Saying Goodbye To Being Twenty-Something

Today, I overheard my colleague and friend Danielle mention that she’s just 29 days away from turning 30. Danielle wants to commemorate the final countdown by doing things you would only do in your twenties.

Thinking about 30: My 29-year-old colleague Danielle and me at a PR industry gala, January 2008

As she mused about what this might entail, I couldn’t help thinking about the popular idea that 30 is the new 20. Given the extended fountain of youth and rise of the thirty-something single woman, are there really any experiences you can only have in your twenties?

Maybe not, but I know there are many I’ve had that were best suited to that decade only. The post-graduate years are invariably a time of exploration and self-discovery, and I engaged in my fair share of both before knocking on 30’s door.

I spent my twenties as a serial monogamist, keeping no job or boyfriend for longer than a year and a half. I happily indulged my wanderlust, leaving New York four times for stints in Maine, Illinois, Delaware and, most memorably, Australia.

By the time I returned to my hometown, just a few months shy of the big 3-0, I was ready to bid farewell to my days of moving around. I embarked on a new career in PR and have worked happily at Quinn & Co. for four years -- my longest professional relationship ever.

While settling down romantically speaking has proven to be more of a challenge, I know I’m much readier to do so because of all the adventures that I enjoyed in my twenties.

I can’t wait to see how Danielle rings in her milestone birthday -- and to help her celebrate a decade that, it turns out, is just as fabulous as the one she’s leaving behind.

Jetsetting To A New Life

This week, my PR colleague Kim, digital media maven and fashionista (http://www.kimhongunplugged.com/), will be leaving Quinn & Co. for an exciting new gig -- life as a London resident.

Kim is moving to England’s capital for both career and love (her beau is British). Her imminent departure got me to thinking about my own experience of picking up and moving to another continent.

Living Abroad: I fell so in love with Sydney that I moved there for five months in 2002

Five years ago, my first trip to Australia left me so smitten that I decided to spend five months as a Sydney resident. At the time, my beloved late father expressed concern that the move would interrupt my professional progress.

I wasn’t surprised he was opposed to it -- the idea of inhabiting far-off destinations for an extended period isn’t as common here in the U.S. as it is in other countries (so common, in fact, that it’s called a gap year because that’s usually how long people spend traveling).

While I settled into life as a happily employed Sydneysider, it didn’t take long for me to re-discover what I did during my junior year in London, and again when I moved to Southern Illinois -- that trying on a new hometown for size is always an adventure worth having. Even if the ultimate result is simply to bring you right back to where you started, you’re so much richer for having had the excursion.

I’m going to miss picking Kim’s brain about how to navigate the information superhighway and, of course, seeing her fabulous wardrobe every day. The upside of her departure -- it gives me another reason to visit my (other) favorite city.