What’s on Your Bucket List?
What is a bucket list and how do you make one for yourself? Explore these bucket list ideas to create your bucket list.
A bucket list is a list of experiences one wants to have before they die. Often, a bucket list includes big accomplishments, travel, and fun things we’d like to experience in our lives. Given that engaging in positive activities is good for our well-being (Catalino, Algoe, & Fredrickson, 2014), checking off things on our bucket list may also be good for our well-being. Simple pleasures may be especially beneficial to our well-being since contentment is thought to be central to what it means to live a fulfilling life (Cordaro, Brackett, Glass, & Anderson, 2016).
So, let’s get started exploring ideas so you can create your own bucket list.
Bucket List Ideas
Here are some common things that might go on a bucket list:
Go to college
Fall in love
Get married
Find a job you enjoy
Have kids
Buy a house
Become a grandparent
Retire
For many people, travel is a big part of their bucket list. So here are some ideas that might involve travel:
Swim with jellyfish
Go on a cruise
Stay at a bed and breakfast
Go on safari
Hike in a rainforest
See penguins in their natural habitat
Go to an aquarium
Attend a luau
Stay in a resort hotel
Stay in an underwater hotel
Stay in an ice hotel
Travel in a train
See all 7 continents
Go wine tasting at a vineyard
Visit a butterfly sanctuary
Take a hot air balloon ride
Live in a foreign country
Visit all 50 US states
Walk on a glacier
Sit in a hot spring
See the northern lights
See redwood trees
Go snorkeling
Swim with the dolphins
Learn how to hula
Is travel not really your jam? Here are some more fun bucket list ideas:
Run a marathon
Finish reading a classic novel
Set a Guinness world record
Go sky diving
Go bungee jumping
Go parasailing
Ride a motorcycle
Learn how to skateboard
Learn a different language
Be in a parade
Ride a mechanical bull
Go skinny dipping
See your favorite band in concert
Go kayaking
Learn some magic tricks
In addition to doing fun things, we may also have some career-related things we want to put on our bucket list. Maybe we want to climb the ranks in our job or make a certain amount of money. Here are some more ideas:
Become an expert in your field
Mentor someone
Master a new work-related skill
Speak at a conference or event
Start a business
Lead a major project
Write a book
Teach a workshop
Take a job in another country
Become a philanthropist
Go back to school for your Master’s or PhD
Become a millionaire
Achieve financial independence
Retire early
Finally, here are a few more unique things you might want to add to your bucket list:
Support a cause that’s important to you
Paint a painting
Go green
Host a natural disaster refugee
Ride in a limo
Go vegan for one month
Try acupuncture
Conquer a lifelong fear
Dye your hair a crazy color
Get a tattoo
Get a six-pack
Become a black belt in karate
Reach your goal weight
Knit a sweater
Learn how to snowboard
Learn how to ski
Learn how to surf
Learn how to code
Learn how to play an instrument
Learn how to drive a stick shift
Go on a blind date
Be on TV
Eat at a Michelin star restaurant
Build your dream home
Final Thoughts on Bucket Lists
Making a bucket list is a fun way to clarify which activities and experiences you think will bring you joy and life satisfaction. As long as you don’t get too caught up in feeling like you have to do them all, this list can help serve as a road map for creating a life you love.
References
Catalino, L. I., Algoe, S. B., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2014). Prioritizing positivity: An effective approach to pursuing happiness?. Emotion, 14(6), 1155.
Cordaro, D. T., Brackett, M., Glass, L., & Anderson, C. L. (2016). Contentment: Perceived completeness across cultures and traditions. Review of General Psychology, 20(3), 221-235.