30 before 30. (Part 2).

Let's just jump straight in then, shall we?

11. Go skinny dipping.
'Cause I never have. Once on a big family holiday everyone else had a go, but I couldn't 'cause I'd fallen off the side of an armchair that I was standing on dancing to The Spice Girls, landed very hard, and couldn't move my wrist. So. There you go.

12. Make it back to Paris.
My go-to line about Paris is that I have loved cities more, but I have never loved one faster. My one and only Paris trip was among the most perfect almost-weeks I've ever had, but it was short lived and too long ago. This year I want to make it back, for macarons and Champagne and secret nooks in magic bookshops, and to find the little bit of my heart I left there in 2014.

13. Host an afternoon tea.
For charity, partly because it feels a little bit Gossip Girl but mostly because one of my favourite people in the known universe is about to embark on a pretty big fundraising challenge (but that's her story, not mine), and I think when you can find a way to help the people you love do things that are important, you should. Details to come. You're all invited. (We will pressure you to attend, in fact).

14. Meet a sloth.
I went back and forth on including this one, because I don't have any plans to visit any countries where Sloth sanctuaries are common place, and I'm being pretty careful to only include things I think actually could happen (which is why return to New Orleans and buy a property, both longlisted pipedreams, have been struck). In the end, though, I couldn't not. If anyone knows a way to make this happen that isn't go to Costa Rica, I'm listening.

15. Decide what the book is.
"Write a book" is on so many 30-before-30 lists that it feels a little bit like it doesn't even count. Also, I did that when I was like 20 (a first draft of a novel before I realised it's ok to be a writer and not want to write novels). My book-thing, then, is to decide what the book is. There is one in me, surely, and while as-of-now I'm fairly sure it'll be a collection of essays, I have no idea beyond that. So the plan is to decide, and do something (anything, even a tiny thing) about it.

16. Fly first class.
I have flown premium economy a few times, thanks to airmiles and business trips and the first time making the guy in the airport laugh (it literally pays to be nice), but never First Class. In many ways, it goes against all my principals to spend money on a more comfortable flight that could be put to far better use once I got there. In others, it feels like a thing I should experience by the time I turn 30. So it makes the list... A one-way first class flight to anywhere. (Made even better if I find a way to not pay cash for it...)

17. Read 100 books.
Typed that before I realised how ridiculous it is in 51 weeks. Oops. Can't delete it now.

18. Collaborate on something artistic.
At 28, for reasons I've talked about and around enough (lets's not pretend any of it is a secret), I made a "no more adaptations and no more collaborations" rule in my creative work. Well, a girls prerogative is to change her mind often and unexpectedly, right? This year I want to join forces, with someone, on something artistic. Maybe a blog project, maybe some essays, maybe even a musical... it's about reminding myself as much as anyone that collaboration can be wonderful when the people you're collaborating with are right.

19. Stay in bed all day.
I don't do this. The last time I did, I was so sick I almost had to call my parents to say guys, you need to take me to hospital. Then I fell asleep instead. Suffice to say, it wasn't an enjoyable experience. This year, though, for one day the furthest I'm going to venture is to my kitchen (I can see it from my bed if the door is open). I'll surround myself with books, and coffee, and my Netflix queue (are Netflix queues still a thing?) and force myself, for once in my life, to just relax. I won't care if it's raining, or the trains are delayed, or feel guilty about all the other things I should-be-doing. I'm going to nest, and it's going to be glorious.

20. Gamble. Win. 
Do I mean that in a bet-money-at-a-casino sense, or a bet-your-guts-and-heart-on-something one? Both, probably.

Third and final part coming this week!

Part 1 - Here.
Part 3 - Here.