So it’s a new year and although we are entering the roaring twenties I will, unbelievably, be leaving my twenties behind and turning thirty, and I have no idea how that happened or where the years raced away to. So in lieu of a new year’s resolution I have decided to do the clichéd thing, and simultaneously indulge my love of lists, with a list of thirty things I want to do before I turn thirty. And without further ado here we go….

See Hamilton… I mean have you heard the soundtrack?! Enough said.

Learn to French plait my hair… let’s face it I really am too old now to keep asking people to do it for me and I just really like having my hair out of my face in plaits, so it’s time to be an adult and finally learn how to do it myself.

Reconnect with old friends… being back home for a couple of months gives me the perfect opportunity to see friends who I haven’t seen for ages. I have some amazing friends who I sadly don’t see or speak to all that much, mainly because I’m off gallivanting around the world, but now I have a little time at home I want to squeeze as many reunions in as possible.

Be better at keeping in touch with people… This is a follow on from the last point. I am rubbish at keeping in touch. I have some wonderful age old friendships that when we reunite after a long separation we slip straight back into how we’ve always been but I really need to make a better effort to stay in touch in between meet ups.

See some live music… I haven’t been to a gig for ages and I really love going to see live music, so this year I’m going to try and get to some. Preferably Dean Lewis as I am a little obsessed and he did one solitary gig in New Zealand, in the one month I wasn’t there. But honestly any live music would be good.

Skydive… Ok yes I have already done this, just before my 29th birthday I flung myself out of a plane and it was indescribable. The courage I had to summon to even get into the plane was unbelievable, but the experience like no other. And I cannot recommend this enough, people, PUT IT ON YOUR BUCKET LIST!

Visit my 30th country…. So far I have visited 29 countries on my extensive travel and it would be pretty nice to round of the number to 30 by 30. Plus it gives me the excuse to go and discover a whole new exciting place.

Go somewhere in the UK I’ve never been… As per the previous point I have been lucky enough to travel to many amazing places around the world but I’ve not seen that much of my own country. Especially not as an adult, with no parents to drag me off to some random youth hostel I’ve picked jumping on a plane every time as a holiday instead. So before I hit this grand old age I’m going to discover some more of my own country.

Run a 5K… A couple of years back when I was training for Kilimanjaro I started running and I actually, very surprisingly, quite liked it and would really like to get back into it with the goal of completing a 5k.

Cook something new… I love cooking and I really love baking however having lived in hostels or cars or vans for the last however long means I’ve not really done very much. So whilst I’m back in a fully stocked kitchen (courtesy of the grandparents) I’m going to flex my baking skills and try something I haven’t done before. What though is yet to be determined.

De clutter… I have a whole heap of clothes and belongings sat in storage and considering I can’t even remember what half of them are I think it might be time to donate some stuff. Also I have managed to just live out of a backpack for almost two years and it turns out I’m ok with that.

Get that 4th tattoo… I love my other tattoos a whole lot and I’ve been meaning to add to the collection for a couple of years now, so now is the time.

Go skiing on my birthday… Another one I’ve already done because I did start writing this list before I turned 29 with this in mind for my birthday, I spent a gorgeous bluebird day on the ski slopes with my friends and absolutely loved it.

Fall in love again… Not necessarily with a person maybe with a place or an activity or even a whole bunch of people. I’ve fallen in love with many places and maybe too many people for my own mental well-being but I intend to keep on doing it for ever, because, honestly is there really any greater feeling than falling in love?

Try to improve my Spanish skills… Despite my determination to attempt to learn Spanish over the years my skills are still pretty rusty and limited to what I can remember from my GCSE Spanish classes and of course “uno cerveza por favour”! And as I am determined to go to South America at some point in my lifetime I’d quite like to be able to speak the language. Whilst I think it’s unlikely I’ll be able to be fluent within a year I’m going to try and improve my Spanish at least a little.

Finally watch Narcos… I mean self-explanatory really. I keep meaning to watch it and then just keep putting it off and watching Love Island or some other crap instead, so next binge watch… Narcos (although I’m probably going to watch the newest series of Love Island as well).

Eat at Dishoom… A pretty basic one but something I keep meaning to do and yet never quite get there.

Tick some books of the ‘To Be Read’ list… I read a lot, a lot, a lot but I have a very bad habit of re reading books repeatedly and a stack of unread books as well as a very long kindle wish list. Time to get reading some of them.

Go to the Dentist… As much as I don’t want to admit it, I am an adult now, and as such need to do things like go to the dentist, even if I don’t want to, because it’s good to take care of yourself, or so I have been told.

Dye my hair… The second of my take better care of myself promises is to sort out my hair. My hair is a complete mess I bleached the ends and dyed them green and now there’s a weird greenish tinge lingering, it turns a lighter colour mid-way down where the sun and sea lightened it last summer and there’s the odd (gulp) grey hair appearing. So time to treat myself and get it sorted.

Try to cut back on Dairy… Another promise to take better care of myself. I don’t react very well to dairy, never have really, milk and milk based products make me sick, but never the less I eat it, and I eat quite a lot of it in the form of cheese, which I am obsessed with. But as loathe as I am to, I’m going to try and eat a little less in an attempt to hopefully help my body feel a little better.

Get up and see at least five sunrises… I am not a morning person, but there is something wonderful about being awake before most of the world and seeing the sun come up. We only get so many sunrises in our lifetime and so far I’ve missed a fair few of them, so figured it would be nice to catch some this year, and hopefully in some beautiful places.

Try and date someone nice… I mean I always think I do at the start and then I get invested and catch feelings and then it turns out they are not so very nice and somehow it takes me a long time and a lot of friends pulling their hair out in frustration for me to see that. Maybe it should be listen to my friends dating advice more, but either way, it would be quite a lovely change to actually spend my time with a nice guy for once.

Keep laughing… I firmly believe laughter is the best cure for just about anything and life would be a complete waste without a little laughter in every day.

Do my bit to look after the planet… The planet is burning guys and we’ve somehow got to fix this mess we’ve made. I’ve been trying to be more and more conscious of my environmental impact, and whilst I’m nowhere near perfect I am going to try and do my utmost best.

See the Southern Lights… I have always longed to see either the northern or southern lights and am very much hoping that during my winter in Australia I’ll finally get the chance.

Be more consistent with this blog… I love writing, getting my jumbled thoughts out on paper and having other people read it makes me feel a little less alone in my crazy, crazy thoughts and feelings and hopefully provides mild entertainment for whoever happens to read it. So if you are reading, thank you and I promise to write more often.

Write something… be it a screenplay, short story, novel (although that may be a bit of a stretch) or even another blog. I have ideas that I have been mulling over for years now and let’s face it I am not getting any younger, therefore it is time to actually stop procrastinating and get on and write something for God’s sake!

Live somewhere new… I’ve no secret I’ve got the travel bug, badly, and although it’s only been a few weeks that I’ve been home, I already want to go find somewhere new to make my home for a little while. I’m kind of already working on this with a visa and flight for Australia acquired. So I’ll be seeing ya soon Melbourne.

Be goddamn happy… Simple really. Looking back at this list it’s going to be a busy year, and hopefully I’ll be able to do all this and so much more. Here’s to a fan-fucking-tastic year of travels, laughter and happiness.