I'll be 30 next month. I usually hate these type of things - usually written in the same sort of publications which like to convince you that you're too fat, ugly and poor to be considered a proper human being.
But what the hell, I haven't got much else to do today so I thought I'd make my own list, compiled from other lists.
1) Visit Paris
DONE! (several times - I also lived in Lyon for a year when I was 21-22 - in some ways even better than Paris, more friendly and intimate. One of the best years of my life, partly for meeting my first serious boyfriend. Unfortunately, he wasn't French, but Welsh.)
I think this one should be 'have a romantic kiss in Paris' - haven't done this, yet :(
2) Get a piercing/tattoo
Hate tattoos and will never get one, but I have 3 piercings in my right ear, 2 in my left and my nose pierced. Had wanted to do it for years and finally did when I was 25 and in the Philippines. The guy said there wouldn't be any hurty, but there was.
3) Learn another language
I speak French... well at least I did. Languages have never come naturally to me, but having spent most childhood holidays in France I was always determined to learn it, and did well enough to study it at university. However I have since forgotten it all. Shamefully.
4) Buy a one-way ticket overseas
Not sure about this one... I've had a round-the-world ticket. Probably bought a single when I went to Lyon, but that's only just across the channel so perhaps doesn't count. Damn it. This is something I'd like to do one day.
5) Have a 3-some
Done! ;)
6) Go on a demonstration
Never chained myself to railings, but I have been to 2 rally's. The first one was when I was living in Lyon, it was the year that the far right leader - Jean-Marie Le Pen, nearly got in. Lots of the students went on a march protesting against him and were setting off just as I was coming out of class. It was good fun, a great atmosphere and felt like I was really shouting for a good cause, even if it wasn't my own country.
The 2nd was in 2003 in London for the anti-Iraq war demo. I took my Mum.
7) Go and see your favourite popstar in concert
Growing up as a true 80s child, Madonna was always my icon and I vowed when I was about 12 that I would go and see her in concert - and I did! O2 arena in 2009. I was at the back but it was worth everything penny, and even the 4 hours it took to get home on rubbish London transport.
8) Run a marathon
Absolutely not. Nor do I have any intention of ever doing so. I hated sports at school and was crap at them, always the last to be picked.
However I am proud that regularly practice yoga and keep fit this way. I love it and hope I'm still doing it when I'm 80.
9) Have sex in public
Well there was a field, some naughty fumblings on a bus once, and that time - ahem - in the kitchen at work... also nearly got thrown out of a restaurant for something similar (with the same person I should add)
Oh god, they're all coming back to me now - also a hotel balcony... and a beach in Portugal
Do they count?
10) Get something published
Done! When I left university for a while I wanted to be a travel writer. I took my laptop with me and wrote everyday. When I got back a got a couple of articles published and did some work experience at TNT magazine where I got a couple of things in print.
I'm also on the Rough Guides writer's pool, although they've never asked me to do anything.
11) Do a skydive
NO thanks!
12) Stay in a 5* hotel
Done - The Savoy in London when I was a bridesmaid for a rich friend, and the Oriental in Bangkok. My friends parents were friends of the owners and we got a heavily discounted room.
Also stayed in a safari lodge in the middle of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. It's not 5* but normally costs about £300 per person and we stayed there for free.
I think the best one though is the Imperial Queens Park. It's rated as 4* but I can't imagine how much better a 5* would be. I've stayed for free (through work) and again have paid to stay there. It's only about £40 a night. Amazing.
13) Go to a Gay Bar
Hmm. Have been to a sex show in Bangkok's red light district. Never seen ping pong balls used like that before. Surely this trumps a gay bar?
14) Go skinny dipping
Done - Okavango Delta in Botswana - quite brave considering there are hippos and crocodiles 7ft long in there. (We were assured this was a safe bit) I got out and dressed just before my boyfriend got out - a bunch of tourists then turned up and got in - and he was stuck, unable to get out!
I kind of think you're meant to go skinny-dipping at night though, that's what they do in the movies. Haven't done this.
15) Take drugs
I'm a wimp when it comes to drugs. Convinced that if I ever tried E or even coke I'd be the one freak who'd overdose/freak out/have an allergic reaction and end up in hospital.
I have dabbled a bit with Marijuana. Two quite amusing incidents...
First was in India aged about 19 - I was in a town where alcohol was forbidden but you could buy 'special' lassi's (green with weed). I had had delhi belly and hadn't eaten anything for days, but didn't hesitate to down this in one. I was hallucinating monkeys for the rest of the evening and convinced that one of the guys in the group I was travelling with was planning on raping me. Neither were true, very embarrassing the next day. Also thought I was about to have a heart attack as I had the WEIRDEST pins and needles going up and down my left arm.
The 2nd was at university. My housemate had made some hash brownies and left me in the house on my own with them. I can never eat just one cake/brownie and devoured the lot. I then spent an hour trying to get a giant centipede out of my hair before being violently sick.
16) Swim with dolphins
I kayaked with some in Namibia... I have swam with a whale shark though, twice in fact, once in the Philippines and once in Mozambique.
17) Climb a mountain
Hmm, no :( I've looked at Mount Everest but that probably doesn't count.
I have been high enough to experience altitude sickness though - not seriously, I just got the giggles and felt a bit weird. That was in Hawaii, we were filming at the top of Mauna Kea (extinct) volcano where there are some of the best telescopes in the world. That was a truly amazing experience.
18) Sail on the Nile
Did a Nile trip when I was 8, I still remember it in bits...
19) Kiss a random stranger
Think the quickest meeting - kiss was about 5 hours, guess could be better...
20) See the Northern Lights
Nearly! I was meant to film in Alaska a couple of years ago where I would have had a really good chance, but plans changed at the last minute and we went to Iceland instead. (Not a bad alternative!)
21) Win a competition
Done! This month! My first short film won a FilmLondon short film competition and will be shown at Bafta next month.
22) Sunbathe Naked
Only topless :( I would though... tried to find the nude beach in Noosa, Australia once but couldn't find it...
23) Give £10 to a homeless person
Will do it today!
24) Slept under the stars
Lots of times in tents :( Done this in Morocco, India and Namibia and Botswana, and once properly in India. Awoke to a horse nibbling on my ear.
25) Been to as many countries as your age
Done! 34 at the moment.
26) Changed someone's life
Apparently, yes...
27) Move out of home
I am ashamed to say I am living with my Mum and her partner at the moment - but I haven't always... I went to boarding school, university, lived in France and done lots of travelling. I'm back with Mum whilst saving for a flat which I really hoped would happen before the big 30 but looks like I'm just going to miss it.
28) Made a film
Yup!
29) Ride a Harley Davidson
Yes in the French countryside - although I wasn't driving and I wanted him to go faster!
30) Volunteered
Nope... can't I do this before I'm 60? I have just made a charity film for free though, that sort of counts right?
There are a few achievements not on any lists I found but which I think deserve a mention:
1) Go out with a famous person
Possibly... sort of...
2) Go holidating
I think I'm fairly spontaneous - none more than a couple of years ago when I went to Africa with a guy I met on an internet dating site. It was our 7th date I think, and we went travelling together for 9 weeks. Although it didn't have a happy ending I did have an amazing time.
3) Art scholarship
I won an art scholarship for my A-levels and went to art college which had been my dream. (The dream changed once I got there, but it was still an achievement)
4) Taken a cheetah for a walk
Yes - In Africa, one of the most amazing experiences ever.
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