A woman said the key to fighting her depression was trying 365 new things in one year — including drinking a shot out of a belly button, signing up for a surf class, and visiting a leprechaun museum.
After suffering from depression and anxiety during the pandemic, Jess Mell, 34, said she’s the happiest she’s been in a decade after checking things off of her activity list. Some of her new challenges were more tame, like poaching an egg, and others a bit wilder — like flying a plane.
The UK insurance underwriter said she was initially inspired to try 100 new things in 100 days but was sad when the challenge ended in April. She decided to extend the challenge — which began Dec. 27 — for the rest of the year.
“I feel pretty emotional about it, to be honest. I can’t believe it,” Mell told South West News Service. “The first 100 I had to do one thing every day, but that was quite difficult so when I decided to continue for the rest of the year I decided I’d do 365 new things.”
Mell, 34, tried 365 new activities over the past year — and loved it.Jess Mell / SWNSShe’s said she’s the happiest she’s been in a decade.Jess Mell / SWNS
Mell — whose list of firsts includes trying a Guinness and joining a local gardening community group — said she has no plans to stop trying new things.
She admitted she switched from trying something new every day to trying 365 new things in the span of a year, because “life kept getting in the way.”
“I was going to finish off by swimming in the sea, but I had not quite got to 365 yet, so that ended up being No. 363 or something,” she explained. “I still wanted to finish it off with something exciting though, so in the end, I finished up by convincing my dad to let me sit on the roof of his car as he drove down the road.”
However, that still only got her to 364, so she ended her challenge in a very fitting way — by making her first Instagram reel of her year of challenges. She documented her whole year of new activities on the app.
“I’m going to keep [trying new things] in that it’s now just part of what I do,” Mell declared. “I’ve always tried to find new things to do, so that will go on. Whether I track it the same way I’m not sure.”
Although she’s not sure what the new year holds, she’s got some ideas about what she can do in 2023 to challenge herself.
“I was originally thinking I’d visit every country in Europe, but I got talked out of it as I think it would become a bit of a tick-box exercise,” she shared. “I want a new challenge I think, I might try and climb 12 mountains in 12 months.”
“They don’t have to be proper mountains, it could just be one in the UK, but it’ll mean I can travel and it’ll be manageable — but I just feel a bit lost without my challenge,” Mell continued. “I feel like I should constantly be doing something.”
Mell’s list:
Got Instagram
Made a Christmas dinner
Watched “E.T.”
Made a lampshade
Grew a plant from seed
Did a backward roll
Bled a radiator
Tried origami
Went to hot yoga
Dyed my hair pink
Bought the Big Issue
Did 1,000 piece jigsaw by myself
Tried a pot noodle
Completed a Rubik’s cube
Made muffins
Visited an aircraft hangar – got to start a passenger plane
Used the “scary” gym equipment
Got a henna tattoo
Watched “The Great Escape”
Learned how to do various types of knots
Learned to shuffle cards
Visited the Skygarden
Had a pedicure
Went to a life drawing class
Completed a paint by numbers
Learned to pick a lock
Completed the Crystal Maze
Tried a barre class
Made/ate a vegan meal
Went on a Boris bike
Hung a picture on the wall
Tried first coffee
Went to Bogan Bingo
Learned to sew a button
Learned some British Sign Language
Went to a choir group
Went to a board game club
Went to a TRX class
Learned to change indicator light bulbs in my car
Tried a Guinness
Joined a community volunteer group
Ate using chopsticks
Attended a first aid course
Went to the British Library
Used the squat rack in the gym
Had an espresso martini
Used a sewing machine
Poached an egg
Played chess for the first time
Successfully completed some monkey bars
Went to the Tate Modern
Changed a car wheel (or helped to!)
Drank a shot out of a belly button
Made fudge
Played golf
Made a pizza from scratch
Did a French braid
Whittled some wood
Learned a simple tap routine
Tried to whistle with my fingers – couldn’t do it loudly!
Drove my nieces in my car
Looked after my nieces by myself
Made a rainbow cake
Tried embroidery
Went to the National Gallery
Helped my brother prepare for the launch of his food business
Was part of a human pyramid
Bowled without bumpers
Visited a Mormon temple
Tried to start a fire without matches – failed!
Managed to do/hold the crow yoga pose
Tried soldering
Learned how to fold clothes super quickly
Got my eyebrows tinted
Saw a play version of “Cluedo”
Went on my first solo trip
Went to Belfast/Northern Ireland for the first time
Saw the Giant’s Causeway
Booked a mystery holiday trip
Made butternut squash soup
Went to a painting class
Tried knitting
Let my nieces do my hair and makeup
Tried super hot curry dishes
Drove a van
Went to a clairvoyant audience night
Watched reality TV (which I usually avoid/hate)
Went to Highgate Cemetery
Upcycled an old stool
Went paddle boarding
Saw my mom get married
Tried paper mache
Visited St. Paul’s Cathedral
Fixed my bathroom plug
Watched a brass band – Old Dirty Brasstards
Attempted to learn to play the ukulele (gave up!)
Watched “Only Fools” and “Horses” for the first time
Watched a foreign film without subtitles
Went on my first solo trip outside the UK
Exploring around Budapest
Went to a thermal spa
Had a mini tutorial on how to fix my boiler
Went on a ghost walking tour around London
Made jam from scratch
Made scones to go with it!
Went lambing
Played skittles
Fed a tortoise
Visited Crystal Palace Park
Went on a tour of Lloyd’s Building
Made tapas from scratch including a Spanish tortilla
Tried sherry
Went to see Ed Byrne perform
Explored somewhere nearby foot in my local area
Went to Virginia Water
Joined an outdoor fitness class
Went on an organized walk
Made space cakes! Potentially NSFW??!!
Visited the Museum of London
Made banana bread
Went around the Royal Mail museum
Tried geocaching
Went to a butterfly house
Visited Krakow/Poland
Tried local dish pierogi
Went on an e-scooter
Visited Auschwitz
Had peanut wotsits
Tried Tyskie
Went on a vodka-tasting tour
Tried moonshine – 72% strength
Visited some salt mines
Went to a poetry reading session
Got pooed on by a bird!
Went to Bluewater
Tried bubble tea
Tried Zumba
Went to the Bank of England Museum
Saw Craig David
Had a selfie with a sportsman
Made a blueberry cheesecake
Adopted an orangutan via WWF
Did a proper tequila shot
Tried reflexology
Went to Leonardslee Gardens
Went up the Monument
Saw a gig at Knebworth
Joined in a mosh pit
Did a solo escape room
Went to a local town’s museum
Got a spray tan
The above involves getting totally naked in front of a stranger in their kitchen
Learned a magic trick
Did an open-water lake swim
Went to Sicily
Tried Aperol and Limoncello spritz
Ate lungs/spleen
Ate fish eggs
Tried aloe vera water
Sampled local delicacies such as cannoli and gelato brioche
Used a bidet
Went on holiday with my boss
Tried tiramisu
Started taking collagen supplements
Tried teeth whitening strips
Used Stitch Fix
Attempted to create a world record with Joe Wick at Hyde Park
Tried venison
Went on a tour of Parliament
Joined in a Pride march
Saw the Changing of the Guard
Went to Superbloom at the Tower of London
Went to an Ibiza classic orchestra gig
Sat on someone’s shoulders
Watched Tower Bridge going up
Went to Lates at ZSL
Went to some local urban caves
Tried cryolipolysis
Tried to save a nestling – failed 🙁
Tried a gooseberry
Did a turmeric shot
Acknowledged that my attitude to spending money and treating myself has totally changed – a reflective point
Went to the Cotswolds
Got a selfie with Brum
Went kata kanu-ing
Went to a Michelin-star restaurant
Visited Glastonbury (place, not festival, unfortunately!)
Tried a shakti mat
Watched a play at an outside theatre
Had a surf lesson
Went to the Eden Project
Went to Dopamine Land
Tried a CPD drink
Made my own protein bars
Went to an outdoor cinema screening
.. And watched “Casablanca” for the first time
Made a poke bowl
Went to a hot air balloon show
Tried mac n’ cheese
Went to an air rifle gun range
Had a beekeeping experience afternoon
Tried honey beer
Went on a pedalo
Watched a jousting tournament
Flew with Ryanair – and didn’t have any issues – might have to reword this to just “well-known problematic budget airline?”
Visited ROI/Dublin
Visited Trinity College
Visited Cliffs of Moher
Visited Galway
Went to a leprechaun museum
Got Sea-Monkeys
Tried breast milk
Went to Sutton Hoo
Went to Seven Sisters/Beachy Head
Watched Alan Partridge
Tried plantain
Gave blood
Went to All Points East Festival
Got access to a VIP area
Created a 360-degree video
Made a scarecrow
Went to Croatia
Visited Split
Went to Froggyland
Went to Brac
Swam in the sea during a storm
Went to Dubrovnik
Went to Montenegro
Played netball
Had a photo with a policeman
Saw a black swan
Went on a barge trip
Tried tie dye
Learned to do a proper bun hairstyle
Had a go at being a window cleaner
Volunteered as a race marshall for a half marathon
Made apple cake
Saw a change in royalty
Tried reformer Pilates
Went to Costco
Had a bird of prey experience afternoon
Went on a Midsomer Murders coach trip
Saw where “Goodnight Mister Tom” was filmed (fave film)
Watched a plowing contest
Went on a tractor ride
Tried pumpkin spiced latte
Went on a Thames Rocket speedboat
Went on the London Eye
Walked along the Thames beach
Went to a casino
Went to an Oktoberfest
Drank a stein of beer
Finally worked out how to screencast from my phone to the TV
Made a wax melt artwork
Tried macrame
Watched and painted along to a “Joy of Painting with Bob Ross”
Featured in a corporate video for work
Had a 1:1 psychic reading
Flew a plane
Made ice cream
Went to a Kiran and meditation evening
Went to Sweden
Went to Malmo
Went to Denmark
Went to Copenhagen
Went on a train over the sea
Slept in a “pod” at a hotel
Saw the Little Mermaid statue
Saw the Danish Changing of the Guard
Tried stegt flaesk
Went pumpkin picking
Went to a football match alone
Tried gold collagen eyepatches
Tried a face roller
Attempted crochet
Went to puppy yoga
Saw the Thames Barrier
Went on a boat trip around a wind farm
Watched “Hocus Pocus” for the first time
Went on a Murder Mystery Train experience
Asked someone on a date
Dated an older man – definitely a DILF 😉
Went to Science Museum Lates
Went to Letters Live
Carved and painted some pumpkins
Went down the ArcelorOrbital slide
Ran up a downward escalator
Went to a lights and lanterns display
NSFW!
NSFW!
Skateboarded
Drove a Tesla
NSFW!
Went to a sketch comedy show
Had a ski lesson
Went to Morocco
Went to Marrakesh
Had a selfie with a monkey (against my will)
Ate snails
Went to a hammam spa
Went to Dans le Noir (dining in the dark)
Went on a silent disco musical walking tour
Attended a lecture about serial killers
Had a CACI facial
Tried virtual clay pigeon shooting
Went axe throwing
Went to an ice hockey match
Made a key lime pie
Had a selfie with a pigeon
Tried mulled cider
Toasted a marshmallow on a fire
Pulled a pint in a pub
Tried shisha
Took part in a Park Run event
Tried a physalis (weird little fruit I’d never heard of)
Snapped a wishbone
Started an Excel course
Went to a local historical society talk
Took a well-being day off of work
Went to a ballroom dancing class
Inadvertently failed to turn up at an awards ceremony in my honor (I thought the email was spam)
Picked my nieces up from school
Went to a pantomime
Attended an online cookery class
Made katsu curry from scratch
Tried curling
Took the ice bucket challenge
Went to Austria
Went to Vienna
Rode on a double-decker train
Saw the Spanish riding school training session
Went to a classic Vivaldi concert
Volunteered for the Samaritans as a fund-raiser
Caught a grape in my mouth
Streaked!
NSFW!
Interviewed by media and will imminently be in print
