas at Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu has been on my to-do list for a while now, but recently my incentive to travel there was renewed after seeing how many llamas and alpacas are left to wander freely around the site. I’ll admit I’m not really that obsessed with llamas and alpacas themselves but the contrast of seeing their adorable, goofy-looking faces in such a historic and grand setting is what drives me to add this to the list. Add to this, the fact that I can’t look at an alpaca without thinking of my friend Evie and the joke “We’re going on an adventure? Alpaca my bags, then you will understand why this particular item holds a special place in my heart. This means that, if I can convince her, Evie will hopefully be coming with me!
24. Hike the Inca-trail
Leading on from the last goal, I have heard from a number of people that the best way to experience the Inca ruins of Peru is to hike the Inca-trail. There are apparently much bigger and older ruins along the trail than Machu Picchu itself but for some reason Machu Picchu is the one that gets all the press. Also, by now you must know, I love a good hike!
25. Read Lord of the Rings
I’ve seen the movies, I’ve read “The Hobbit”, I’ve even seen the extended editions of the movies but I still have not read the books. I have my Kindle now, so there is no excuse not to read them. By the time I turn thirty I will have completed the set.
26. Take Part in a Fun Run/10k Run
Ok, I was going to say “run a marathon” but we all know that’s a bit of a tall order for me! I’ve never taken part in anything like this and I hated cross country at school, but I think that was mainly because they made us do it in winter! As I said earlier in the post I used to run twice a week, so I know I can do it, but I need to get my fitness level up again before I can even think about taking part in something like this. Here’s hoping the next five years will bring me the motivation I need to tick this one off the list.
27. Become the Kind of Person Who Can Pack Light
I cannot for the life of me figure out how to pack light! How do people do it? When I pack it’s like my bag shrinks to half the size I thought it was and suddenly I’m squeezing my laptop in between my hiking shoes and wash bag while my bikini and beanie hat fall out the other side! I like to pack for all eventualities but I think I need to stop doing that and learn how to pack what I need and in case of emergency just pick it up at my destination. You would think as well that my inability to pack light would stop me from buying too many souvenirs but nope! I am left at the end of my trip with a bag fuller than I came and have been known of occasion to actually buy a bigger suitcase/extra bag just so I can actually take everything back with me!!
28. Try Out Bullet Journaling
I have always found bullet journaling fascinating; from intricate designs to minimalist layouts, it’s seems like such a beautiful and personal way to organise your life. I have started this one already, at the beginning of January I bought a cheap notebook from the local supermarket and started my journey into the world of bullet journaling. My plan is not to buy any of the fancy materials or specifically designed notebooks until I can prove to myself that I will keep it up for a whole year. So far so good…but we are only one month into 2019!
29. Go On Safari
Technically I did this in South Africa but it wasn’t a wild safari, it was more like a large animal park. It was a lovely experience and the park was full of rescued animals that had either been caught by poachers or transferred from zoos but I want to see these animals out in their true wild natural habitat.
30. Become Completely and Truly Confident in Myself
This one’s a biggie! I know it takes a lot of confidence to go out and travel the world solo and I know that on the face of it I probably look like I’m killing the confidence game. But in reality there have been days during this past year where I have stopped myself from doing things I want to do because I convince myself that I can’t actually do them. One example of this that sticks out in my mind, and that I kick myself constantly for, is when I was in Chengdu. I had just parted ways with my friend the day before and I had a whole day left to explore the city on my own. I had a really successful morning locating the ancient city ruins that I had decided to visit but then when it came to the afternoon I couldn’t find the confidence to go out and find the temple that I had planned to see. I spent an hour in a restaurant trying to sum up the courage to get out there and find my way to the temple but instead I chose to just walk across the street and visit the Chengdu museum. This was still a really good afternoon but it was not what I had really wanted to do. So by the time I’m thirty I want that little voice in the back of my head to know that when it speaks I won’t be listening anymore and that it can’t and won’t hold me back from seeing all of the wonderful places this world has to offer!
Check out some of the adventures I had before my 25th year:
