I can’t believe it’s less than 5 months until my boyfriend and I pack our fancy new backpacks and leave behind the British winter for a year-long adventure around the world! I’ve been excited about this trip for the last 2 years and since we’ve booked our RTW tickets earlier this year I can hardy sit still anymore.

I love planning holidays, from day trips outside London to weekend getaways, and now this once in a lifetime RTW trip! For me that means, talking to everybody I know about their favourite places they’ve traveled to, reading guide books and novels about the countries we will visit and trying to cook the dishes I am so looking forward to, to eat! And of course, reading travel blogs. Many, many travel blogs.

One thing I keep on stumbling upon is people’s bucket lists (which I love reading) and things they want to experience before they turn 30. Now, what is it about that magical number 30 that makes people so obsessed with it?

Is it the “official” end of one’s youth or maybe just a random number picked by society by what time one should get the fun stuff out of the way, in order to focus on the serious aspects of life, like kids, houses and jobs? The number 30 creeps up everywhere, on student discount cards, Australian working visa applications and flights discounts by STA travel.

Celebrating my 30th birthday with my friends!

Celebrating my 30th birthday with my friends!

As you might’ve expected by now, I have found myself on the older side of this milestone, having turned 30 in December myself. And if you had asked me 10 years ago I would’ve probably not said that I’d still be a student by the time I turn 30, living in university halls (as a warden nonetheless), unmarried, no kids with no job on the horizon and about to embark on a year-long travel adventure with my boyfriend.

But you know what? It’s awesome!

I love the fact that I have no idea what will happen next and where I will find myself in 6 months’ time: Peru, Panama or Bolivia? Who cares, it’ll be amazing! It doesn’t matter that I am about a decade older than your typical gap-year traveller, what matters is that I am going on this trip, better later in life than never, right? And to be honest, thinking back to the kind of holidays I went on aged 17 or 18, I am seriously glad that I waited a while to go on my RTW trip. It will contain much less hungover morrnings in Italian beach towns and more early morning sunrise visits followed by yummy breakfasts which I don’t have to struggle to keep down. That doesn’t mean I won’t party at all (I hope we will) but the focus on the trip will be shifted from parties and drinking to experiencing the countries we visit in a bit more depth and with less hazy eyes.

So for all the 30-pluses out there who are dreaming on going on a backpacking trip but think they might be too old for it, ignore that silly number and start planning!

For some inspiration, here’s my bucket list of things-to-do-AFTER-I-turn 30, enjoy!

(the stuff I did before 30 is at the end):

 

  1. Sleep on a houseboat in India
  2. Visit the Pyramids of Gizeh
  3. Trek the Inca Trail
  4. Eat at KFC in Kentucky
  5. Eat noodle soup for breakfast in Vietnam
  6. Plant a tree
  7. Eat at the oldest McDonalds in US (Downey, LA, California)
  8. Walk over the Golden Gate Bridge
  9. Stroll along the Walk of Fame
  10. Eat Fish Taco in California
  11. Visit the Taj Mahal
  12. Watch a show in Vegas
  13. Travel somewhere with my brother
  14. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
  15. Get a massage in Thailand
  16. Visit Disneyland California
  17. Gamble in Vegas
  18. Drink tequila in Mexico
  19. Learn to surf
  20. Do yoga in India
  21. Tour Australia by train
  22. Visit the Amazon rainforest
  23. Visit the Pink City (Jaipur)
  24. Get a tattoo
  25. Drink a pisco sour
  26. Take dance lessons
  27. Cycle trip in Thailand
  28. Watch Bollywood film in India
  29. Learn a language
  30. Volunteer for Greenpeace abroad
  31. Visit San Francisco and wear flowers in my hair
  32. Swim with dolphins
  33. Have a shrimp from the baarbi in Oz
  34. Visit Petra
  35. Eat a fish that I caught
  36. WWOOF
  37. Ride a tuk tuk
  38. Eat at McDonalds in every country
  39. Eat lobster in Maine
  40. Relax in a hammock under a palm tree with a coconut drink
  41. Go camping
  42. Go to the top of stratosphere tower (rollercoaster optional)
  43. Go running in Malibu Beach
  44. Sleep in a treehouse/cave/etc
  45. Smoke a cigar in Cuba
  46. Drink rum in Jamaica
  47. Dance the night away in a tropical country
  48. Learn to cook a dish in Thailand
  49. Cycle around Angkor Wat
  50. See the cherry blossoms in Japan
  51. See the sunrise over the Taj Mahal
  52. Eat a Tamale in Mexico
  53. Drive in the US
  54. Eat Gumbo and visit the Bayou in New Orleans
  55. See kangaroos in the wild
  56. Volunteer abroad again
  57. Eat a mango from the tree
  58. Sleep under the stars
  59. Eat some crazy stuff
  60. Drink coca tea
  61. Learn Krav Maga
  62. Eat Singapore noodles in Singapore
  63. Celebrate Holi in India

Stuff I did before I turned 30

  1. Take the cable car to the top of Table Mountain
  2. Eat falafel in Israel 
  3. Climb the Campanile tower in Florence
  4. Float in the dead sea     
  5. Volunteer abroad 
  6. Visit Disneyland Paris 
  7. Climb a volcano 
  8. Halloween in the US 
  9. Live and work abroad 
  10. Go travelling by myself 
  11. Party in Tel Aviv 
  12. Go wine tasting 
  13. Go on safari in Africa 
  14. Go whale watching 
  15. Meet penguins 
  16. Eat some insects 
  17. Ride an elephant 
  18. See the Sistine chapel in Rome 
  19. Feed an ostrich 
  20.  ……

 

So, what do you think of my list?  Am I “too old” for any of these activities? Anything you think I should add?

Pin It on Pinterest

Shares
Share This