Notes on turning 28
Traveling solo can be lonely, but it can also be a cure to loneliness. I started the “every birthday in another country” goal when I was living in France and Australia, when I was creating a life overseas and struggling to make friends and generally feeling very far from home. It was a way of turning a negative into a positive: go somewhere new, do something fun, CELEBRATE even if you don’t have any friends or family there to surprise you with the cake. It then shifted into a personal challenge, even after I moved back to the USA: to not settle down at 24 and forget about this adventurous life, but to keep exploring even when it feels impossible (see: jobs, expensive rent, weddings).
The past year has felt rather grown-up, although perhaps that’s just because I equate growing up with settling down. I moved in with my boyfriend and decorated an apartment and got promoted and worked with bigger brands on better deals, and perhaps most exciting of all, got serious about getting a puppy. I went back to some of my favorite places (the Berkshires, Avalon, Sacramento, Providence) and traveled to new places (South Africa, Costa Rica, Mexico, Scottsdale).
In a lot of ways, I’m exactly where I always wanted to be as I officially enter my late 20’s. I never wanted to be traveling solo full-time long-term, and I also never wanted to be stuck in a fluorescent-lit cubicle. I wanted a balance, and I think that this little slice of life grants me that: a job that’s challenging and rewarding and matches my 401K, a blog that’s a creative and entrepreneurial outlet, a relationship that is (still) as exciting as it is easy, a collection of friends and book clubs and coworkers who make me laugh and are there when I cry. Also, I had fixed life envy for a long, long time: I saw someone pinned my living room to a board called Dream Home yesterday, and it honestly felt like I had come full circle.
All of this to say: I’m turning 28 in Aruba today. My boyfriend is with me, and we’ve jokingly nicknamed it the puppy-moon: we bring home our little pug puppy next week, so this feels like the last big no-responsibilities-hurrah. They’ve also given us an ocean-facing honeymoon suite, so there’s that (!).
For today, at least, I’m not checking work emails (and maybe not even social media): I’m going to wake up to see the sunrise, and then start a new book, and then drink copious amounts of rum punch. I’m going to not worry about work or rent or any of the things that I usually worry about in my sometimes stressed, often scheduled, settled life at home. I’m going to celebrate in a new country, by doing the things I love the most, with the person I love the most–and I’m pretty darn stoked about it. Cheers to 28, y’all!
In case you missed it: 21 in Las Vegas, 22 in France, 23 in Australia, 24 in Croatia, 25 in Iceland, 26 in Turkey, 27 in Curacao <3
