Earlier this month, my closest childhood friend visited me in Mexico and we traveled together to Oaxaca, after spending several days in Mexico City. It was an incredible trip, creating new memories, sharing the old ones and being grateful for the support, laughter and closeness that we derive from our friendship. But I won’t get too cheesy on the friendship front, although I could.

In our hotel room in Oaxaca one night, my friend said to me that she often freezes moments in her life and thinks, “so this is 30”. Having both turned 30 this year, we have reflected on what this self-imbued with meaning year is supposed to be like. I have made a list of 30 things I want to do during the year. I suppose that as a child, we would imagine 30 and assume that we would be adults. And this is what we are—but it also feels like so much more. Our concept of age changes as we approach it and we realize that the doubts will probably never end, that the learning becomes greater every year and that you can decide to never stop having fun.

When our respective mothers were around 30 they already had at least one child and seemed so grown-up. It was sometimes hard to imagine our mothers before we existed—partying, being care-free and exploring the world as we are currently doing. Now we have reached this hailed (perhaps only by us) age and while it provides a space for reflection, it also provides a space of relaxation. We don’t need to take ourselves too seriously. We might be 30, but that just means that we have a little more wisdom, but just as many questions as before. So, this is 30. Traveling around Mexico with your best friend, jumping in the air, staying at shady cabins just to see the sunrise, never forgetting to be grateful for what we have…

In just one decade we will be saying, so this is 40. Maybe there will be kids involved then, maybe our careers will be more advanced, but hopefully we won’t have stopped jumping, dancing or playing games. And we should never stop searching for that perfect sunrise.

Thank you, Nora, for a beautiful visit.