I made myself a promise this year. No more summers that blur into one another, where September arrives and I can’t quite remember what I did with June. This one is going to be different. I sat down with a coffee, opened a new notes page, and wrote down everything I genuinely want to do, feel, experience, and become before the leaves start turning. Thirty things for thirty-something me. Here it is.
The Fun, Unashamed Enjoyment Ones
1. Go to a Music Festival
I’ve been saying “maybe next year” for three years. This is next year. I’m picking a lineup I’m actually excited about, sorting the ticket, and committing. I’m going to wear something ridiculous, dance until my feet hurt, and not care even slightly what I look like doing it.
2. Watch a Sunrise
With coffee. Somewhere beautiful. I live near enough to a good spot that there’s no excuse. I just need to set the alarm and actually get up when it goes off, which is the hard part.
3. Have a Long, Lazy Picnic With No Agenda
A real one. Blanket on the grass, good food, good wine, good company, nowhere to be. Phones face down. Afternoon stretching into evening. I want to remember what unhurried feels like.
4. Go on a Solo Trip
Even just one night somewhere new. A city I haven’t explored, a coastal town, anywhere that isn’t my usual circuit. Just me, my own pace, and total freedom over every single decision.
5. Swim in Natural Water
A lake, the sea, a river — I don’t mind. Somewhere that isn’t a pool. Bonus points if it’s cold enough to make me gasp when I get in, because that kind of aliveness is hard to replicate anywhere else.
6. Host a Dinner Party I’m Actually Proud Of
Proper tablecloth, candles, a slightly ambitious menu, a playlist I’ve actually curated. I want to cook for people I love in my own home and feel like a fully functioning adult woman who has it together. Even if the sauce is a little stressful.
7. See a Live Outdoor Concert
There are always more of these happening than I realise, and I always find out about them after the fact. This summer I’m actually checking listings in advance and going, even if it’s something I only half know.
8. Go on Actual Dates
Not just matching with people and exchanging texts for three weeks until it fizzles out. Actual dates — sitting across from someone, being present, giving it a real chance. I want to approach dating this summer with less cynicism and more genuine curiosity. Even the awkward ones are good stories. I’m saying yes more, overthinking less, and seeing what happens when I actually show up.
9. Take a Day Trip Somewhere I’ve Never Been
Within driving or train distance. Just pick a place, go, wander, eat somewhere local, come back. The easiest form of adventure and I never do it enough.
10. Say Yes to One Thing I’d Normally Talk Myself Out Of
I already know the kind of invitation I mean. The slightly out-of-comfort-zone one, the group I don’t fully know, the event that sounds exciting and intimidating in equal measure. This summer I’m saying yes once. Just to see.
11. Have a Spontaneous Night Out
No planning, no group chat negotiations, no restaurant booked six weeks ahead. Just a text at 6pm saying “tonight?” and actually doing it.
12. Dance Properly
Not swaying at a wedding. Actually dancing. At a club, at a festival, in my kitchen at midnight — I don’t mind where. I just want to remember what it feels like to move without self-consciousness.
13. Plan a Full Day Out With My Nephews
Not a quick visit — a whole day, planned around what they love. Whatever that means: a theme park, a nature trail, a beach day, building something ridiculous in the garden. I want to be the aunt who actually shows up and makes memories with them, not the one who just appears at Christmas. Kids grow up embarrassingly fast and I refuse to miss more of it than I already have.
14. Sleep Under the Stars at Least Once
Camping, a garden, a balcony with a sleeping bag — I’m figuring out the logistics. But I want to fall asleep looking up at the sky at least one night this summer.
15. Go to a Farmers’ Market and Cook Everything I Buy
Wander around slowly, buy whatever looks beautiful, come home and make an entire meal out of it with no recipe planned in advance. Just improvisation and whatever the season is offering. Summer produce deserves to be treated as the main character.
The Growth, Feel-Good, Better-Version-of-Me Ones
16. Run a Half Marathon in Under 1:50
This is the big one. I’ve signed up, the date is in the calendar, and the training plan is already making me question my life choices at 6am. But I want this. Sub 1:50 — that’s the goal. Not just to finish, but to finish fast and strong and know that I pushed myself to something real. Every early morning run this summer is in service of this.
17. Read 5 Books That Actually Challenge Me
Not only easy reads — though those count too. I want a memoir that moves me, a non-fiction book on something I know nothing about, a novel everyone’s been talking about, a classic I’ve been avoiding, and one wild card recommended by someone whose taste I trust. My current shortlist includes Educated by Tara Westover, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, and Untamed by Glennon Doyle.
18. Build a Morning Ritual That’s Mine
Not a 5am productivity grind. Just 20 or 30 minutes before the day starts that belong entirely to me. Coffee, quiet, maybe a journal, maybe a walk. Something that means the day begins on my terms instead of immediately reacting to everything else.
19. Master One Impressive Recipe
I don’t want another dish I’m “okay” at. I want one recipe I’m genuinely brilliant at — something that makes people ask for it by name. Whether it’s a slow-cooked ragu, a perfect tart, a homemade pasta from scratch, or a layered cake that actually looks like the photo. I’m going to make it over and over this summer until it’s mine.
20. Start Journaling Again
I used to do this and I stopped for no good reason. I want to get back to writing things down — not everything, not every day, just when something is worth remembering or when something is too heavy to keep in my head.
21. Finish My First Crochet Project
I bought the yarn. I watched the tutorials. I started and unravelled the same row approximately eleven times. This summer I’m actually finishing something. It doesn’t have to be perfect — it just has to be done. A bag, a top, a sun hat, anything. I want to hold a finished object I made with my own hands and feel that specific quiet pride that comes with it.
22. Do a Proper Digital Detox Weekend
Two full days. No scrolling, no posting, no checking. I’ve thought about this for ages and I’m finally doing it. I suspect it will feel deeply uncomfortable and then deeply wonderful, in that order.
23. Audit My Friendships Quietly
Not dramatically, not cruelly — just honestly. I want to pay attention this summer to who I feel like myself around, who I leave feeling lighter versus heavier, and invest accordingly. I’m done spending energy maintaining connections out of habit or guilt.
24. Set One Real Goal for the Rest of the Year
Summer is the midpoint. I want to sit with the question of what I actually want the second half of the year to look like and write down one specific, honest answer. Not a vague intention. An actual goal.
25. Spend One Full Day Alone With No Plans
No people, no schedule, no obligations. A whole day that belongs entirely to me. Eat whatever I want, go wherever feels right, do nothing if that’s what I need. I want to get reacquainted with my own company.
26. Cook My Way Through a Cuisine I Don’t Know
I want to pick a cuisine I rarely cook — Japanese, Moroccan, Lebanese, Georgian, whatever pulls me — and spend the summer actually learning it properly. Not one recipe. Several. Enough to understand the flavour logic, the staple ingredients, the techniques. Cooking is one of the best ways to travel without going anywhere.
27. Write Down 10 Things I’m Proud of From the Last Year
I never do this. I’m better at cataloguing what I haven’t done than recognising what I have. This summer I’m sitting down and actually writing out ten things — big, small, quiet, significant — that I’m genuinely proud of. I think I need the reminder.
28. Teach My Nephews How to Make Something in the Kitchen
Nothing complicated — a pizza, homemade lemonade, cookies, pancakes. Something with enough steps to feel like a real activity and enough deliciousness at the end to make them proud. I want them to grow up knowing that cooking is fun, that the kitchen isn’t intimidating, and that their aunt makes really good food. The mess is part of it.
29. Have One Honest Conversation I’ve Been Putting Off
I know which one. You probably know which one too. The conversation that sits quietly in the background, unfinished, taking up space. This summer I’m having it, because carrying unspoken things is exhausting and I’m tired of it.
30. Do Something This Summer That Future Me Will Thank Me For
I’m leaving this one open on purpose. I don’t know yet what it is — maybe it’s a decision, a risk, a commitment, a change. But I want to do at least one thing this season that isn’t just about enjoyment but about genuinely moving my life forward. Something that matters. Something real.
Thirty things. One summer. I’m not going to do all of them perfectly and that’s entirely fine. But I’m going to do as many as I can, fully and without half-heartedness, and I’m going to pay attention while I do.
This summer is not going to blur. I’m making sure of it.
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