Starting A New Decade

I know that we’re well over half way through February now, but I’m hoping the twenties will be far more memorable than the previous decade. Okay, I did complete my three years at university and I enjoyed my work before that, but since then it’s been a bit, meh! But 2019 was particularly a forgettable year for me. Not much really stood out. Over the last couple of months though, I have thought about how to make 2020 (and hopefully further into the twenties) far less forgettable.

I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions. But since my first ever solo travel experience to Barcelona, I realised that I can think bigger, achieve more and finally make the changes that I’ve needed for a while.

I’m hoping the biggest change in 2020 will be travel. And considering that I’m writing this aboard a plane heading to Rome, I’m feeling confident. Last autumn I proved to myself that it is possible, with my first solo trip abroad, and now this. Italy is not alone on this year’s travel bucket list though. The dream destinations are New York City, Costa Rica and Kuala Lumpar, but I need more practice going short haul first. They might be on next year’s list.

So for 2020, Amsterdam is high on my bucket list, as is Bruges and maybe Croatia. Three destinations I’m yet to visit but that have interested me for a while. As well as an international bucket list, I also have a UK based list, and topping that list is London. Even though I visit at least once a year, it’s usually for a comic con, so there is still much of the city to explore. Bath is another city I want to visit, and it does annoy me that although I lived and studied in Bristol for three years, I never made the short train ride to the city. Cardiff is on that list for the same reason too.

In November, I spent an enjoyable day hopping trains to reach Glasgow for a friend’s wedding and showed to myself that long haul train travel is no more difficult than Bristol or London. So Edinburgh is achievable too, by plane or rail, but the train can travel between other attractive cities like York or Lincoln – another mini trip possibly? There are so many travel opportunities available this year, and I’m loving it!

Another change I’m aiming to make is simply to find a new home. I’m in my thirties and I’m still terrible at being an adult. My current flat is sufficient for what I need, but I’ve never considered it as home, rather it’s just somewhere I live. I think a new home might trigger and different (and hopefully better) version of myself.

My final change is movies. I love watching movies and I own hundreds on DVD. My only problem is that I never get around to watching as many as I’d like. At the end of 2019, I discovered the Letterboxd app, which keeps track of what I’ve watched. I love the app, because it reminds me that I should watch more. I’ve started a 52 week movie challenge, which has a variety of film genres. I might post updates throughout the year of my progress, simply to motivate myself to continue.

I knew these changes were now achievable. I’ve known for a while, but now they are written down, they seem closer to being reachable than when they were simply ideas in my head!