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(This is cross-posted at BlogHer.)

I was surprised to see that one of my posts included in The BlogHer Community’s Most Loved Posts of 2009 was actually something I wrote back in 2007. In that post, written a few months after I turned 27, I talked about approaching 30. Now that I’m three months shy of my 30th birthday, I thought it was time to readdress it.

When I wrote about this subject three years ago, I said that turning 30 didn’t seem like a scary or unwelcome prospect but I was leaving the possibility open that I might change my mind. I’m very glad to say that I haven’t changed my mind.

In 2007, I’d been living in northern Virginia for almost a year. Since then I’ve changed apartments a few times, I have a different job, and I know a lot of people that I didn’t know back then. I like my life. I like where I am. I like the decisions I’ve made. Given those factors, there’s no reason to dread entering a new decade.

I did quite a bit in my 20s. I drove cross-country by myself. Lived in Amsterdam for five months when I did a semester abroad in college. Developed and overcame an eating disorder. Finished my bachelor’s degree. Struggled through a quarterlife crisis. Donned a bridesmaid dress four times. Gambled in Las Vegas. Visited the Grand Canyon, Red Rocks Amphiteatre, and Yellowstone National Park. So much more than I can recall off the top of my head, in fact.

I’m looking forward to a new decade because I know how much I’ve changed in the past ten years and I have a feeling my 30s are going to be pretty cool, too.

For one thing, I’m giving myself the best 30th birthday present I could think of. I’ve wanted to return to Europe ever since I came home from my semester abroad five years ago, and I finally decided this year would be the year. I’ll be gone from late April through the first part of May (I’m planning to stay for two weeks), and will visit three cities in the Netherlands, along with Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. I’m extremely excited about it.

Of course there are a number of things I wish I would have done by now that I haven’t, but those are my own expectations. I don’t feel burdened by anyone else’s thoughts about where I should be or what I should have accomplished by now. And to be honest, I’m kind of hoping there’s something ultra-cool in store for me in my 30s that I haven’t even thought of yet.

Related Reading:

My good friend Janet from Slice of Pink recently wrote 30 Before 30, The Epilogue. I loved her list because there were a number of untypical things on there, which, if you know Janet, is exactly what you’d expect from her. And she rocked it.

Inspired by Janet, Pretty Green Girl came up with her own “30 Before 30″ list.

As My Life Is reminisces on good and bad things that have happened to her between the ages of 21 and 30.

Anita will be turning 30 in six months. She plans to initiate something on her blog called “30 to celebrate 30″ — a series of 30 posts about 30 people/things/places that have been very important to her over the last 30 years.