If there is one thing we should be sick of hearing, it is that "30 is the new 20!"

Because, news flash, it's not. 30 is not the time to find a good job and settle down. It isn't the time to "get serious" about life and the choices you have made. And it certainly should not be considered "old."

A couple weeks ago, I sat in the O'Hare airport having a coffee with my mom, awaiting a flight that would take me across the pond to Ireland for the next seven weeks. I told my mom that while I was familiar with Ireland and the people I would be with because of my last trip over, I also knew that I would get homesick and at times be anxious to get back. My mom looked over at me and said, "Cassie, this is the time of your life to go and do this. While you're young, this is it," and since I have learned in my 22 years that my mother is 99 percent of the time right, I took her at her word.

This is the time. This is the time to get out and travel, and sleep on airport floors because you connected flights in such a way that you could see some of the city lame people just fly through. This is the time to take a deep breath, and know that no one is expecting you to be super rich, and it's OK to have just enough for Chick-Fil-A and a tank of gas (on a good day) in my bank account. This is the time to go and network like crazy, which is largely made by friend-of-friend connections. This is time I want to look back on and think, "I can't believe I went and did that..." and smile at myself for being brave even when I didn't know what to expect, which includes the time I drove an hour and a half to go on this one hike by myself that I had been dying to go on, even though I only had $14 to my name. Still worth it.

Because even though 30 is not old, and there is still plenty of life to be lived at that age, the 20's are an extremely valuable time in a persons life. It is a shame to see 20-somethings not being active and getting out in the world. This is the time when you are at your fittest peak! Even with not so great knees thanks to years of downhill ski racing, I can still go climb a 14'er and ignore any pain and go dancing that night. 30-year-old me probably won't enjoy that, but will be thankful 22-year-old me did.

You will (hopefully) wake up one day and be 30. And when you wake up on your 30th birthday, there is one thing you won't want to still be... 22. You won't want to be making network connections and going all over being broke and sleeping in airports. You will want to be established. You will want to be able to fly across the country and afford a (nice, and not at a hostel) hotel room.

20-year-olds need to stop having identity crises, and start having more in their identity bank to draw from. And as 20-somethings know very well, you can't draw something from the bank unless it is there!

Be young and 20, yes, but take advantage of it. Being 20 doesn't mean to let go and let live and just not care what's going on or where you're waking up because you'll figure it out eventually. Don't stay in one place. Don't be hungover all the time. Do yourself a favor: get to know the people around you. Be brave, and brace yourself for the big thank you that 30-year-old you will give to 22-year-old you, when you wake up on your 30th birthday.

Live thankfully.

Go and do stuff with your parents, because they are getting older too.

Try that crazy business idea.

Have a hobby,and a way to make money.

Know how to cook a dang meal.

Be the best 20-something that ever there was.

Go out and explore.

Choose good friends.

Get to know yourself before you try and get to know someone else.

Thank God 30 is not the new 20. Because when lived right and well, the 20's are an exhaustingly fun and creative time of life. Prove people wrong, and don't let youth be wasted on the young.

The picture above is me, after climbing Mt. Bierstadt, the sawtooth over to Mount Evans, and finally peaking at the top of Mount Evans before climbing miles back down to the parking lot.

Am I resting? You bet. Did I just accomplish a big physical feat? Colorado mountains are no joke. I was tired but happy. I had good friends with me, 14,000 feet above sea level, feeling super alive.

Let's live out 20's like this: Tired, but happy. Exhausted, but active. Well informed, well rounded and super alive.

30th birthday, I'm comin for ya.