40 before 40

29 05 2025

Many years ago, around my 29th birthday, I decided to do a 30 before 30 list, and while I did a good chunk of things on there, I didn’t get it all done by a long way, which is fine, but I thought, why not give myself a bit longer for a 40 before 40 list. And yes, some are pinched from the 30 before 30 list!

As I start writing this it’s May 2025, and I think it’ll take a while to come up with 40, but let’s at least start:

  1. Move from my flat to a house – currently in progress, but feels like it could take ’til I’m 40 to go through
  2. Visit New York City – if America is still an OK place to visit
  3. Visit Bletchley Park
  4. Visit Westminster Abbey – either a service or actually pay to go in
  5. Visit the Comedy Store in London – ideally to see comedians I like!
  6. Go and see Austentatious
  7. Visit the Museum of Brands
  8. Go to an opera – I reserve the right to not do this, I don’t want to, just feel like I should, having visited a ballet before my 30th
  9. Go to Wimbledon
  10. Go to a cricket match – Hampshire or England
  11. Go to a rugby match – Bath or England
  12. Go to Silverstone or another Grand Prix
  13. Get a ticket to a show court at Wimbledon via camping or ballot
  14. Eat at Mowgli
  15. Learn the countries of the world and be able to complete the Sporcle quiz – PB 86%, currently around 81%
  16. Learn how to curl my hair
  17. Learn pi to 40dp – currently at 35
  18. Continue to slowly and sustainably lose weight until I hit my target – approx a further stone and a bit
  19. Get back to giving blood
  20. Finish my four seasons of cross stitch – two are done, two to go
  21. If I complete #1, get a photobook done of my years in the flat
  22. Send 40 postcards to people – is this an excuse to buy some cute postcards? maybe…
  23. Stop biting my nails

A couple of these I did before writing the list, but I thought they were significant enough, and achieved after I was 30, to include. And Mowgli was visited since May!
It’s now August 2025 and I think I need to at least get this list up before I complete any more!


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30 before 30 – the results

8 06 2018

Just after my 29th birthday I wrote a list of 30 things to do before I’m 30. I’m pretty pleased with how I’ve done, I knew it’d never get all done, but it’s really pushed me to do some new things this year! You’ll notice the list below is changed a bit from the original list – I reviewed it a month or two ago to try and make some of them a little more achievable, but it hasn’t helped much.
And yes I’m counting a book I finished this morning because I’m not fully 30 until 4.45pm!

I think it might be interesting to see how many more I can complete before I finish being 30…
Anyway, results below!

  1. Buy my own home. COMPLETED 15th September 2016
  2. Climb a mountain. COMPLETED 26th May 2018
  3. Dye my hair.
  4. Fundraise £300 for a good cause.
  5. Get below 10 stone.
  6. Get my next photobook printed.
  7. Give Blood. COMPLETED 23rd October 2017
  8. Have a go on a cello.
  9. Have a meal at the Hand and Flowers. COMPLETED 21st October 2017
  10. Have a pedicure. COMPLETED 26th August 2017
  11. Learn all the countries of the world and complete the Sporcle quiz.
  12. Learn how to curl my hair.
  13. Re-learn how to do the rubiks cube. COMPLETED 16th July 2017
  14. Re-learn the sign language I learnt 4 years ago and have forgotten.
  15. Try coming off my anti-depressants. – DOSAGE REDUCED
  16. Visit NYC, Disneyland Paris or Iceland. – COMPLETED March 2018
  17. Watch a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre. – COMPLETED 8th May 2018
  18. Watch Friends all the way through.
  19. Learn 3 new pieces on the piano.
  20. Sew 3 items. – TWO DONE
  21. Read 30 books.
    1. Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley COMPLETED 28th June 2017
    2. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld COMPLETED 11th July 2017
    3. The Humans by Matt Haig COMPLETED 23rd July 2017
    4. Spectacles by Sue Perkins COMPLETED 31st July 2017
    5. The Know-It-All by A J Jacobs COMPLETED 28th July 2017
    6. Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae COMPLETED 30th August 2017
    7. Salty Sam and the Windy Day by Christina Sinclair COMPLETED 30th August 2017
    8. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler COMPLETED 30th August 2017
    9. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory COMPLETED 6th September 2017
    10. Remember, Remember (the fifth of November) by Judy Parkinson COMPLETED 11th September 2017
    11. The House of New Beginnings by Lucy Diamond COMPLETED 25th September 2017
    12. A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis COMPLETED 5th October 2017
    13. Anne of Windy Willows by L M Montgomery COMPLETED 28th October 2017
    14. How to Stop Time by Matt Haig COMPLETED 2nd December 2017
    15. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens COMPLETED 31st December 2017
    16. Some Kind Of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher COMPLETED 6th January 2018
    17. The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year by Sue Townsend COMPLETED 21st January 2018
    18. Brain Freeze by Tom Fletcher COMPLETED 28th February 2018
    19. How Not To Be Wrong – The Hidden Maths Of Everyday Life by Jordan Ellenberg COMPLETED 30th March 2018
    20. Still Me by Jojo Moyes COMPLETED 5th April 2018
    21. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman COMPLETED 19th April 2018
    22. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett ABANDONED 6th May 2018
    23. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood COMPLETED 22nd May 2018
    24. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer COMPLETED 8th June 2018
    25. Something by Jane Austen
  22. Get meals I’m confident to cook up to 30. (not including things you just put in the oven or microwave….)
    1. Spaghetti Bolognaise
    2. Chilli Con Carne
    3. The Bacon Dinner
    4. Sausage Casserole
    5. Shepherds Pie
    6. Tuna/Vegetable Pasta Bake
    7. Fish Burger
    8. Peach and Chick Pea Curry
    9. Roast Chicken
    10. Toad in the Hole
    11. Lasagne
    12. Risotto
    13. Beef Stroganoff
    14. Chicken Curry
    15. Kedgeree
    16. Fish Pie
  23. Get things I’m confident to bake up to 10.
    1. Victoria Sponge
    2. Chocolate and Banana loaf cake
    3. Cheesecake
    4. Brownie
    5. Blondie
    6. Flapjack
  24. Learn 30 bible verses by heart. 0/30
  25. Write 3 handwritten letters to friends. 1/3
  26. Write 3 letters to MP or organisations about ethical issues. 0/3
  27. Write 3 prayers. 0/3
  28. Get the Eurostar somewhere COMPLETED 9th December 2017
  29. Learn pi to 30 decimal places. 27/30
  30. Go to a Ballet COMPLETED 30th December 2017

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30 before 30 – First Draft

14 06 2017

Last week I turned 29. I have a year left of my twenties, and many people I know have put together “30 before 30” lists. I had a few ideas for mine, but one evening I googled and found a tonne of other lists to find other ideas of things to do. A lot of the people who do these lists did them before 29, so they had a few years to complete it.

I think my list is a bit too ambitious. I don’t expect to complete it all, but they’re good targets to work on! The first draft of my list has 26 items on it, but I’m putting it up here anyway because I’m a week into the year and haven’t done it yet, and this way I can add other things I think of as I go!

The first item I completed last year, but it was something that a couple of years ago I decided I wanted to aim to do before I was 30, and so in a way it was on my list before I had a list!

Some of the items have sub lists, and again I’ve put some initial bits in there, but they’re likely to fill up more once I actually tick them off.

So here we go, my 30 before 30 list:

  1. Buy my own home. COMPLETED 15th September 2016
  2. Climb a mountain.
  3. Dye my hair.
  4. Fundraise £300 for a good cause.
  5. Get back down to 9 stone and maintain it.
  6. Get my next photobook printed.
  7. Give Blood.
  8. Have a go on a cello.
  9. Have a meal at the Hand and Flowers.
  10. Have a pedicure.
  11. Learn all the countries of the world and complete the Sporcle quiz.
  12. Learn how to curl my hair.
  13. Re-learn how to do the rubiks cube.
  14. Re-learn the sign language I learnt 4 years ago and have forgotten.
  15. Try coming off my anti-depressants.
  16. Visit NYC, Disneyland Paris or Iceland.
  17. Watch a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre.
  18. Watch Friends all the way through.
  19. Learn 3 or more new pieces on the piano.
  20. Sew 3 items of clothing.
  21. Read 30 books.
    1. Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley – IN PROGRESS
    2. Anne of Windy Willows by L M Montgomery
    3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  22. Try 30 new recipes with the aim of several being regulars.
    1. Ugandan Chickennat COMPLETED 14th June 2017
    2. Curry
    3. Roast Chicken
    4. Risotto
    5. Beef Stroganoff
    6. Kedgeree
    7. Brownie
  23. Learn 30 bible verses by heart.
  24. Write 30 handwritten letters to friends.
  25. Write 30 letters to MP or organisations about ethical issues.
  26. Write 30 prayers.

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Categories : Age challenges