40 - Before - 40
We are quickly heading, arse-over-tit, into 2024, which is insane because 2019 was only last week - right?!
Well. COVID-19 really did a number on the world and laughed in the face of my well laid plans to undertake the popular 30-Before-30 lists that you see all over the internet. However, I am not one to be defeated . I celebrated my 30th whilst in lockdown, with pizza, my boyfriend, and homemade cocktails, and I started planning my 40 Before 40 instead.
Modern life is full of pitfalls and many of us struggle with our mental health from time to time, so finding ways to incorporate joy into our lives is imperative for being able to keep striving for more. So, whether it’s 30-Before-30, 40-Before-40, or just that thing that you’ve been meaning to do (you know the one!), get something in the diary that is purely for joy.
You won’t regret it.
The List:
Go Whale Watching
Climb Scafell Pike
Graduate with my degree
Learn to scuba dive
Become a science communicator
Trek the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Go Skinny Dipping!
Complete a 30 Days of Yoga Challenge
Climb Snowdon
Start painting/art again
Visit Costa Rica
Get a full body massage
Run 5km without stopping
Go on a solo trip
Climb Ben Nevis
Eat at a Michelin Start Restaurant
Learn conversational German
Showcase my poetry
Have an article/writing published
Visit The Louvre Museum, Paris
Start my own business
Make a short film
See the Northern Lights
Write a book
Get married
Hike up Carrauntoohil
Ride a jetski
Visit Canada
Get dancing again
Visit Germany
Get a pet
Get a Master’s Degree
Take up public speaking
Walk The Camino De Santiago
Learn Digital Art
Grow my own veg/herbs
Visit the Arctic
Sell a piece of art
Launch a podcast
Buy my own home
The Adventure So Far:
Becoming a Science Communicator:
Those of you who know me will know that I have been blogging on-and-off for years. I think my first blog was back in 2014 when I was trying to navigate a particularly tough time in my life. Needless to say, I have come a long way since then!
I had my first taste of SciComm when I landed a job as Junior Aquarist at my local aquarium in 2020 and I was hooked. I loved sharing the wonderful underwater world with anyone who would listen. I would have stayed in that job forever, but I made the tough decision to move on to further my career and find where my specific interests lie.
In 2022, I became a Communications Officer for a global plant conservation charity and have been honing my skills. Now, as approach 2024, I am working on my writing skills so that I can tell stories better through articles and essay, about science, conservation, and beyond!
Trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu:
This has always been on my dad’s bucketlist, but unfortunately, due to health issues, he will likely never get to go. This was probably one of the most important items on my list. Me and my sister decided that we would do the trek on his behalf, so we could tell him all about it and give him a taste of what it was like.
In 2019, we finally strapped on our backpacks and, with our partners along for the ride, we set off for Peru. It was incredible, bloody tough, but incredible.
We saw hummingbirds, wild jungle turkeys, orchids, rain, sun, mist, steep drops, lots of steps, sweat, tears, a little bit of vomit, but also, smiles. It was the hardest thing I have done and I am not sure I would have made it without my wonderful boyfriend by my side - he truly is a keeper in so many ways.
Lessons learned: I can do hard things, adventure is out there, and do not underestimate altitude sickness. That shit is real.
Completing 30 Days of Yoga:
Where has yoga been all my life?! Have you tried it?! It’s great! I did a 30 Days programme from ‘Yoga with Adriene’ on YouTube, it’s free and it’s bloody brilliant.
10/10 would recommend - I’m bendy & happy!
Start painting/art again:
As an adult, I have often thought about how the school system failed me. I always focused on how it had made me lose my love of science due to poor teaching and high staff turnover which led to utter chaos in my teenage years. However, recently I have also thought that they failed me in my art too. I used to love painting but if you didn’t paint in a photo-realistic way, then you were told you were doing it wrong. There was no attempt to nurture any natural creativity outside that.
Now I am in my 30s, I am reclaiming that creativity and I have started taking art classes again! My teacher is must better this time around and I am loving every second.
Get a full body massage:
I can sometimes convince my boyfriend to give me a quick foot or back rub, but really he does more than enough for me already. So, I decided to treat myself to a full body massage. It’s not something I’d done before and I didn’t fancy doing it alone. It’s not my boyfriends cup of tea, so whilst we were visiting our friend in Chang Mai, Thailand, in late 2019, we had a girls day!
They have a great initiative that trains and employs female ex-convicts in various massage parlours across the City. We were bent into all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes, things popped and cracked, but by the end I did feel amazing! I would recommend taking time out for a little pampering to anyone!
Start my own business:
Let’s get real for a moment, this item was sort of achieved from necessity. I spent much of my 20s battling with panic attacks surrounding full-time work, after experiencing work-based trauma in a previous role. I was really struggling to stay in work and needed something that was more on my own terms whilst I tried to regain control of both my brain and my career.
I hadn’t long before started my part-time degree, so I needed something to support this and to keep my bank account happy whilst trying to afford London rent and some sort of life with my boyfriend. RedKite Assist, my virtual assistant business, was born. I did this work from early 2019 until late 2022, working with many clients, but in 2023 I closed it down as I made the tentative step back to full-time employment. I reduced my workload to just 2 clients and this will likely stop altogether in the next year or so, as I am finishing my degree and moving onto the next chapter.
Who knows what the future holds, but this has been a really valuable experience.
Get dancing again:
Growing up, I danced. So much dancing, the music felt like it lifted me in ways that nothing else ever had. I could move freely and express emotions that I didn’t fully understand. As I tackled my 20s and my turbulent mental health, the music left me and I didn’t dance for the best part of a decade.
Fast forward to Christmas 2022, a small pole fitness and dance studio was due to open at the end of my road and I had been watching them from afar on Instagram. I wasn’t sure if I would go, but I was clearly intrigued. My boyfriend took control of the situation and bought me 1 lesson as my Christmas present.
January 4th 2023, I nervously made my way down the road, and took part in my first pole class. Coming up to a year later and I have never looked back - I have even performed in a student showcase!
Visit Germany:
I guess what I really meant was to re-visit Germany. I spent a year living and working there in 2015/2016 and it is where I met my boyfriend. However, we have never been back, despite loving our time there.
At the end of November 2023, my boyfriend celebrated a big birthday, and to celebrate we booked to go to Berlin for a few days and it was glorious to be back in a country that is such a big part of our story. If you have never been, add it to your list.
It’s wunderbar!
Walk The Camino De Santiago:
After minimal adventures since 2019, thanks to COVID-19, we finally got to plan a proper trip to make some new memories. In Autumn 2023 we embarked on a trek along the Camino De Santiago. We did the Portuguese Coastal Route, taking us from Porto, Portugal to Santiago, Spain over 2 weeks. It was tiring but such a fantastic thing to do.
Due to conflicting work schedules, me and my boyfriend haven’t got as much time together as we would ideally like. So, this was a great way to reconnect and spend time dedicated to each other. Many people do the Camino for religious reasons, as it is a Pilgrimage, but we did it for the love of adventure and challenge and spending time with the person who knows you the best. The person who will lay down on the cobble stones when you finally reach the Cathedral to end the walk, with a smile on your face, despite walking 30km in 33 degree heat.
Launch a Podcast:
The Curious Environmentalist Podcast has been a real labour of love and a steep learning curve in many ways. I am still in the process of getting all the episodes together - it’s really hard when you have so much other stuff going on in life and imposter syndrome always the devil sitting on my shoulder. However, I am proud of what I have created.
Buy my own home:
This always felt like an absolute pipe-dream but, somehow, me and my boyfriend bought a flat in 2021. It’s tiny but it is ours. I’m so proud of the life that we are creating.
Photos or it didn’t happen…
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