The idea that I’m now ‘in my thirties’ is beyond my realm of comprehension.
Not because I’m worried about aging—quite the opposite, oddly enough. I’ve yet to develop concerns about wrinkles or how many grains of sand still remain in my proverbial hourglass. Instead, for whatever reason, I continue to plod along in a land of near-blissful ignorance (or perhaps better phrased, a youthful hubris?), imagining my existence stretching infinitely into the future like sweet, gooey, time-resistant taffy.
Whether this is a healthy mindset or not remains to be seen.
Nonetheless, this is where my mind finds itself on the morning of my 31st birthday, sipping iced coffee on a sundrenched terrace in Seville with my partner, surprising myself by not fretting about how much I still plan to do with my one wild and precious life—but instead, reflecting on all the incredible experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to have thus far.
And so I present to you: 31 things I’m grateful to have checked off of my bucket list to date, as an accompaniment to my recently shared list of 31 more experiences I’d like to have in my next 31 years.
31 things I’ve checked off my bucket list at 31
Come out as queer to people beyond my inner circle and embracing my identity without fear of judgment
See a neuropsychologist to determine what’s up with my brain once and for all, learning my official diagnoses of AuDHD, CPTSD, and anxiety and (finally) getting the tools to learn how to cope and unmask day by day
Reconnect with my estranged relatives across the pond (Long Eaton, England, UK)
Spend a semester studying abroad (Seville, Spain)
Cut off and donate 10” of hair to Children With Hair Loss in memory of a dear friend who passed away from Stage IV cancer (Seville, Spain)
Spend a summer interning in NYC (@ DoSomething.org)
Become the first person in my family to earn a college degree (University Park, PA, USA)
Get work as a professional writer and editor in the journalism industry (New York, USA)
Rescue and raise two big, beautiful dogs (Charlotte, NC, USA)
Start and run a successful business with one of my best friends (Charlotte, NC, USA)
Marry the love of my life (Charlotte, NC, USA)
Honeymoon somewhere beautiful beyond words (Jade Mountain, St. Lucia)
Buy a house and make it into a home (Richmond, VA, USA)
Pay off all of my student loans (Richmond, VA, USA)
Move abroad to live in a city in Europe (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Ride a camel in the desert (Tangier, Morocco)
Soak in the Blue Lagoon (Grindavik, Iceland)
Have a baguette sword fight under the Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)
Drink a Guinness in a real Irish pub (Limerick, Ireland)
Ride the London Eye (London, England)
See the famed Sagrada Familia (Barcelona, Spain)
Tour the cities of Cinque Terre (Cinque Terre, Italy)
Drink beer in an Oktoberfest tent (Munich, Germany)
Visit the original John Lennon Wall (Prague, Czech Republic)
See bioluminescence IRL (Falmouth, Jamaica)
Attend an authentic Hawaiian luau (Kauai, HI, USA)
Swim (ethically) with a giant sea turtle (St. Thomas, USVI)
Snorkel in a Mexican cenote (Playa del Carmen, Mexico)
Rappel down the side of a skyscraper like I’m in a spy movie (Richmond, VA, USA)
See the Dutch tulip fields in bloom (Lisse, Netherlands)
Sign a book deal with a major publisher (Lonely Planet, tentatively publishing March 2025)
Grateful beyond words for every one of these experiences and cannot wait to see what the next chapter(s) hold. Thanks for reading, for being here, for caring. My heart is so full. I hope yours is, too.
Lots of great things to have done!