It feels a little strange to be writing this blog post, sharing my thoughts on turning 30 because I’ve been led to believe that we have a ‘London’ age that’s a fair bit younger than our real age. The reality however is that, regardless of living in london, I turn 30 today and I’m about to share my thoughts on how I feel about this with you.

I’m the first of my siblings to turn 30, that in itself is a little daunting but I’m totally ok with it. In reality the only thing that scares me about turning 30 is that my next ‘big’ birthday will be my 40th and I’m definitely not ready to think about that yet! As cheesy as it sounds my main thought on turning 30 is how happy I am right now. I’m proud of everything I’ve achieved and who knows what will come next!

I was very unsure about how to approach this blog post. I contemplated something similar to my 29th birthday blog post but when it came down to it I have a lot of thoughts about turning 30, so I’m just going to go ahead and type them all out.

Growing up I always had a plan. I would be married by the age of 25. This didn’t materialise. Sure, I had intended to get married in my 20’s but I made one of the most difficult decisions of my life in walking away from that. Instead I found myself single and relocating from my home city of Galway where I had spent all my life, to London, at the age of 28. This was never part of my plan and that’s something I love about reflecting on turning 30. Things did not go to plan and I am so grateful for the unexpected opportunities that arose from the decisions I made.

I’m a huge family person and I feel very lucky to have been brought up in a family that truly appreciates family. I phone my brother and sister at least once per day, I confide in them about everything under the sun. That’s something I am so happy about, at the age of 30 I feel so lucky to call my brother and sister my best friends. I also have the most supportive parents who have always been there for me. My family all live in Galway and it makes me really happy that we are so close despite the fact that I live here. We’ve all been through so much together and my parents, brother and sister are my four favourite people in life.

I’m also so appreciative of the friendships I’ve made. I’ve always been the type of person to have a small group of very close friends and it really amazes me to see how that has adapted as I moved to London. While I have some very close friends from growing up in Galway, I’m so lucky to have made an amazing group of friends at work here in London who get me through every day with a million laughs and all of the advice and support I could ever need!

I’ve travelled to more places than I ever thought I would at 30, and a lot of that has been solo travel through work. This coming April I will visit India for the fourth time and this has been such an amazing opportunity which offered an opening into cultures I would have never experienced so closely otherwise.  Just last year we went on the family holiday of dreams to Florida and I’m so grateful that at 30 I appreciate that you’re never too old for a family holiday!

I’m pretty proud of my career. In reality I struggled in school, not in my own belief but in the belief of my teachers. It blows me away to know that my high school accounting teacher wanted me to drop down a level because he didn’t think I could pass the leaving cert honours accounting paper. I believed in myself and with the support of my parents it went on to be my highest grade and as I write this post I’m proud to be an audit manager at one of the leading professional services firms in the world dealing with technical accounting challenges on a daily basis. I love my job and the firm I work for which has been a part of my life for the past nearly 9 years in Ireland first and then here in London. The experiences at work have also shaped the person I am today and I love that I work in a career where I am constantly learning and developing both professionally and personally.

I’ve also recently crossed the five year blogging line. For the past five years I have ran this blog, alongside my career and this has opened up so many opportunities I absolutely never expected. These opportunities, experiences and relationships have definitely helped me develop as a person and in a way, BecBoop does characterise who I am today. I’m also very grateful for the BoopTroop, you guys who continue to read and support my blogging and social media posts, your messages make me smile so much.

I know this is quite a rambly post but the biggest point I want to make about turning 30 is that I’m really happy. Probably the happiest I’ve been in my life. I’m not going to say the cliche statement about how excited I am for the next decade, right now I feel so happy and blessed and I wouldn’t change a thing about where I am today. Everyone has made me feel so special about turning 30, I honestly feel like I’m being treated like royalty by my family, friends and work colleagues today and I cannot thank everyone enough!

Tonight I’m going for dinner with my colleagues in London and tomorrow I’m due to fly home to Ireland for my 30th birthday celebrations at the weekend. Fingers crossed this crazy snow won’t cause any travel issues and we can party on!

Photography

Alina Hachikyan @Hachikyan

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