I don’t mention my children a lot in this blog, partly because this is written for them, and partly because I don’t want to put them in the limelight, but today is my youngest child’s tenth birthday, and I’ll make an exception. Not because I want to write about the immense joy and love he and his older sister have filled my life with every day of their existence, but because the anniversary made me realise that the time I’ve had with them thus far has passed all too quickly. That made me pause and think.

If a decade can go by so fast, shouldn’t I be planning ahead for the next one? I’ve been setting out goals for the coming year for some years now, but surely the same principle should be applicable to longer term goals as well? I’ve just never really done it, because the notion seems like hubris – how can you expect to know what you want from a point in time so distant as a decade away? But to use the words of Mark Twain: “You should plan your future. You’ll be spending the rest of your life there.” And besides, as today shows only too clearly, a decade passes in the blink of an eye.

So where do I want to be in 2028? Well, still around, and of sound body and mind, first of all. Keeping fit and reading and staying active should help with that. Eating well, too.

Being financially secure would be nice. In ten years’ time I will have paid off my mortgage and will hopefully still be gainfully employed, so that should be ok. The worry is that technological or political developments render interpreters superfluous, but I’m not too concerned about that.

So assuming I’m alive and well and financially doing quite alright, what do I want out of life?

I want to see my children well on their way to being well educated with good job prospects, whatever that means in the Blade Runner era. The rest of my family are hopefully also well (with the exception of my father, who could pass away long before that), but there is little I can do to affect the latter.

I will be 57 in 2028, so resolutely middle-aged but not yet old. As I see it, I will still be living in Belgium, in the same house, as the kids will (hopefully) be coming to see me regularly if they have moved out, and might have boyfriends and girlfriends with them. Besides, there is precious little chance of retiring at that tender age, so I will have to stick around for work.

Having been single for four years I find it difficult to imagine I will be cohabiting with anyone (I may be wrong – nothing is more difficult to predict than the future, after all!). Misty will be nearing the end of her life, if she isn’t gone already, so I guess one thing I will be able to do is let my house for longer periods and live elsewhere. It would be fantastic to spend a month at a time in places like Central America, South Africa, Canada, south-east Asia, Japan…

Speaking of work, I guess I will never quit being an interpreter, but it would be nice to try something else. As I’m already spending almost as much time working for the Communications unit as I’m in the booth (and writing this blog in my spare time) clearly this is the way to go. Speech writer for politicians, maybe? I would like to take a stab at writing a novel one day, too.

I also want to live greener. Installing solar panels and becoming self-sufficient in terms of energy is part of this. Having chickens and bees, as well. If I could I would buy the empty plot across from my house and keep goats, but that takes the kind of money I don’t have. At least not now. Installing a swimming pond in the garden would help local wildlife and give me somewhere to swim.

What else? I hope I can cultivate friendships – old and new – so that people come and visit me and enjoy the garden, as having it on my own seems more of a chore than anything.

So that’s me in 2028. What about you? Will you join me? Have I forgotten something vital? What about 2038? A condo on Mars? Or fighting over scraps with a few other straggling survivors, fearing rabid dogs and killer rabbits? Time will tell.