A ‘Bucket List’ is a list of things to do before you ‘kick the bucket’. So many movies portray checking off Bucket List items as the last hurrah in one’s life and a way to validate their existence. As if completing these extreme items somehow makes up for a life poorly lived.
“One day,” we say. “It’s not a good time,” is our excuse.
The truth is you have to live your life today – we don’t always get a countdown timer to get started on our lists. One day when you look in the mirror, you’ll be old and wrinkly, maybe crotchety and bitter, or maybe just empty – wondering where your life went, thinking about all the things you should have done
Instead, wake up every day excited for the adventure that lies ahead. Be proud of the things you’ve already accomplished. Maybe keep your ‘list’ posted where you can see it, and try to knock off at least one thing every year, instead of leaving it, as a dusty dream, in the back of your head – only to be remembered when it’s too late.
I keep a running list of all the things that I want to do. I add things to it when I am inspired. I take things off when they no longer make sense. I always have something that I am dreaming of and working towards. I refuse to waste my life on ‘might happens’ and ‘wishful thinking’
Make your list today. You owe it to yourself.
- Hike the Inca Trail and visit Machu Picchu
- Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Dive the Galapagos
- Play with a panda bear
- Visit the Bolivia salt flats
- See the Northern lights (I’ve tried but failed)
- Dive the Maldives
- Road trip across the US, camping in national parks
- Climb to the base camp of Mt. Everest, Nepal
- Complete an Olympic Triathlon
- Pingxi Lantern Festival, Taiwan (February)
- Publish travel articles (**and get paid)
- Celebrate Lunar New Year in Asia
- Rent a hall and have a huge party for all my friends
- Visit every continent (Antarctica to go!)
- Surf in Hawaii
- Harbin Ice and Snow Festival (China)
- Go on a safari to see lions and elephants and giraffes
- Visit Lake Louise
- Snowboard in Colorado
- Hula dance in a grass skirt and coconut bra
- Have henna done in India
- Get married on a beach
- Take a cruise
- Take a raft in the Amazon Rainforest
- Volunteer in a third-world village
- Become a motivational speaker
- Go Paint balling
- Run the Tough Mudder
- Reflect at Stonehenge
- Walk the Great Wall of China
- Porcelain Tower of Nanjing (China)
- Take a swing dance lessons
- Learn to meditate
- Climb Mt. Elbrus, Russia
- Ride a mechanical Bull
- Climb Mt. Fuji
- Drive a race car
- Climb Mt. Khuiten (Mongolia)
- Glow worm caves in New Zealand
- Dive Palau
- Take belly dancing lessons
- Visit Angor Wat
- Float in the Dead Sea
- Run with the bulls (San Fermin festival) Pamplona, Spain (July)
- See a world cup game
- Party at the New Orleans Jazz Festival (April / May)
- Throw tomatoes at La Tomatina, Bunol, Spain (Last Wednesday in August)
- Marvel at Sisteen chapel
- Spend a week at an Ashram
- Complete a Century ride
- Drive the Autobahn
- Visit the Taj Mahal
- Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa
- Visit the Grand Canyon and hike death valley
- Up Helly Aa Fire Festival, Scotland (January)
- Be invited to give a TedTalk
- Build a picnic table
- Be tickled pink at Holi – Colour festival (India)
- Up Helly Aa Fire Festival — Lerwick, Scotland
- Write a book
- Attend the Olympics
- Drive the entire perimeter of Iceland in a camper van
- Do a stand up comedy routine
I also like to keep a list of all the things that used to be on the ‘dream’ list as a reminder of all the dreams that have already come true. You can spend your life chasing your dreams while living them at the same time. Looking back you learn a lot about yourself – what you once wanted and were able to achieve.
Celebrate yourself today. You owe it to yourself.
- Ride a camel through the Sahara desert
- Swim with dolphins
- Compete in the X-cup games
- Go skydiving
- Eat sushi in Japan
- Water ski
- Hold a koala
- See a sex show in Thailand
- Whale watch (Tadoussac, QC)
- Climb a volcano and look inside (Volcan Concepcion, Nicaragua)
- Ride an elephant bareback in Thailand
- Go on a fishing expedition (Newfoundland)
- Learn Spanish fluently (mas o menus)
- Go ATVing
- Inner tube down a lazy river
- Buy a Scottish kilt
- Witness a geyser explosion (Iceland)
- Spend a night in an igloo
- See the Calgary Stampede
- Climb El Castillo (Chichén Itzá, Mexico)
- Smoke a Cuban cigar in Cuba
- Have fish and chips after taking the tube in London
- Camp in Algonquin Park
- Make a gingerbread house
- Go dog sledding
- Visit the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
- Hike the Bruce Trail
- Catch a fish and release it
- See the Leaning Tower of Pisa
- Visit the Ice Hotel in Iceland
- Ski the Swiss Alps
- Bungee jump off a bridge (Australia)
- Eat schnitzel and spaetzle in Germany
- Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef
- See an opera in Vienna
- Swim with Sharks (Blue Hole, Belize)
- Go for a hot air balloon (Over the Luxor pyramid)
- Go for a helicopter ride
- Swim in a natural lagoon (Iceland)
- Hunt for Northern Lights
- Jump off a 75-foot cliff into the ocean (Corfu, Greece)
- Ziplining in the Costa Rica forest
- Tour the Guinness Factory (Dublin, Ireland)
- Sleep in a Buddhist Temple (Kōya-san, Japan)