You don’t need to dream when you know you can fly

That's a line from Chris Rea's hit "Julia" and as I look back on another decade of my life, this is exactly what comes to my mind. On the day I turned 30 - almost 10 years ago - I concluded that it was time for a change. I was leading a perfectly decent life, but I wasn't happy. I wasn't who I wanted to be. I had a good job, I had great friends etc. But something was missing. I decided to stop dreaming and start doing.

Now, as I'm about to turn 40, I'm looking back on a decade full of adventures, challenges, changes and dreams come true. Friends occasionally ask me how I do all this cool stuff and are generally quite amazed (whilst my family probably shake their heads thinking "What's she come up with now?").

How you can do it, too

It really is quite easy and comes down to two simple principles:

1. No regrets. "I wish I had done this earlier." You can't change the past. So stop regretting. Do it now! 
2. It's all about priorities. "I can't do X, because of Y." normally means "Y" is more important to you. "I can't become a good musician, because I rather watch telly than practice countless hours every week." It really is as simple as that in 90% of the cases. 

Stop dreaming, start doing. My last 10 years in a nutshell

So there I was, just turned 30. I bought a guitar the very next day and decided to become a musician. I had stood in front of the stage on countless gigs, watching friends and heroes killing it up there. I wanted to do that, too. So that's what I did! I practised and practised, joined a friend's band half a year later and played my first gig 6 months later.
I overcame some initial (understandable) scepticism a few of my established musician friends had and proved that dedication is all you need. I played countless gigs in front of up to 500 people, had quite a few guest appearances in other bands and recorded an album with my band... in a studio... a proper CD and all... how cool is that?

Lovin' it!

I had had some guitar and keyboard lessons in my teens, but didn't really stick to it. If only I had! How good would I have been at 30 then? Damn you principle 1. Okay, no regrets. Don't look back, look forward. I couldn't change it anyway, right? The rest was simply principle 2 :).

Same applies to my other big change and adventure. I moved to England in 2013! Something I should have done long ago (see principle 1), but I think I just didn't want it enough until that very moment (see principle 2). I'd just had enough of Berlin and had spend 1-2 holidays each year on the British Isles for years. I'd had a love for everything British since my late teens.
So I applied for jobs, eventually got one in Bristol, packed my bags and went. I never looked back. Do I miss my friends and family? Yes, of course. But I've been here for four years now and not once regretted my decision.

But it didn't stop there. I found my love for the great outdoors and went on weeks long solo long distance hikes. Just me and my tent. I wild camped on top of a mountain, rock climbed on Sardinia, climbed Scottish mountains in winter, walked two weeks with Rich on the Kungsleden through Swedish wilderness and stood on top of the highest mountain of Africa (and I am about to try a summit of the highest one in South America).

Winter mountaineering in Glen Coe

On top of Kilimanjaro. One of the best trips I've ever done.

Solo long distance hiking in North Wales

Rock climbing on Sardinia

Wild camping in Sweden

I even became a tour guide for a friend's company. Another dream come true. Two weeks each year I'm guiding groups of up to 16 people through South Devon, Dartmoor or North Wales. Possibly adding a week or two in the future looking at the Lakes, Cornwall or Scotland.

I became a Krav Maga practitioner (doing Martial Arts was a long dream of mine). I went to Singapore all alone to train under former Muay Thai and Boxing world champions three times a day for two weeks.

At my Krav Maga club

Awesome time in Singapore, being trained by two former world champions

I ran half a dozen 10K cross country races and a Tough Mudder (all of them last year) and will run my first half marathon in May 2018.

Bath Skyline 10K Cross Country. Brits love this kind of running. Me too!

In Enterprise Architecture, I found a career path I'm actually really enthusiastic about, just when I was fed up with fixing IT problems all day long. I've gained my first few professional qualifications and really enjoy learning new stuff all the time.

I've done so many other cool things like caving or mountain bike tours, too many to list them all here.

What's Next?

To be honest... I don't know. I'll spend my 40th birthday in base camp on Aconcagua at 4200m, hoping to summit a week later if weather allows.
I'll stick to Martial Arts and will get better until I'm a badass, haha. I'll keep guiding tours as time allows, aiming to do the more mountainuous ones from the catalogue in the future.

Other than that, I'll make it up as I go. The only thing I'm certain about: I won't be sitting at home much.

But the best thing is: In Rich I have a partner I can share a lot of the coming adventures with!

ONTO THE NEXT 10 YEARS!