10 Things I Appreciate More the Older I Get

In a few months time, at the time of writing this post, I will be celebrating my millionth second alive (30th). I felt that now was a great time to reflect on the things, specifically things that I appreciate more as I grow older. It’s nice looking back at these things over time, and realising: what I enjoyed 10 years ago, I may not anymore, and vice versa. So here is a list of some of the things I enjoy the older that I get:

1. Coffee

Was never a huge coffee fan. If I wanted one, I’d go out and buy it without really thinking about the taste of it or etc. It’s a bit like teenagers going to Starbucks and thinking it’s the best coffee they’ve ever had (sharpens pitchforks). Truthfully, during the Uni years, coffee wasn’t what kept me up, red bull or diet coke did. At 30 years old Red Bull is a no no.

Today, I’m getting a better understanding of the origins, and taste profiles of coffee. I’ve always liked dark coffees, and never really like sharp acidity to certain coffee, and the older I get, the more I like to brew certain coffees for certain things.

Some of the best coffee I’ve had so far:

• Cielo - Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. The best balance of fruit and coffee
• Indy Roasters - this is a custom blend that John from Indy made for the company I work for - it’s 50/50 Papua New Guinea/El Salvador. It’s a bold KICK ASS coffee. This is my everyday coffee.
  
  

I also never would have thought about how far I’d take the science/art of coffee brewing. After all, it looks like a simple boil and let’s go - but now I appreciate/love the craft. Got myself an Aeropress just for that experimenting. As a 20-year-old, I really didn’t care as coffee is coffee. Now at 30, I love it.

Recommendations:

Indy Coffee, and their sister company Cloudgate Coffee, is where I buy all my coffee. He’s a very good roaster, and a very close friend. He’s supplied me for a while and it has been absolutely wonderful. I can’t recommend them more.

I would totally recommend getting an Aeropress because it is one of the best coffee makers around. It’s got room for experimenting. I personally like metal filters, but there’s a bit of a science behind why I use them, and I will make a post about it.

2. Great moisturiser

Men don’t necessarily give a crap about what moisturiser they put on their skin. Frankly, I didn’t for a while because puberty came, and I just got lazy. Living with a make up obsessed wife over the years got me thinking about my skin, and what I could do to preserve my face. It starts with a decent routine of cleansing but ends with good moisturisers to help nourish your skin. Don’t just use E45 on your skin and call it a day, find one for your skin. One that suits the type of skin you have and will make your skin look great in any condition.

Recommendations:

I have quite oily skin so these are my recommendations for oily skin:

• If you’ve got the money to burn, Clinique is by far the best
• If you’re on a budget or can’t justify it (yes both are me), Bulldog Oil Control is my go to.
  
  

Sidenote If you can get it, if it’s still available, Dove Men does some AMAZING moisturisers. I’ve not seen it in this country anymore, but it might still be available in Europe.

3. Great quality stationery

20 Something year old me: In this day and age, digital everything is the way forward. I thought for a very long time that DayOne journal would be the only journal I’d ever need (yes I still use it), and that all my note-taking etc would be done with Apple Pencil or on a computer/tablet.

I also had a Moleskine diary (daily page one), I wrote on it maybe once every 10 days. It got very little usage and was absolutely pointless for what it was supposed to do. I had 2 of them but threw them away because they were pointless.

In comes 2018, I bought myself a Rhodia WebNotebook. This notebook is on a league of its own. Nothing comes near it in terms of quality or how awesome it feels. I use it as a bullet journal, and have made that a daily habit, which has worked in my favour. In fact, I will be setting aside money EACH YEAR to buy one just for bullet journaling. That’s not all.

With a fantastic notebook, you need an equally amazing pen. Pens weren’t something that I ever needed to worry about, used to write with normal Bic pens all the time. Eventually, in comes the Lamy Vista Safari Umbra pen. A sleek matte black pen with shiny black fine nib. It was absolutely perfect for what I needed it for, and I write with it daily. I’ve got more use out of these 2 items, and they cost the same price as each other. Do yourself a favour people, if you’re going to make writing a daily habit: don’t buy any cheap stationery, buy something worthwhile to use. Trust me, it makes a massive difference.

Recommendations:

Start off with a good beginners pen, and try to test them out in store if you can. I went and tested the Lamy Safari first in store. Fell in love with it and bought it. I also recommend Platinum Preppy because they are very cheap and cheerful for starters.

Notebooks - the quality of the paper matters a lot more than the graphics on the book or whatever statement is on the cover. If you’re going to use fountain pens, use good quality paper. Rhodia is my favourite, and the quality is the best.

4. A decent book and decent podcasts

I’m going to start a massive war on this one, but I appreciate a decent book in digital format. For all purposes of reading, I rarely pick up physical books mostly because of the weight. I instead read mostly on a Kindle (for normal books) or on an iPad (for tech books or ones with diagrams). Even when I was studying, I never read. I didn’t think there was much point. People who were into reading were REALLY into it, and there was a lot of emphasis on reading fiction (something I still haven’t really got into).

I read a good bit of non-fiction books because I do love to either learn new stuff or read about someone’s life. Guilty pleasure, I really do love reading trash (think of a tell all book about cabin crew or on the behind-the-scenes type stuff). Buying a Kindle has made me read a tonne more than I would have in previous lives, and it’s a very worthwhile investment to have to sharpen up your skills.

Sidenote: I bought a Kindle years ago when I was 20 (the 3rd gen one with the keyboard) on the recommendation of some guy I worked with. It was slow, and it was terrible for reading tech books.

I haven’t got into audiobooks just yet, but for something similar, I have podcasts to thank for that. Once again, never used to listen to them, but having spent a bit of time researching some great people: their podcasts get me through the week on my commute or during my downtime.

I’ve learnt more from a handful of podcasts than I have from any news broadcast. With Fake news being such a big issue, these podcasts are bringing some great insight into many things. I would have never learned about these things (testosterone, ketogenic diet, minimalism, networking/relationships). Overall, podcasts have helped improve my life exponentially.

I also figured that because I’m a rather auditory learner, it’s worthwhile getting most of my learning sources from audio, and only some from reading. That all starts with damn good quality sources of books and audio. It also helps that I’m able to digest things on podcasts at 2x speed. Apparently only 1% of people can do that?

Recommendations:

Here’s a list of my favourite books and podcasts

5. Decent quality Toilet Paper

The days of me blowing my nose with crappy toilet paper, and it breaking up all over my clothes are over. If that happens with blowing my nose, imagine what it’s like for wiping. Just do yourself a favour and buy good toilet paper, little goes a long way.

Recommendations:

Just buy good toilet paper, and don’t skimp on this.

6. Decent quality shoes

This one shouldn’t need explaining. With teenagers nowadays, I could totally understand why they wouldn’t care about quality shoes. I’ve seen so many girls with very similar shoes, and all of them are cheap as hell. Cheap won’t get you very far, and they won’t be comfortable. There’s a reason why you buy Nike, and it’s because that name brand is quality. Don’t just buy some shit from Priceless Shoe (do they still exist?). It’s also a matter of respect your feet because they do a lot of hard work on a daily basis.

Recommendations:

I used to always buy Puma Suede, and they are still fantastic shoes. Due to my flat duck feet, I have to buy shoes with a lot more support and that won’t fatigue me. Timberland are my choice.

7. Merino Wool (Overall the quality of the fabric)

This is similar to the quality of shoes. I used to buy clothes that were cheap, and tend to smell/fade after a while. Cheap clothing has its place, but for everyday wear, you need something that’s comfortable and suitable for all temperatures. Merino Wool is my go-to fabric for clothes now.

The used to buy underwear in multipacks that would only last a few months. The first pair of Merino wool underwear (a pack of underwear cost the same price as one pair of Merino wool) was luxuriously soft and comfortable. It regulated the temperature, and I didn’t sweat much in it. I upgraded a good load of my stuff to Merino wool. When I went to Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong - all I had was a carry on case and a few Merino wool items. Over the 2 weeks that I was away, none of my clothes smelled, needed to be cleaned, or got me sweaty. They looked good all the time, and they were comfortable. I love things that are multi-use, and look timeless.

Recommendations:

It doesn’t have to be expensive, you can shop around. I would buy merino wool for all kinds of jumpers, t-shirts, shirts etc. Icebreaker is where I started. Their underwear is good, but a bit fragile. Their shirts (especially heavy ones) are fantastic.

8. Glass Tupperware or indeed glass anything

Tupperware used to be plastic everything, mostly because they were so cheap. However after microwaving them with a bit of ragu, it burnt into the plastic and could never be cleaned. Eventually I ended buying more to replace the ruined/burnt tupperware. Eventually, I found out that microwaving plastic is also a bad thing so I made the switch and bought some glass tupperware from our swedish furniture friends (Ikea). Downside is they’re a bit heavy, but the upside is they are just the best. I can use it in an oven and not care. Plus they still sparkle and look new.

Recommendations:

Ikea. Just go there for tupperware.

9. Green/Nature and the serenity

Let’s not beat around the bush: the general public can be annoying. Ages ago when I was young, I always wanted to work in the city, like Hong Kong or London. However, after years of working in the hectic city life, I value peace, quiet, and serenity a lot more. There’s only so much working in a city a person can take before they go insane. As an introvert, there’s peace and quiet time, and that’s when you disappear into the woods for some solace.

I still love spending time in the city, but I much prefer having downtime in a place that I can relax and sleep in peace. The last time I lived in a city, I went a bit crazy as I rarely slept well at all. I now live in block of flats next to a field of cows. I love the cows, and I love the fact that it’s quite country. It’s salvation for me.

Recommendations:

If you live in the city, Every week or 2, try to escape to a forest for 20 mins. Just sit still, and soak it all in.

10. Time

I think the older you get, the more you realise that time is precious and you should value it more. If I can “pay for time”, I will do so if it’s worth the money: for example, the time I took my laundry for a service wash. Some things are worth paying money for, where as when I was younger, I thought I had all the time in the world.

Recommendations:

Have a read at my post about getting time back.

Conclusions

When I was younger, I was in a rush to grow up. The older I get, the more I wish that life would really slow down. I think as a whole, we put a lot of emphasis on getting paid so we can get nice things, only for those things to end up consuming us. And then for life to come kick you in the face. Growing up and having to do laundry, dishes, cook food, and constantly pay for shit. You never truly appreciate things until you get to a riper age.

For me, writing with a fountain pen and a nice book, makes me slow down. I take my time to put thoughts onto page, and it’s satisfying writing on nice paper with lovely inks. Using an Aeropress in the morning makes me slow down so I take time to brew a nice coffee because rushing it is only going to make it taste bitter. Having a relationship with a coffee roaster makes me appreciate that someone had to grow the beans, and then someone had to take time to roast that coffee before it got to me.

Buying decent quality items rather than just cheaping out: not only are you getting better value for money, you’re wasting a lot less. I’m a lot more impressed with a person who has 2 shoes and have worn them for 5 years, than I am with a person who has a closet full of shoes. It’s rather nice sometimes saying that I have a jacket that’s older than my nephew.

Is there anything, thinking back a while ago, that you appreciate more than you did 10 years ago?