To 30....and beyond!!

Here we are - the first day of 2011 - I am 2 days into 30, the sun is shining, the world is turning and there have been no alien invasions. I am finally coming to grips with the fact I am now officially 30. It has been an emotionally draining journey, from that long ago morning back in April when I awoke to find time's cold, unforgiving hands clasped firmly around my jugular as it slowly squeezed my 20's out of me.

My freak out escalated rather dramatically in the last 2 months, due to the proximity of the fateful three-oh and the girl I was madly in love with moving overseas. With Dad's current state of ill health already on my mind, I found it a little overwhelming and have been carrying on a like an emo teen (sans the fringe and the cutting) which has resulted in a bit of an emotional overload but I suppose we all live and learn and try to make things right going forward.

The thing with 30 is, it's that line in the sand - the point at which potential is meant to be meeting with reality. I have been pretty successful with most things I have tried my hand at in the last 30 years however I've never stuck at any one thing long enough to be really great at it. This is mainly due to the fact I haven't really thought forward to the future, something I guess a lot of people are guilty of.

When I sit down and think about it there is not much my life is lacking and I wouldn't really change anything I've done in the past (apart from maybe the Vanilla Ice haircut in year 8). There are some things I could have handled better but when it comes down to it, I’ve always done what I thought was the right thing in any given moment and it has all added up to create the man I am today which I'm pretty happy with.

Something I would like to have done more of in my 20’s is travel so for this coming year I intend to get out and see more of the world before I come back to settle down and that’s basically what this blog is going to be about – my adventures - from the prep to getting home and everything in between.

Before I get started on that I thought I'd share 30 tidbits of wisdom I have learnt in my 30 years.....

1. Euros should be worn only in Europe and only by Mediterraneans

2. Vanilla ice haircuts were never cool, even when Ice Ice Baby was number one on the charts (though it still remains number one in our hearts)

3. Breaking up has been forever changed with the advent of facebook - be sure to get plenty of new photos on fast!

4.  Touching something then holding it to your nose is not a good way to find out if that something is poo or chocolate

5. "Googling" is a verb

6. Kids cartoons in the 80's were much better than kids cartoons today

7. Dr Alfred Bellows has to be the single most incompetent psychiatrist in the history of psychiatry

8. If you dance like nobody is watching you will be pointed and laughed at

9. Life is generally unfair

10. Girls can get away with pretty much anything if they cry

11. One should not drink alcohol and then go on facebook

12. Friends are very important

13. Love, to quote Old School, is a motherfucker

14. Accents make you 40% more attractive

15. If I could have sleeping as my occupation, I would

16. Everybody needs an arch-nemesis

17. Nothing lasts forever

18. Credit cards are not cool

19. Smashing a glass over your own head hurts and can lead to stitches

20. Smashing a glass over your own head again to see if you could do it without slicing yourself up like you did the first time you did it, generally results in the same outcome

21. Chicks dig scars

22. You need to do things that make YOU happy

23. The grass is not necessarily greener on the other side however there is no harm in taking a peek as long as you can get back to where you are now if needed

24. Time will march relentlessly onward whether you keep up with it or not

25. Sun, surf and sand are an awesome combination

26. I could live to a thousand and never ever fully understand the female species (This is not intended as a disparaging remark, quite the opposite in fact, the allure of mystery!)

27. Vampires are not real

28. If you’re going to get caught drink driving, try not to do it while you are dressed up as a giant redskin

29. The back of a garbage truck can provide a not too uncomfortable (albeit rather un hygienic) ride home at 3am

30. Whoever combined chocolate and coconut should have won a nobel prize