Friday 4 January 2013
20 things I'd like to do before I'm 30.
This past month or so has had me thinking. A lot. No-one I know has had any good news, though there has been a lot of bad, and we all seem to be pretty stuck in a rut with no way of getting out of it in the near future. I know a lot of graduates, and the amount on minimum wage jobs is staggering.
George Osborne has recently released his Autumn Statement, which was pretty depressing. Not going to go into details here (I don't understand a lot of it) but it's bad. We're now in a triple-dip recession, growth isn't happening as quickly as he 'predicted' and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. One of the only 'bright sides' in the statement was the fact that unemployment has decreased slightly. Statistically that might be true, but that all depends on how (and who) you work out the stats. The amount of UNDERemployment has actually increased significantly. This is people who want/need full time work, but have had to accept part-time hours because that's all that's available.
That's me, my housemates and most of my friends at least. And from what I've seen, a lot of people across the country. It's a serious problem, with people struggling to get through month to month on minimum wage and few hours, but with very little/no help because 'technically' they're employed. It makes the stats look better, but actually a lot of people are much worse off.
I can't see the situation improving enough for me to be able to volunteer any time soon (bye bye career), so I've decided to be positive about the future. I might only be 22, but time has a habit of springing up on you, and before you know it I'll be 30. There's a lot of things I want to happen by then, so I thought I'd document some of them here.
1. Travel. I don't care where to, but I have itchy feet that I can't quantify.
2. Be earning more than minimum wage in a job that I can tolerate. Earning a comfortable amount in a job that I love would be a bonus but I'd settle for the former.
3. Lose weight. I've been trying to do it for years, but been too lazy/weak to really stick to it. If I don't get back down to a size 12 before I'm 30 I never will, and then I'll never be happy with the way I look.
4. Be fit. This is probably more important than the point above. I don't want anything stupid to prevent me from doing the things I want to do.
5. Travel around the UK more. I want to climb lots of hills in the Lake District, Scotland and Wales and I hope to have done so by then. Preferably on my own.
6. Live somewhere I am happy and settled. At the moment I have no ties - I am a sail. It's terrifying and exciting, but I'd like to think I have somewhere vaguely home-like at 30.
7. Not care (as much) what other people think about me. Probably the biggest, and the most difficult aim.
8. Speak very good (if not fluent) French.
9. See the Northern Lights.
10. Visit every continent.
11. Have a pension. Or some savings. Or something to fall back on at least!
12. Have attended the wedding of a close friend. Of course this is entirely dependent on them, but I can definitely see it happening.
13. Buy some expensive clothes - i.e. ones that will last a while and are not from New Look/Primark!
14. Have something published. Should be an easy one - you can self-publish on e-readers nowadays ;)
15. Run 10km without stopping.
16. Walk the Coast to Coast.
17. Ridden a horse along a beach (a silly notion I've wanted to do since I was little)
18. Spend a day not caring what other people think of me. More difficult for me than this sounds.
19. Be a better friend/relative - I'm very bad at getting back in touch with people for various reasons, and I know this is something I need to improve.
20. Above all, be happy.
George Osborne has recently released his Autumn Statement, which was pretty depressing. Not going to go into details here (I don't understand a lot of it) but it's bad. We're now in a triple-dip recession, growth isn't happening as quickly as he 'predicted' and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. One of the only 'bright sides' in the statement was the fact that unemployment has decreased slightly. Statistically that might be true, but that all depends on how (and who) you work out the stats. The amount of UNDERemployment has actually increased significantly. This is people who want/need full time work, but have had to accept part-time hours because that's all that's available.
That's me, my housemates and most of my friends at least. And from what I've seen, a lot of people across the country. It's a serious problem, with people struggling to get through month to month on minimum wage and few hours, but with very little/no help because 'technically' they're employed. It makes the stats look better, but actually a lot of people are much worse off.
I can't see the situation improving enough for me to be able to volunteer any time soon (bye bye career), so I've decided to be positive about the future. I might only be 22, but time has a habit of springing up on you, and before you know it I'll be 30. There's a lot of things I want to happen by then, so I thought I'd document some of them here.
1. Travel. I don't care where to, but I have itchy feet that I can't quantify.
2. Be earning more than minimum wage in a job that I can tolerate. Earning a comfortable amount in a job that I love would be a bonus but I'd settle for the former.
3. Lose weight. I've been trying to do it for years, but been too lazy/weak to really stick to it. If I don't get back down to a size 12 before I'm 30 I never will, and then I'll never be happy with the way I look.
4. Be fit. This is probably more important than the point above. I don't want anything stupid to prevent me from doing the things I want to do.
5. Travel around the UK more. I want to climb lots of hills in the Lake District, Scotland and Wales and I hope to have done so by then. Preferably on my own.
6. Live somewhere I am happy and settled. At the moment I have no ties - I am a sail. It's terrifying and exciting, but I'd like to think I have somewhere vaguely home-like at 30.
7. Not care (as much) what other people think about me. Probably the biggest, and the most difficult aim.
8. Speak very good (if not fluent) French.
9. See the Northern Lights.
10. Visit every continent.
11. Have a pension. Or some savings. Or something to fall back on at least!
12. Have attended the wedding of a close friend. Of course this is entirely dependent on them, but I can definitely see it happening.
13. Buy some expensive clothes - i.e. ones that will last a while and are not from New Look/Primark!
14. Have something published. Should be an easy one - you can self-publish on e-readers nowadays ;)
15. Run 10km without stopping.
16. Walk the Coast to Coast.
17. Ridden a horse along a beach (a silly notion I've wanted to do since I was little)
18. Spend a day not caring what other people think of me. More difficult for me than this sounds.
19. Be a better friend/relative - I'm very bad at getting back in touch with people for various reasons, and I know this is something I need to improve.
20. Above all, be happy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)