Here it goes! The Big List. The targets are grouped loosely under sub-headings of Travel, Experience, Skill, Career and Spiritual & Horizon Broadening. It's not short, so let's get on with it...
Travel
I have been so fortunate. With a few lucky work decisions, a timely financial crisis and a couple of occasions where I Carpe Diem-ed when my credit card was begging me not to, I have been able to see a bit of the world. Like any intoxicated addict, this sadly just left me thirsty for more. There are some places that excite my curiosity even more than others, and they have earned positions on the Before Thirty list. This in no-way suggests that after 30, I intend to resign my passport, take out my Bay card and move back to home comforts and gypsy tarts. It just means that these destinations make my feet itch and my soul ache and if I don’t promise to take myself to them, I cannot happily enter another decade of my life… and so with the details…
1. Vienna, Austria Done 25th October 2012
There she is, top of the list, European spy capital and Adolf Hitler’s University town. After my mother veto-ed the name Pepples, legend has it that my father was set on the name Vienna for me, until he heard the Ultravox song, and relented to Michelle. I have always been deliriously fond of the gold leaf, swirls and flower blossoms of Gustav Klimt’s Portraits, and 2012 marks his 150th birthday, a cause for pride and celebration in the city.
This trip is already planned, and I am beyond excited, not just for the crime-free streets, the Austrian beer and the Sachertorte, but for the promised old-world European charm in the wartime Spy Capital. The world wars changed Vienna from a carefree party capital, but I’m hoping that she has still retained her spirit. From Kurt Vonnegut’s Deadeye Dick:
“In 1910 Vienna was the capital of a great empire, and there were so many elaborate uniforms and exotic costumes, and so much wine and music that it seemed to be a fancy dress ball.
When the First World War broke out in August of 1914, he [Father] imagined that the fancy dress ball was to become a fancy dress picnic, that the party was to be moved out into the countryside.”
Flights and Hotel are booked, full report to follow.
2. Cairo, Egypt
Once, long, long ago, I cut up some raw, red chilli peppers and added them to a margarita oven pizza to make it more flavoursome and tasty. Hours later, I was taking off my eye make-up and I felt a terrifying tingle. The capsicum from the chillies was burning my eyes, despite me having washed my hands several times! Anyone who has ever been through this will know how painful it is and how bleak the future looks at that moment.
My life flashed before my very (sore and burning) eyes; I would never again see a rainbow, a smile, Miley Cyrus’s abs… and I would never see the Pyramids.
As a Civil Engineer, those bad boys are the Cat’s Pyjamas of project management, design and longevity. The panic that I felt about not seeing them, made me realise, that they need to go on any future “list” that I would be putting together.
I’m planning this, with a hike of Mount Sinai, for my birthday next year, keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out.
3. San Francesco, United States of America Done 17th May 2013
This is the favourite city in the world, of my favourite person in the world, my Mummy. That’s the only endorsement I will ever need. No program for this one, but I know I can make it happen in the next couple of years.
4. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Outside of Africa, Brazil holds a real draw for me. One of the BRICS and an exciting, innovative and growing economy, with huge prospects, including hosting the next Football World Cup and Summer Olympic Games. All eyes are on Brazil at the moment, and if I’m honest, that Christ the Redeemer Statue gives me the chills, in a good way. This need to tie in a little with Item 17, so will probably target for 2014. But I need to go while I’m still young enough to effectively rock a two-piece on the beach.
5. Seoul, South Korea
This culture fascinates me! Having made a couple of new South Korean friends in the past year, I am completely blown away by the intrinsic and diverse cultural differences between east and west – and yet the similar attitudes to business and education. Fantastic restaurants and museums, frequently by the buoyant middle class in Seoul, makes it a terribly appealing city to visit… and I would like to take the hop, skip and jump over to Tokyo, while in the neighbourhood.
6. St Petersburg, Russia
This ties in with number 26. But I think I’ll wait until Putin’s done with Russia, before I head on over… this one might take some time, but it’s certainly something that I want to check out while still a bit young and on a budget.
Experience
7. Glastonbury Music Festival 2014
In the UK there’s a hymn that’s not terribly religious, that was actually included in the 2011 Royal Wedding, called “Jerusalem”. It begins: “and did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon England’s mountain’s green?”. Anyone who has been to Stongehenge will agree that it’s an eerie and spiritual place, and the Jerusalem hymn, serves to propose that before beginning his formal ministry in his early thirties, Jesus travelled to Stonehenge and to the English West-Country in general. So the music festival, held at nearby Glastonbury is much more than just that, but a spiritual and holistic melting pot for pagans, wicca, druids as well as mainstream religions.
There is a real time limit on this – you can’t be going for the first time when you are already old! …and I already missed the sales date for the 2013 tickets! Erg! 2014 it is then…
8. Ibiza Weekend with the Girls
For Europeans, Ibiza is the place to go for the highest and lowest quality partying. Every single person that I have ever met who has been there has reported great things. I need this in my life – and before I get too old to wear a bikini! Maybe this should be filed under travel, but the intrinsic part of this goal is a hedonistic weekend on the party island, and is not so much associated with Spanish Culture, per se.
9. Climb Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
I’ve been so fortunate to have been to Tanzania a couple of times and marvelled at Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa and the largest freestanding mountain in the world. I never thought I cared that much about mountain climbing, I like hiking, but I wouldn’t say I loved it. You always seem to need so much equipment and specialist clothing and it always seemed so expensive. Then I read a book called “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer about the 1996 Everest Disaster. I would never have picked this book in a million years, but one of my colleagues was reading it in Uganda and when she returned to the UK, she left it at the staff house.
My goodness.
I was thrilling and traumatic and amazing, and now I feel that need inside me to conquer a part of Mother Nature. And why Kilimanjaro? Well, let’s be honest – it’s no Everest. The success-rates are pretty high and it’s considered quite an easy climb, relatively. And it's in Africa, and so am I. My friend’s husband recently summit-ed it after a 7 day hike and I had thousands of questions for him on his return. He said to me simply:
“Michelle, if I had known how hard it would be, I never would have gone.”
Wow!
10. Run a Marathon Done 1st September 2013
Is this on everyone’s list? I really do want to do this though. From the depth of my being. Every London Marathon day that I can remember, which if we’re honest, are just the recent ones, since I turned 20. I have watched the London Marathon on the telly in my pyjamas with my Mum, eating leftover Easter eggs (it’s often a week or two after Easter) and telling each other that one day, we really are going to do that.
Now is the time – the London Marathon is just so difficult to get into, and then you have the mad stress of raising loads of charity money, and it’s a hassle for people to come and cheer for you. Nope. Not me. I’m just gonna run a nice quiet little marathon in Kent. Next September (2013) in fact. Done deal. I have already started training. And no… there will be no “I’ll just run a half-marathon and see how it goes". I know how it’s gonna go. I know how it’s gonna hurt. And I want to be able to comfortably re-assure myself all the way round that this is the last running event that I will ever participate in. Ever.
11. Ride in a Helicopter
This has so nearly happened so many times, but still not yet. I really want to do this. I don’t want to fly it or anything - just wear some big headphones and look out the window.
12. Sleep on a Sleeper Train
I know this will not be as luxurious, or comfortable, or glamorous as in the Casino Royale James Bond film, but if it’s somewhere towards Some like it Hot, then in truth, my dreams will have been fulfilled. The easy option would be to take the overnight from London to Edinburgh… but the easy option isn’t always the best, right?
Skills
13. Develop a Signature Dish
This is a huge want for me, and I will write more on it later, but basically I want to get to a stage where people come up to me and say:
“Ooh Michelle, I’m having a pot-luck dinner, could you bring your fish pie/ chicken kievs/ banana bread/ lasagne/ fruitcake/ Victoria sponge? It’s so delicious!”
14. Pass French DELF level B2
This is a formal French language qualification that I need in my life, for my professional CV and for my own sense of achievement, as most days I feel like my French is getting worse rather than better! I have a two stage approach to this. Firstly, I wish to pass the DELF B1 exam in January 2013, then the B2 exam in January/March 2014. Since September 20th, I have made a real commitment to personal study, which I think is helping – now I just need to be a lot braver and really practice more. I can do this (I hope…)
15. Do a Headstand / Cartwheel
There are some times in your life, like if you were to score the winning goal at a World Cup final, when the only way to express the joy and elation that is charging through your veins is through a cartwheel or some equally gymnastic feat of inversion. I have had some of those moments in my life, but sadly, what the mind can perceive…the body cannot always achieve.
So now I am working on becoming more comfortable upside down, and the first stage of this is a new yoga class that I have been going to. I’ll write extensively about this in the future, but let’s just say, my teacher is not about to let me do any headstands anytime soon!
16. Write a Knitting Book
I have the ideas and patterns in my head – I just gotta make the time and get it done. It will just be a little free-to-download booklet, but I feel like it’s something that I would really like to achieve in the next couple of years.
17. Get a basic Command of Portuguese
So once I have the French down, Portuguese is next! I work in Africa, and Africa has 5 Lusophone countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe), and so a bit of Portuguese would be handy. No rush for this yet, but it’s on the timeline.
18. Learn to play a Musical Instrument
I need to make time for this – I think Piano. I don’t believe any of that “you’re too old to learn” twaddle… but still… best to start sooner rather than later, right?
Career
19. Pass my Engineering Professional Review
This is going to be really difficult and will take a lot of work, but if I could achieve this before I turned thirty, it would be a complete dream. I have so much going on at the moment, that I haven’t even considered the structure of how I would go about this, but, by the end of the year, I hope to have an action plan in place.
20. Secure a Permanent Position at my Job
So I was employed on a temporary 3-year contract. This little gol just means that at the end of my contract I hope to secure a permanent one, totally possible… through intense blood, sweat and tears!
21. Mentor a Younger Woman
When I first started out, I got some great mentorship from colleagues, but I always felt that female professionals were a bit colder – perhaps like they saw me as part of this post-feminist they-will-never-know-how-hard-it-was-for-us generation. I don’t know exactly. Anyway, I would like to offer encouragement, support and advice on a (bit controversial) gender basis, because I do see clear gender differences in the workplace, whether they are justified or not.
22. Speak at my Former School
I would love to go back and speak at my secondary school and talk about my career and education to date, to help to broaden the horizons of some of the girls. I will need to grow a pair first though.
23. Get Published
It’s difficult to see how I will achieve this – but I would really like to write a nice article and get it published. I have written for some internal magazines before and I had an article written about me in the New Civil Engineer magazine… but it’s not quite the same. I will keep working on my technical writing and hope that an opportunity presents itself.
24. Get my Finances in Order Done 19th Dec 2012
Maybe the less said about this one the better… but the ostrich effect is really taking its toll and it’s probably time to grow up and take charge.
Spiritual and Horizon Broadening
25. Keep a Plant Alive for a Year
To me, this one does seem like the least likely one to achieve. I would really like to try with a chilli plant… I’m gonna get to looking up when they need to be planted and such, and hop to it, because I have a feeling that this exercise could take several iterations.
26. Read the Big Russian Novels
Here they are, and I’m coming for them:
27. Read the Whole Bible
I’m British and a bit shy and scared of judgement, so I don’t really want to talk at length about my person faith and convictions on this blog too much. But reading the whole Bible is one of my pre-30 goals. Advised by a friend that “If you start at the beginning, you will just get stuck in Deuteronomy and never get out”, I have started in the New Testament and have finished the gospels since September 20th. I’m due to finish the New Testament by the end of this year – then we shall see about the old.
28. Set up some Volunteer Work that I do regularly and that is Important to Me
When I was in Uganda, I set up a knitting class at Luzira Prison, and I was really committed to it and the good that it was doing. I would like to do some charity work again on a regular basis, because I think you just get so much out of it. I’m still thinking at the moment, but I have a couple of leads.
You can read about the Knitting Course here and support the work of the African Prison’s Project here.
29. Go for a Meditation Week at Taizé
I like nuns and monks and I would like to hang out with them for a week and get some spiritual enlightenment. I also would like a bit more spiritual banter in my life. A friend when here and when she came back, she was glowing. It’s aimed at the under-30’s, so I need to step to it before I am old!
30. Look after my Nephew for 24 hours
This is the scariest. I, famously, once looked after Freddie for an evening and it all ended in tears. But I would like to prove it to myself that I can keep a toddler under relative control for a 24 hour period… now I just have to convince his Mum…
Travel
I have been so fortunate. With a few lucky work decisions, a timely financial crisis and a couple of occasions where I Carpe Diem-ed when my credit card was begging me not to, I have been able to see a bit of the world. Like any intoxicated addict, this sadly just left me thirsty for more. There are some places that excite my curiosity even more than others, and they have earned positions on the Before Thirty list. This in no-way suggests that after 30, I intend to resign my passport, take out my Bay card and move back to home comforts and gypsy tarts. It just means that these destinations make my feet itch and my soul ache and if I don’t promise to take myself to them, I cannot happily enter another decade of my life… and so with the details…
There she is, top of the list, European spy capital and Adolf Hitler’s University town. After my mother veto-ed the name Pepples, legend has it that my father was set on the name Vienna for me, until he heard the Ultravox song, and relented to Michelle. I have always been deliriously fond of the gold leaf, swirls and flower blossoms of Gustav Klimt’s Portraits, and 2012 marks his 150th birthday, a cause for pride and celebration in the city.
This trip is already planned, and I am beyond excited, not just for the crime-free streets, the Austrian beer and the Sachertorte, but for the promised old-world European charm in the wartime Spy Capital. The world wars changed Vienna from a carefree party capital, but I’m hoping that she has still retained her spirit. From Kurt Vonnegut’s Deadeye Dick:
“In 1910 Vienna was the capital of a great empire, and there were so many elaborate uniforms and exotic costumes, and so much wine and music that it seemed to be a fancy dress ball.
When the First World War broke out in August of 1914, he [Father] imagined that the fancy dress ball was to become a fancy dress picnic, that the party was to be moved out into the countryside.”
Flights and Hotel are booked, full report to follow.
2. Cairo, Egypt
Once, long, long ago, I cut up some raw, red chilli peppers and added them to a margarita oven pizza to make it more flavoursome and tasty. Hours later, I was taking off my eye make-up and I felt a terrifying tingle. The capsicum from the chillies was burning my eyes, despite me having washed my hands several times! Anyone who has ever been through this will know how painful it is and how bleak the future looks at that moment.
My life flashed before my very (sore and burning) eyes; I would never again see a rainbow, a smile, Miley Cyrus’s abs… and I would never see the Pyramids.
As a Civil Engineer, those bad boys are the Cat’s Pyjamas of project management, design and longevity. The panic that I felt about not seeing them, made me realise, that they need to go on any future “list” that I would be putting together.
I’m planning this, with a hike of Mount Sinai, for my birthday next year, keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out.
This is the favourite city in the world, of my favourite person in the world, my Mummy. That’s the only endorsement I will ever need. No program for this one, but I know I can make it happen in the next couple of years.
4. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Outside of Africa, Brazil holds a real draw for me. One of the BRICS and an exciting, innovative and growing economy, with huge prospects, including hosting the next Football World Cup and Summer Olympic Games. All eyes are on Brazil at the moment, and if I’m honest, that Christ the Redeemer Statue gives me the chills, in a good way. This need to tie in a little with Item 17, so will probably target for 2014. But I need to go while I’m still young enough to effectively rock a two-piece on the beach.
5. Seoul, South Korea
This culture fascinates me! Having made a couple of new South Korean friends in the past year, I am completely blown away by the intrinsic and diverse cultural differences between east and west – and yet the similar attitudes to business and education. Fantastic restaurants and museums, frequently by the buoyant middle class in Seoul, makes it a terribly appealing city to visit… and I would like to take the hop, skip and jump over to Tokyo, while in the neighbourhood.
6. St Petersburg, Russia
This ties in with number 26. But I think I’ll wait until Putin’s done with Russia, before I head on over… this one might take some time, but it’s certainly something that I want to check out while still a bit young and on a budget.
Experience
7. Glastonbury Music Festival 2014
In the UK there’s a hymn that’s not terribly religious, that was actually included in the 2011 Royal Wedding, called “Jerusalem”. It begins: “and did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon England’s mountain’s green?”. Anyone who has been to Stongehenge will agree that it’s an eerie and spiritual place, and the Jerusalem hymn, serves to propose that before beginning his formal ministry in his early thirties, Jesus travelled to Stonehenge and to the English West-Country in general. So the music festival, held at nearby Glastonbury is much more than just that, but a spiritual and holistic melting pot for pagans, wicca, druids as well as mainstream religions.
There is a real time limit on this – you can’t be going for the first time when you are already old! …and I already missed the sales date for the 2013 tickets! Erg! 2014 it is then…
8. Ibiza Weekend with the Girls
For Europeans, Ibiza is the place to go for the highest and lowest quality partying. Every single person that I have ever met who has been there has reported great things. I need this in my life – and before I get too old to wear a bikini! Maybe this should be filed under travel, but the intrinsic part of this goal is a hedonistic weekend on the party island, and is not so much associated with Spanish Culture, per se.
9. Climb Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
I’ve been so fortunate to have been to Tanzania a couple of times and marvelled at Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa and the largest freestanding mountain in the world. I never thought I cared that much about mountain climbing, I like hiking, but I wouldn’t say I loved it. You always seem to need so much equipment and specialist clothing and it always seemed so expensive. Then I read a book called “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer about the 1996 Everest Disaster. I would never have picked this book in a million years, but one of my colleagues was reading it in Uganda and when she returned to the UK, she left it at the staff house.
My goodness.
I was thrilling and traumatic and amazing, and now I feel that need inside me to conquer a part of Mother Nature. And why Kilimanjaro? Well, let’s be honest – it’s no Everest. The success-rates are pretty high and it’s considered quite an easy climb, relatively. And it's in Africa, and so am I. My friend’s husband recently summit-ed it after a 7 day hike and I had thousands of questions for him on his return. He said to me simply:
“Michelle, if I had known how hard it would be, I never would have gone.”
Wow!
Is this on everyone’s list? I really do want to do this though. From the depth of my being. Every London Marathon day that I can remember, which if we’re honest, are just the recent ones, since I turned 20. I have watched the London Marathon on the telly in my pyjamas with my Mum, eating leftover Easter eggs (it’s often a week or two after Easter) and telling each other that one day, we really are going to do that.
Now is the time – the London Marathon is just so difficult to get into, and then you have the mad stress of raising loads of charity money, and it’s a hassle for people to come and cheer for you. Nope. Not me. I’m just gonna run a nice quiet little marathon in Kent. Next September (2013) in fact. Done deal. I have already started training. And no… there will be no “I’ll just run a half-marathon and see how it goes". I know how it’s gonna go. I know how it’s gonna hurt. And I want to be able to comfortably re-assure myself all the way round that this is the last running event that I will ever participate in. Ever.
11. Ride in a Helicopter
This has so nearly happened so many times, but still not yet. I really want to do this. I don’t want to fly it or anything - just wear some big headphones and look out the window.
12. Sleep on a Sleeper Train
I know this will not be as luxurious, or comfortable, or glamorous as in the Casino Royale James Bond film, but if it’s somewhere towards Some like it Hot, then in truth, my dreams will have been fulfilled. The easy option would be to take the overnight from London to Edinburgh… but the easy option isn’t always the best, right?
Skills
13. Develop a Signature Dish
This is a huge want for me, and I will write more on it later, but basically I want to get to a stage where people come up to me and say:
“Ooh Michelle, I’m having a pot-luck dinner, could you bring your fish pie/ chicken kievs/ banana bread/ lasagne/ fruitcake/ Victoria sponge? It’s so delicious!”
14. Pass French DELF level B2
This is a formal French language qualification that I need in my life, for my professional CV and for my own sense of achievement, as most days I feel like my French is getting worse rather than better! I have a two stage approach to this. Firstly, I wish to pass the DELF B1 exam in January 2013, then the B2 exam in January/March 2014. Since September 20th, I have made a real commitment to personal study, which I think is helping – now I just need to be a lot braver and really practice more. I can do this (I hope…)
15. Do a Headstand / Cartwheel
There are some times in your life, like if you were to score the winning goal at a World Cup final, when the only way to express the joy and elation that is charging through your veins is through a cartwheel or some equally gymnastic feat of inversion. I have had some of those moments in my life, but sadly, what the mind can perceive…the body cannot always achieve.
So now I am working on becoming more comfortable upside down, and the first stage of this is a new yoga class that I have been going to. I’ll write extensively about this in the future, but let’s just say, my teacher is not about to let me do any headstands anytime soon!
16. Write a Knitting Book
I have the ideas and patterns in my head – I just gotta make the time and get it done. It will just be a little free-to-download booklet, but I feel like it’s something that I would really like to achieve in the next couple of years.
17. Get a basic Command of Portuguese
So once I have the French down, Portuguese is next! I work in Africa, and Africa has 5 Lusophone countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe), and so a bit of Portuguese would be handy. No rush for this yet, but it’s on the timeline.
18. Learn to play a Musical Instrument
I need to make time for this – I think Piano. I don’t believe any of that “you’re too old to learn” twaddle… but still… best to start sooner rather than later, right?
Career
19. Pass my Engineering Professional Review
This is going to be really difficult and will take a lot of work, but if I could achieve this before I turned thirty, it would be a complete dream. I have so much going on at the moment, that I haven’t even considered the structure of how I would go about this, but, by the end of the year, I hope to have an action plan in place.
20. Secure a Permanent Position at my Job
So I was employed on a temporary 3-year contract. This little gol just means that at the end of my contract I hope to secure a permanent one, totally possible… through intense blood, sweat and tears!
21. Mentor a Younger Woman
When I first started out, I got some great mentorship from colleagues, but I always felt that female professionals were a bit colder – perhaps like they saw me as part of this post-feminist they-will-never-know-how-hard-it-was-for-us generation. I don’t know exactly. Anyway, I would like to offer encouragement, support and advice on a (bit controversial) gender basis, because I do see clear gender differences in the workplace, whether they are justified or not.
22. Speak at my Former School
I would love to go back and speak at my secondary school and talk about my career and education to date, to help to broaden the horizons of some of the girls. I will need to grow a pair first though.
23. Get Published
It’s difficult to see how I will achieve this – but I would really like to write a nice article and get it published. I have written for some internal magazines before and I had an article written about me in the New Civil Engineer magazine… but it’s not quite the same. I will keep working on my technical writing and hope that an opportunity presents itself.
Maybe the less said about this one the better… but the ostrich effect is really taking its toll and it’s probably time to grow up and take charge.
Spiritual and Horizon Broadening
25. Keep a Plant Alive for a Year
To me, this one does seem like the least likely one to achieve. I would really like to try with a chilli plant… I’m gonna get to looking up when they need to be planted and such, and hop to it, because I have a feeling that this exercise could take several iterations.
26. Read the Big Russian Novels
Here they are, and I’m coming for them:
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor DostoyevskyAnna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
27. Read the Whole Bible
I’m British and a bit shy and scared of judgement, so I don’t really want to talk at length about my person faith and convictions on this blog too much. But reading the whole Bible is one of my pre-30 goals. Advised by a friend that “If you start at the beginning, you will just get stuck in Deuteronomy and never get out”, I have started in the New Testament and have finished the gospels since September 20th. I’m due to finish the New Testament by the end of this year – then we shall see about the old.
28. Set up some Volunteer Work that I do regularly and that is Important to Me
When I was in Uganda, I set up a knitting class at Luzira Prison, and I was really committed to it and the good that it was doing. I would like to do some charity work again on a regular basis, because I think you just get so much out of it. I’m still thinking at the moment, but I have a couple of leads.
You can read about the Knitting Course here and support the work of the African Prison’s Project here.
29. Go for a Meditation Week at Taizé
I like nuns and monks and I would like to hang out with them for a week and get some spiritual enlightenment. I also would like a bit more spiritual banter in my life. A friend when here and when she came back, she was glowing. It’s aimed at the under-30’s, so I need to step to it before I am old!
30. Look after my Nephew for 24 hours
This is the scariest. I, famously, once looked after Freddie for an evening and it all ended in tears. But I would like to prove it to myself that I can keep a toddler under relative control for a 24 hour period… now I just have to convince his Mum…
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