30 before 30

I know, I know, I'm only about to turn 27 so this might be a bit premature, but ever since seeing a couple of my favourite bloggers do these kinds of posts (like Katie Snooks and Lucy Moon, on her YouTube channel) I've been itching to create my own "life bucket list".

Without further ado, here are 30 things I want to do before I turn 30 years old! (in other words, I have 3 years to accomplish these...)

1. Visit 30 countries (considering that I am now at 15 + 1 trip booked, I am not overly confident; reaching thirty would mean almost 5 new countries per year. But, I think it's good to set the target high!)

2. Go skiing. I've been skiing a couple of times in Finland, but I would love the idea of going skiing in the Alps somewhere, hiring a little cottage to retreat to in the evenings.. bliss!)

3. Buy a house. Coming from Finland, buying a house has never been a huge life goal of mine, since many people in Finland end up renting for their wholes lives, and I don't see any shame in that. However, considering the rent prices in the UK, and my boyfriend insisting on us buying at some point, I've come to see that owning a house might be quite nice.

4. Learn to drive in the UK. I have a Finnish driving license and I've been driving in Finland, albeit infrequently. At the moment I live and work in a city, so I've yet to drive a car in the UK. This is something I'd like to accomplish by the time I'm 30. Ideally, I would be living a bit outside of a city at that point so owning a car and driving to work would be a must.

5. Save money. I've made a start on this, but I'd like to have a lot more money saved up by the time I'm 30, for the aforementioned house, a wedding etc.

6. Progress in my career. At the moment, I'm in an entry level position at my organisation. By the time I'm 30, I'd love to be in a manager position.

7. Go on a beach holiday with my sister to celebrate our 30s. I'd love to go to Hawaii for this!! But Barcelona would do as well.

8. Do more weekend breaks in the UK. I've been living in the UK for almost 5 years now, and I've visited quite a few cities for a day, but I'd love to do more (long) weekend breaks. Cornwall, Wales, the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands are on my list for this!

9. Find an exercise routine that I enjoy. I do exercise on quite an infrequent basis, or when I feel like it. I'd love to find something I'm excited to do regularly. I've already been to spinning a few times, and started a new 10-week dance course, so I think I'm on the right track! I'd love to go bouldering as well, this might be something that I'd enjoy. Yoga is also something I'd love to get more into.

10. Stay healthy. Hopefully finding a new form of exercise would help, but I'm also determined to go for walks a lot to maintain my fitness, to keep a healthy work/life balance for my mental health, and to eat a (mainly) vegetarian diet. And to try to have my 5 a day!

11. Become fluent in another language. I obviously speak Finnish and English, and I've studied French, Swedish, Spanish and Russian, but I would classify myself as fluent in none of these four languages. I hate feeling like I've wasted all those hours in language classes in high school, so I'm determined to pick one of these up again. Perhaps French would be easiest and most useful?

12. Make more food from scratch. I do like cooking already, but I often reach for the ready-made sauces when in the supermarket. I'd love to make a whole lasagne from scratch, for example, or gingerbread dough!

13. Host a party at my house. Ideally coinciding with a holiday celebration (like Christmas, Easter etc.) so I could go crazy on the decorations!

14. Switch off from the internet more. I talked in this New Years' resolutions post about how I wanted to check my phone less in 2019. Hopefully this becomes a habit, as I really hate wasting hours and hours just scrolling on social media. I would love to do a holiday combined with a social media detox.

15. Read more. As I discussed in my Book Bucket List post, I've got a lot of classics yet to read!

16. Go for cocktails with a friend. This is completely inspired by Sex and the City! I've done this before, but my late twenties would be the perfect time to set some serious time aside for cocktails.

17.  Go to an opera or ballet performance. I attended my first theatre performance in a while last year, and now I'd really like to book some tickets to a good opera or ballet performance.

18. Visit friends who live abroad. I've got a couple of friends in various countries across Europe, and I'd love to find the time to visit them.

19. Become a more confident presenter. My job at the moment doesn't involve many presentations, but I would love to be prepared when the time comes. My organisation offers a course on presentation skills, and I'm even too nervous to sign up for that. But I just need to take the plunge and do it.

20. Do a long hike. I'd absolutely love to climb a mountain (like Snowdon), but I'd settle for a long hike as well. Brecon Beacons maybe?

21. Take a cocktail class, go for gin tasting, or take a brewery or winery tour - i.e., do a fun alcohol-related activity!

22. Go for proper afternoon tea.

23. Have a picnic.

24. Go for a boozy brunch.

25. Get a cat. At the moment, I live in a rented flat that doesn't allow pets, but once I've settled down a bit more permanently I'd love to get a cat (hopefully from a rescue centre).

26. Watch Downton Abbey. I know, I have no idea why I haven't done this before. I've seen an episode here and there, but I'd love to watch the whole series, it seems like it's right up my street.

27. Visit Macchu Picchu. As I wrote in this Travel Bucket List post, Macchu Picchu in Peru is something that I've always wanted to see.

28. Go paragliding. I've already done a skydive, but paragliding is another thing I'd love to tick off my bucket list. There are a lot of paragliders around the place in France where we go on holiday, so this shouldn't be too difficult...

29. Complete a 5K, 10K or a half-marathon. I love the idea of a marathon, but I know I probably wouldn't go through with it, so I've set my sights a little lower.

30. Be content with my life. With social media, it's really easy to compare your life to someone else's. I'd love to stop the comparisons and more than any single item on this list, I'd love to be happy and content with my life at 30.

That was surprisingly therapeutic to write. My aim is to be able to tick off at least 25 of these in 3 years' time!

I'd love to know one thing you'd love to do before you turn 30 (or 40, or 50, or 100!) in the comments.

Love,
Maddy-Lou