To ask what is/was/would be on your "30 before 30" list?

[SachaStark]

I just turned 29 on Friday, and am kind of feeling that weird "pressure" of, oh my god, last year of my twenties, what have I achieved? What do I still want to achieve? Because life is likely to change when I enter my thirties.

I've been writing that "30 before 30" bucket list (sorry if you find this to be wankery of the highest order) and just wanted to ask around about what other people would have on theirs. There's a load on Pinterest, but they really ARE quite wanky indeed. What would you have on yours?

So far I've got stuff like, get out of teaching; actually see the films I want to in the cinema, not just say I will; get back to a size 10 from a size 12-14; finish writing the first draft of my book; read 110 books; take an interior design class; reconnect with old friends, and so on.

Any good ideas I can nick, basically?!

Because life is likely to change when I enter my thirties.

Absolutely, the day after your 30th birthday you turn into a boring old hag . I always think that travelling is good for a person. Go somewhere with a different culture like in Asia or Africa. Do some city trips in Europe like Prague, Rome, Berlin.

Why on earth would life change in your thirties?

I think the best life lessons I can share are not to put too much pressure on yourself to achieve things by a specific date and try to find happiness in just being yourself.

However if you are planning to have children I definitely would recommend travelling and going out and being reckless.

I don;t think it's wankery at all to think about what you want to do with your life. And life often does change in your thirties - you might settle down and have kids if you haven't already.
I didn't do this sort of thinking until I was about 40, but with hindsight I would have added these:

1-4. Run a 5k, a 10k, a half marathon and a marathon. Getting into running while you are young and strong would be brilliant. I started very late. Or another sport if you don't like running.

1. Get back to the size you want to be. You really don't want to start gaining wieght in your 20s. Because it keeps climbing on anyway.
2. Travel. If you haven't yet, take a year out and go and see the world. Sell what you don't need, take a redundancy, work in bars at weekends - anything to raise the funds. It's harder when you have DC. And you could work abroad too.
3. Live abroad for a while if you haven't already. If you have a teaching qualification you could get a simple TEFL and go anywhere. It's not much of a career, but it is an adventure.
4. If there's anything you've ever fancied doing but don;t in case you fail or look stupid - just do it. Start a rock band, do stand up comedy or improv, circus school, ice-skating etc - anything which takes a bit of nerve. It doesn't have to be high profile. Make a list.

There's loads of things you can do later in life too. While you are young prioritise stuff that needs a lot of energy or time, as you have less of both once DC are around. But you never have to stop learning new tricks or having fun.

The other thing I'd prioritise is: ask for a raise, ask for a promotion, apply for jobs you think you won't get. Men do and women don't. And that's a big reason we're paid less. Get into the habit of increasing your salary year on year, as far as you can.

Life didn’t change for me in my thirties at all, and now I’m coming up for my 40s I can’t say I anticipate much change then either! Looking back there have been plenty of gradual changes through my thirties - things like going out less, settling down with one person etc. Bucket list sounds like a fun idea, but maybe approach it more as a list of things you can strive to achieve into your thirties, rather than beating yourself up when you (inevitably) don’t check off every item on the list by your birthday

One piece of advice I wish I'd been given is to take the risky move in your career (ie retraining, starting from the bottom again, moving to a new city for a job, working abroad) before having kids. Much much harder and more expensive to do after.

When i was a teenager i wrote a list of things i wanted to do before 21 then wrote another one for 30. I added the 2nd list when I was 26. Things that were on my list (and I did) include:

Live abroad for at least a year, travel to 6 out of the 7 continents, see as many of the places on the bbc 50 places to see before you die list, go on holiday alone, go to a restaurant alone, go to the cinema alone, learn to swim (did this in my 40s!), do speed dating, learn to dance the salsa, do a bungee jump, do a parachute jump, learn to speak French fluently (now rusty as I don't use it enough), learn to use BSL (now very rusty!!), learn to touch type, go to the ballet, see an opera, and watch the royal Philharmonic orchestra. Oh and go to the Olympics (thank you London 2012). I also wanted to be able to ski (did in my mid 40s), learn to ice skate (I tried in my 40s 'twas a disaster!) and play the piano (never happened!).

Don't put pressure on yourself or else it won't be fun. I found having lists pushed me out of my comfort zone and got me to try new things that I might not otherwise have tried. Also life didnt end at 30!