30 Things Before 30 - The List

So my aim was to have a list by the 11th October - and I did, honest. I have witnesses who can attest to the fact I was talking them through the hand-written first draft over a birthday cocktail in Kettners during London Cocktail Week. Finally I've succeeded in committing that spider scrawled version to the blogosphere.

                 

***DRUMROLL PLEASE***

In no particular order...

30 Things to do Before 30

1) Write and perform a solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe 2014

It'll be my fourth fringe, and first ever solo show, all about my 30 things challenge.

2) Learn a new instrument

I was given a new handmade ukulele for my birthday. Better get learning...

3) Try meditation

I've always been interested in the idea of meditation, and earlier last year I found myself so busy with work and various other things that I was setting aside 10 minutes to switch off every so often. I soon realised it was a basic form of meditation and thought it would be interesting to try it properly. 

4) Try to complete a 365 day photo challenge

Take a photo every day for a year. Pretty simple concept, might be a bit harder to do.

5) Visit South America

It's always been on my travel wishlist, time I ticked it off. 

6) Get something published

Doesn't have to be a full page spread in The Times or a 300 page novel, just something, somewhere.

7) Learn to dance

I'm a hopeless dancer - totally self conscious with two left feet. I need to do something to make myself less embarrassing to be seen on a dance floor with.

8) Learn a language

I'll caveat this slightly: properly learning another language is a massive time consuming project and I don't know that that's practically possible with everything else going on. But picking a language and studying it to a basic conversational level would be lovely. At school I learnt French and German and I already speak (albeit pretty rusty) Spanish, so I'm currently picking a new one outside of those...

9) Learn a circus skill

There's a local circus skills group I've been interested in trying out for a long time and its high time I went and tried it. I'd love to learn aerials, but I'll settle for juggling or something too.

10) Teach a cat a trick

There's plenty of learning objectives for me already on this list - time for someone else to put some work in. Namely one of my two Maine Coon cats. Just blame shopping on Amazon after one too many G&Ts for books on cat training.

11) Appear on TV or film

In the background, interviewed, anything. Might be a bit ambitious but where's the fun if it wasn't?

12) Climb a mountain

I've walked and climbed plenty of large hills and dales, but no real mountains...

13) Run a race

I've never run before, so any running will be a challenge for my weak calf muscles and my asthmatic lungs! I've found a 'couch to 5k' phone app to help me along, now it's time to start training.

 

14) Watch the top rated 30 films of all time

Time for a bit of a film education - I've found a good list of highest rated films on IMDB and I'm going to work my way through.

15) Make or build something

I've intentionally left this a little vague so I've got options of what to do. I like the idea of painting something, or making something that would make a nice gift such as bath products, or even building some sort of storage for the house. Watch this space.

16) Learn sign language

Like number 8, I don't need to become fluent, but it'd be great to learn some key words and phrases to communicate.

17) Learn a magic trick

Learn one magic trick to a good standard...

18) Visit 30 countries before 30

This may be my trickiest challenge! From a quick tally, so far in my life I've visited 20 separate countries (not including England). Can I notch up a further 10 in the next 12 months...?!

19) Learn some basic DIY and car maintenance

Now, I'm not hopeless by any means, but I'd like to develop some more concrete skills in this area so I'm not relying on being able to call my dad if something goes wrong. Some basic tasks like changing a car tyre, rewiring a plug, etc wouldn't go amiss.

20) Brew my own beer

I like good beer, and I like a bargain. Solution: Brew my own.

21) Gamble in a casino

The name's Bond, Izzy Bond. Or something.

22) Learn to play poker

Not entirely unrelated to 21, but I've never tried playing poker. Clearly an essential life skill I'm missing out on.

23) Host a Eurovision Song Contest party

I've meant to do this ever since we used to draw countries out of a hat each Eurovision at university, gather at the college bar and drink along to the points our countries were given. It's time to resurrect some old traditions.

24) See an iconic show

Go and see some iconic show, gig or other performance - one of those shows that you remember forever.

25) Invent something

Move over, Dragon's Den.

26) Walk an underground line / try a monopoly bar crawl / other challenge

I read someone recently talking about a book they had of overground walks of underground lines and I really liked the idea of trying to walk one or doing something similar in London.

27) Interview my granddad

I never did one of those interviews children often do with their grandparents about their youth or when they were in the army, and with my grandpa at the ripe old age of 91 that window of opportunity might be smaller than I'd like to think it is. 

28) Make a piece of clothing (that I actually want to wear)

I've made some items of clothing before. At school I once made a pair of hideous shorts that looked like part of a cheap denim knock-off of a 'Just William' costume - needless to say they were binned pretty quickly. I've made other things more recently, but nothing more complex than an elasticated waist skirt, so a nicely fitted dress or similar would be a nice challenge.

29) Write to someone I admire

I've never been one for writing fan mail, but I enjoy spreading a little sunshine by telling a stranger I like their scarf, or giving a learner driver a thumbs up when they've just executed a perfect parallel park. So I think it would be nice to actually write to some of the people I think are brilliant and tell them why. They could be people I admire from all walks of life and people I may or may not already know.

30) Invent my own signature cocktail

Every girl needs a signature cocktail. For some reason I've had a lot of interest from friends offering to assist with the research and development of this particular item...