Doesn’t it feel like 2 minutes ago we were approaching the end of Summer and I was sat in the same coffee shop I am now writing this, writing a post about my birthday. Well, here it is if you can’t remember:

I’m sitting again in Cup 19 in Farsley. Glad to see my favourite local cafe is still here!

I’m feeling very similar to how I was last year with my birthday coming up tomorrow. Only difference between this post and the one a year ago is that my birthday is still to come and I’ve not yet celebrated it like I had last year. Despite it being tomorrow, i’m still unsure what exactly to do with my day.

I have my daughter with me because it’s fallen on our day off together. I’m looking forward to spending the day with her and seeing some family but truth be told it doesn’t feel any different to a regular Thursday.

So for a bit of fun i’m looking back on some of my previous birthdays and sharing 5 that spring to mind over the last decade+! I’m not rating them, I’ve enjoyed (mostly) all of my birthdays but when I look back, i’ve really had some wild ones! So let’s revisit some of my adventures.. in no particular order!

~ 2019 ~

Sunset cruise & skydiving in Turkiye

Wow what an incredible birthday to top! This was such an amazing experience skydiving for the first time. I did it in Oludeniz over the beautiful Blue Lagoon.

After the skydive when I didn’t think it could get any better we went on a sunset cruise where we saw a pirate ship, met a pirate and his parrot and finished the day with a BBQ on the beach. It was easily one of my favourite birthdays.

I found the time to write about my birthday back in 2019 and you can read all about my trip to Turkiye here:

~ 2020 ~

Exploring an active volcano on a Greek island

In the thick of Covid-19 we somehow managed to fly to Greece and enjoy a relatively normal holiday. Whilst it was much quieter than normal it was absolutely perfect. Everything was open but minus the tourists. Face mask rules were in place on transport and in certain areas but other than that, it was like covid didn’t really exist.

We started the day with drinks on the beach before lunch with the Greek cats.

We headed to a Greek Island and explored a very smelly active volcano. I probably wouldn’t do something like this again, I was much braver back when I was younger. I’m scared that it would erupt on me now! Becoming a mum has definitely made me more of a worrier.

This day trip was awesome and I remember it well because the island was so beautiful – Like most of Greece. The night before the trip, we headed up into the mountains where we ate dinner at sunset with views all across the valley. It was such a perfect couple of days.

This was a big birthday for me and my original plans were cancelled due to Covid-19 so it was brilliant to be able to still do something to celebrate.

~ 2021 ~

Cocktails in Barcelona

Visiting Barcelona in Covid times was an experience. We were over in Salou for a friends wedding and a lot of restrictions were still in place. I’d have forgotten if it wasn’t for the face masks in photos!

The morning of my 2021 birthday I discovered the greatest shopping mall i’d ever seen. It was full of all my geeky favourites from Tim Burton to Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter to Disney! Here I am with one of the creations from Edward Scissorhands of course..

The night before shopping we met up with my family and had the best time drinking cocktails around Barcelona. It was my first and only night out in the city and it was great. We started with delicious Mexican food and ended with a hangover. It was a night to remember although not easily after that many drinks..

I hope to return to Barcelona again soon as it is such a fantastic city!

~ 2017 ~

Hiding from Hurricane Harvey in Texas

I don’t think of this as a highlight whatsoever but this birthday taught me how to appreciate my life and the little things. I think i’ll remember this birthday for the rest of my life and for all the wrong reasons.

My birthday started waking up on the floor of a conference room in an airport hotel after we were left stranded unable to leave the airport due to the hurricane that hit Houston, Texas.

You think the UK text alerts are bad? I woke up that morning to an alert that there was a tornado in the area. I hope I never see that warning ever again in my life.

I still feel emotional thinking back to that birthday. I will leave you with one photo from that day that still gives me shivers when I look at it. That is a large vehicle, did the driver get out? Was it abandoned alongside cars that are now underwater?

I eventually managed to write about my time in Houston during Hurricane Harvey and if you want to read more about it you can find my blog post below:

My birthday meal that day was a corn dog found at a gas station. I look so happy because it was the first time we’d eaten all day and the funny thing is, I would never eat food like this normally but desperate times – You appreciate anything you can get!

Let’s hope I never find myself in that position again.

~ 2011 ~

The city that never sleeps

For my 21st birthday I had the absolute pleasure of spending my birthday in New York City! I had epic plans to enjoy my first legal drink in America in the city that never sleeps.

Only, for the first time in a long time, the city did sleep. In fact, the whole city shut down on my birthday.

You might be noticing a pattern here when it comes to me spending my birthday in America. I promise these are not my highlights! Although, New York turned out to be a great trip. The hurricane closed down everything on my birthday and I spent the night banished to my hotel room! I did manage to make it to a bar on my 21st though before they closed early. It was in Hell’s Kitchen and I still have the T-shirt I bought as a souvenir from the same bar!

Walking back to our hotel in the rain with everything closed and the streets like a ghost town was surreal.

Luckily the damage was minimal and it didn’t hit as hard as they expected. Everything was back open the next day and I celebrated my birthday in style. On the day I ate at Applebee’s for the first time and loved it! Staying in a wonderful hotel near Times Square meant we had a great location and the hotel porter even came up and enjoyed a bottle of champagne with us on my birthday! It was definitely one to remember.

I’ve had lots of memorable birthdays in this country too although less adventurous I must admit. Recent memories include brownies in Beverley, history in Ripon, Ninja Warrior with friends, simple meals with my daughter and husband in local food places and always – lots of cocktails!

I’ve also spent my birthday in wonderful places like Pisa and Florence in Italy and Bratislava in Slovakia. Florida, Wisconsin, Bali and Thailand. Honestly I’ve been one very lucky birthday girl!

So what’s in store for this birthday? Well i’m going to spend it with my family and wake up to my favourite person in the world. I don’t believe it gets better than that!

She will dictate the day i’m sure and just like she’s been saying all week – Where’s my card and where are my presents? I’m sure my birthday isn’t just about me anymore hehee.