my thirty before 30 list!
Well gang, March 2nd is my “half birthday”, meaning I have a little over six months to work my way through as much of this list as possible.
For those who aren’t familiar, Thirty Before 30 is essentially a bucket list of things you want to do before the end of your 20s. I made my first draft when I was around 22, but I ended up revising quite a bit of it at the start of this year due to (shocker) some major shifts in priorities over the last decade-ish.
Overall, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my 20s—I’ve made quite a few reckless (but mostly fun) decisions, gotten to travel to several new countries, faced rapid and intense periods of personal growth and self discovery—and I’m genuinely thrilled to start my 30s, but I want to send off this adventurous decade with a bang and set myself up for success as I approach the next one.
Here’s where we’re at so far:
TASKS I’VE COMPLETED:
“Learn how to knit or crochet.” After January 20th of this year, I knew I was going to have to find a way to keep my hands busy to avoid doomscrolling every three seconds, and knitting has been the perfect solution! It’s also going to be a great way to do something nice for my loved ones every now and then once I get good at it—currently making R his first scarf, and got some gloriously autumnal yarn that I’m saving to make myself one once I move up to more advanced stitches.
“Get bangs again, fuck it.” If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve wanted to bring back the bangs in some capacity for a few years now, and I’m SO happy I did it. They’re somewhere between a short curtain and a straight-across bang, and I’m loving getting to play around with how I style my hair more again.
TASKS IN PROGRESS:
“Read at least 20 books.” I’ve already read/listened to five and am in the middle of three others right now (my approach to reading is chaos), so this is definitely doable before September.
“Get at least two new tattoos.” I got one on Valentine’s Day and have several others in mind, so I’m virtually certain I’ll find the means to sneak in one more in the next six months.
“Find a new form of exercise you love.” I’ve got two free trial classes booked within the next week—one for pilates, one for yoga (which wouldn’t be totally new for me, but going to a studio consistently would be)—so we’ll see if either pans out! I’m also thinking of taking dance classes again, so maybe I’ll try a style of dance I’ve never explored before (honestly, my absolute dream would be to find an adult Fosse class).
“Give at least one hug every day.” My husband gives the best hugs, so this one will be very easy to keep up!
TASKS I STILL NEED TO START:
“Finish a full first draft of a writing project.” I’ll be real: I’ve been making excuses on this one for most of my 20s. I’ve had an idea for a children’s book floating around in my head for an embarrassingly long time, and I have around two thirds of a chapbook compiled, so I need to start acting more like the writer I say I am and actually finish one (or both) of them.
“Run a 15k.” I’ve signed up for one back home in mid-July, and I plan to start training for it sometime in March!
“Study Hindi consistently.” I feel a little guilty for not being more disciplined with this one. R’s English is as good as that of most native speakers, but Hindi is the gateway to learning his native language (Marathi) and making deeper conversation with more of the important people in his life, so I need to stop letting Duo bully me with banner notifications and decide on a time to practice for a little while every day.
“Lose 30 pounds.” Another one that’s been on-again, off-again for most of my 20s. I gained around 40 lbs during my senior year of college, lost most of it in 2019, and then gradually put it back on over the course of the pandemic, a broken ankle, and a wee bit of emotional turmoil in the last five years. I want to start my 30s at a healthy weight and with consistent diet/exercise habits in place, so a lot of the tasks like this one will be fulfilled as I complete others.
“Write every day for a month.” This one will hopefully be accomplished in the time that I get serious about finishing a project draft, but I plan to supplement with journaling whenever I can!
“Make solid progress on debt repayment.” Student loans, car payment, a smidge of residual credit card debt—ya girl’s got her fair share. I’ve already been steadily repaying in all three areas, but I want to make sure I stay on top of it and make more than the minimum payments when I can.
“Add at least $3k to personal savings.” This might be tricky to balance with the last task, but I’m determined to at least build myself a bigger cushion that what I currently have. I’ve never been a great saver, so I want to go into my 30s making that more of a priority.
“Learn 5-10 new dinner recipes.” R loves cooking, which is amazing for me as someone who finds baking far more enjoyable, but I want to lock down a few staple dinners I can throw together on occasion! We’re already in the habit of making sure I cook at least one dinner for us a week so I get more practice, but I’m ready to branch out and start trying my hand at some new recipes beyond what I already know.
“Submit poetry for publication at least once.” At first I had this written as “once a month”, but I’m a total chicken when it comes to sharing poetry. I did share one piece of poetic prose (called “the sin of empathy”) on here, and I had one poem published back when I was 23, but I want to challenge myself to pursue anthology features more.
“Perform live music.” I usually end up doing something once or twice a year (cabaret nights, musical revues, community choruses, etc), but being in a new city means I don’t have access to my Syracuse network and don’t totally know where to look for opportunities like this. Again, this is something that I just need to prioritize digging into more, but hopefully I’ll be able to lock something small down in the next few months!
“Take a full month break from all social media.” I did just take a full month break from Instagram, which I’m super proud of myself for as someone that was more than a little social media addicted, but I want to go further! No TikTok, and maybe pre-scheduling posts on here (or just writing/posting from desktop, no scrolling)—doing something like that used to feel unthinkable, but now that I’ve ripped off the bandaid with the platform I was spending the most time on, I know it’s possible.
“Make a friend in Atlanta!” I’m trying not to feel so lame for adding this to the list, but I NEED to build more of an in-person social life while I’m living here. I’ve joined a few groups on socials and plan to go to a few of their meetups, so we’ll see how things go on that front!
“Revisit Orange-to-Peach Vintage (relaunch or adjust model).” Last spring, I started working on a small secondhand business—things got super busy with moving, so I never got it too far off the ground, but my goal is to get consistent with making listings outside of Poshmark and to potentially make some appearances at some flea/vintage markets around the city this year!
“Get dressed for work (+ hair & makeup) every day for a month.” As much as I love the freedom and flexibility that comes with remote work, I’ve now spent literal years in daily sweatpants-and-glasses-mode, and I’d like to break out of that comfy-but-grungy cycle once and for all. We all deserve to feel cute even if we don’t have anything major going on, so I’m challenging myself to rebuild the consistent habit of putting effort into my appearance.
“Try 25 new restaurants in Atlanta.” We’ve only tried two so far this year, so 25 might be a biiiiiit of a lofty goal, but we’ll see how many we’re realistically able to get to before my birthday.
“Create a consistent morning routine you love.” This one’s along the same lines as getting ready every day—as someone who most definitely has undiagnosed ADHD, I respond well to structure. Being a remote worker without any consistent activities to attend to outside of work hours (and as someone who used to have their schedule packed with classes, odd jobs, and extracurriculars in my younger years), I’m now actively craving structure, so I think even doing little things like meditating or stretching for five minutes every morning before I write or make coffee would end up making a huge difference in the long run.
“Get your cartilage pierced!” I’m definitely more of a tattoos girl than a piercings girl, but I’ve always said that the one other thing I’d get pierced aside from my lobes is my cartilage on one side. I’ve sowed many a wild oat in my 20s, so why not throw another tiny rebellious oat into the mix for old time’s sake?
“Do a mini photo shoot to say goodbye to your 20s.” I’m not totally sure what I have in mind for this yet, but I often think about what Moira Rose once said about taking a thousand
spicypictures of yourself while you’re young and how one day you’ll look back at them with much kinder eyes. I could be wearing a burlap sack in the pictures for all I care, but I want to spend an afternoon being intentional about making myself feel beautiful and documenting the experience for my future self.“Volunteer at Oakland Cemetery.” This one might seem extremely random, but I’ve been utterly fascinated by this place since going to a pumpkin patch that was held there in the fall. I want to spend more time doing good in my community, and helping to preserve the history surrounding such a beautiful and spooky place sounds like a great way to start.
“Try a new hobby outside of your comfort zone.” Another one that I don’t have a clear sense of right now, but the back half of 29 is going to be all about challenging myself to try new things (while also creating more structure/routine for myself, which might seem like a strange combination), so I’m excited to see where the wind takes me on this one!
“Take a cellphone-free weekend trip.” Mom, if I do this, I promise I’ll find a way to let you know we’re not dead—a landline, perhaps? Desktop email? Sending a raven?
“Do something in Bloomington that you never did during college.” I went to Indiana University (Go Big Red, Puck Furdue, et cetera et cetera), and I had an absolute blast while I was there. R and I are going to a wedding there in May, so I’ll have to brainstorm on what mischief we can get up to while we’re in town.
“Visit a national park.” Given the vicious treatment the national parks workers have received from their federal employers in recent weeks, I feel even more strongly about doing what I can to support them.
“Do something to document Grandpa’s story and honor him while he’s still here.” My grandpa’s 82 going on 45—he has an immense zest for life, and he’s also deeply passionate about documenting our family’s history. I want to carry on that tradition and start while he’s still able to share memories in his own words.
So there you have it! I’m excited to see how many of these I’m able to check off the list before September—stay tuned, and let me know in the comments what you’d put on your own list!