It seems that my exciting year is over. However, I feel it’s just a beginning. One year ago I wanted to do something special for my 30th birthday and I came up with the list below:

1. Say ‘yes’ to all sorts of activities proposed to me even if they seem a bit scary at first.
2. Try different activities that sound exciting but I haven’t done them because I was worried about the money.
3. Worry less about what other people think/feel and just do what the hell I want! On the other hand say ‘no’ to things I don’t feel comfortable doing. As a result smile more and cry less (laughing and crying is ok).
4. Recognise the artistic side of me and start designing/making jewellery or clothes in my free time. Stop thinking I’m not good enough to do it.
5. Travel to at least three different countries and write about it. Stop thinking I can’t write.
6. Live in a different country for at least 3 months.
7. Keep jogging and do at least a half marathon.
8. Have courage to have fun until ‘my prince on a white horse’ arrives.
9. Try working somewhere else.
10. Go out less and focus on crossing off the points from my list.
11. Keep disappointing the society and my family in regards to husbands and children. I still have time to decide when and how many of them I wish to have.
12. Sleep less, do more.
13. Read at least a book per month, not a TEFL one!
14. Cook at least one new dish every month.
15. Start writing a blog to make sure I actually do these things.

I can say that all 30th year of my life was very exciting, full of changes and surprises. I think that having the list encouraged me a bit to make some important decisions and therefore I can honestly say it was a brilliant idea to have it there. Many of my friends kept asking about the blog and that is why I didn’t give up and kept writing. Thank you all for your support!

To summarise the list, I can say I have managed to cover most of the points. The biggest failure is the fourth one. Maybe I’ll cover it one day. I don’t think I was going out less either but I still managed to do a few things apart from partying, so I think I can be excused ;). I just love it and I don’t think I’ll ever grow out of it. Another thing that I love and wasn’t able to reduce is sleeping. However, I tried to wake up earlier. As for the rest of them, I think I managed to cover them pretty well. I have witnesses.

I spent my 31st birthday on a beach in Higuerote, which is about one hour and a half drive from Caracas, Venezuela. I had an empanada for breakfast, which is a stuffed fried pastry. I had it with white cheese and tajada (fried ripe banana) and with that, I had a freshly squeezed jugo de parchita (passion fruit juice) yummy! Then, we had to take a speed boat to get there and that was already quite exciting. As I mentioned before, people try to make money here in many creative ways. Therefore, our bags were taken from the boat to the beach and quickly afterwards we had a parasol put up for us. There were a few people walking around selling handmade jewellery and I managed to buy some souvenirs. We were also presented fish of different sizes that was then prepared for our lunch. It’s probably no surprise that there was a speedboat parked close to the coast which
entertained everyone with different kinds of Latin music. I already have a few favourite pieces and will have to buy CDs before I leave. From what I noticed, I was the only one reading a book and must have looked very peculiar to the locals dancing on the beach or in the water. Instead of a birthday cake, I had a huge portion of Venezuelan ice cream which I absolutely love!

On the beach, I had some time to reflect on the whole year and I think that I can definitely count it to one of the best in my life :). I also decided I’m going to continue writing the blog to keep my friends and family updated on my adventure in Venezuela.