How to Create your Ultimate Bucket List

Ever since I was 15 years old, I have had an ongoing bucket list in my journal. If I saw something neat or heard about an experience I thought I would love to try, I wrote it down. Thus started the beginning of my lifelong adventures! It started with going bungee jumping on my 16th birthday (yes I am one of those adrenaline junkies). I have added to my list over the years while checking off items too! I love looking at my list and recalling the fun or unique memories I made as well as discovering new bucket list items to add. I also love working on a bucket list with my husband and kids and talking about and planning the adventures we will go on as a family!

Why should you have a bucket list?

WHY CREATE ONE? Doing things you enjoy can make you feel energized, give you purpose, help you bond with those you do the activities with, help you break out of your comfort zone to grow personally, help you prioritize what is important to you, open a new world of possibilities to you, give you idea for milestone dates (birthdays, anniversaries) and bring you joy! Each person’s bucket list will be different based on your own desires and things that make you happy! But other people – including this blog – can open your eyes to new experiences and places you may not have thought about! Make your bucket list personal to you – you may be a huge foodie and want to visit all the sites from your favorite food network show like a friend of mine did with her family or you may love something like lighthouses (my mother-in-law) and want to visit as many lighthouses in your life as possible! For example, many people have “Run a Marathon” on their bucket list – and I have never had a desire to do that! Or I have “Visit Africa and go on a Safari” and my husband has no desire to go there. So make it your own and find ones to do with your family! One of my personal most anticipated Bucket Lists items is going on an Alaskan Cruise – which I am finally doing this summer for my 40th birthday – and I am very excited to do!

Free “Make your Own Bucket List” Printable

Have you written down your bucket list? Do you know written goals are 80% more likely to be accomplished? So today I am encouraging you to take the time to start to write down your bucket list – either a personal one or one with your spouse or family, or both. As you start writing down ideas you may even want to pull out your calendar and put one or two of them on your schedule already! I am helping you get started by providing you with a list of 100 ideas for your bucket list below AND a FREE printable list and templates to create your own personal or family bucket list. To break it down, I added sections such as travel, culinary, self-improvement, conquering fears, health and more. But maybe you don’t have anything it those categories and that’s okay too, you can cross or white it off and just keep adding on to it!

100 Bucket List Ideas – To use or spark your imagination! Create the best list for YOU!

1. Visit All 7 Continents
2. See all 50 States
3. Visit all National Parks
4. Visit all hometowns of my ancestors
5. Go to Alaska
6. Spend a week in Hawaii
7. Go to Japan
8. Go on a Safari
9. See the Northern Lights
10. Visit Australia
11. Visit Atacama’s desert (Chile)
12. Visit Machu Pichu (Peru)
13. Hike Mt Whitney
14. Be on a game show
15. Get Scuba Certified
16. Learn to play an instrument
17. Learn a second language
18. Earn a graduate degree
19. Record an audiobook
20. Visit All the Presidential Libraries
21. See Niagara Falls
22. Visit DC during the Cherry Blossom season
23. Stay in an Over Water Bungalow
24. Stay at an all Inclusive Resort like this one!
25. See a Broadway Show on Broadway
26. Ride a Train
27. Embark on a Cruise
28. Go White Water Rafting
29. Tube down a River
30. Walk on a Black Sand Beach
31. Stand on the 4 Corners
32. Visit Banff National Park
33. Hiawatha Bike Path in Idaho
34. Ride Horses on the Beach
35. Ride an Elephant
36. Adopt a dog
37. Ride a Camel
38. Have a Campfire on a Beach
39. Go to Coachella or Stagecoach
40. Watch a Grunion Run (google it!)
41. Swim with Sea Turtles
42. Watch Baby Turtles Make Their Way To The Ocean
43. Climb to the Top of a Lighthouse
44. Try Stand Up Paddling
45. Swim With the Dolphins
46. Kayak Through Icebergs
47. Take a Surfing Lesson
48. Do a Haunted Tour of a City
49. Go on a Dog Sled
50. Get in a Hot Spring
51. Go on a Swamp Tour
52. Attend a Cirque de Soleil Show
53. Attend a Movie Premier
54. Go to Lantern Festival
55. Go to a Rodeo
56. Go Parasailing
57. Learn to cross country ski
58. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
59. Canoe the boundary waters (Canada/Minnesota)
60. Hike Every Trail at a State Park
61. Ride A Segway
62. See a Frozen Waterfall
63. Go to a Drive In Movie
64. Sleep in a Treehouse
65. Spend the night in a cave
66. Try out a Yurt
67. Go Glamping
68. Try Goat Yoga
69. Go Indoor Skydiving
70. Complete a Marathon or a Triathlon
71. Go Hang-gliding
72. Go Cliff Jumping
73. Fly on a Trapeze
74. Take a Cooking Class
75. Take a Photography class
76. Be a part of Guinness World Record
77. Start a nonprofit
78. Attend the Olympics
79. Be on TV
80. Bike trip in another country
81. Live in another country
82. Give a motivational speech to over 5,000
83. Go Bungee Jumping
84. See a Lunar Eclipse
85. Attend a Presidential Inauguration
86. Floor Tickets to a Concert
87. Go to an Opera
88. Watch The Sunrise & Sunset in One Day
89. Do a Mud Run
90. Visit a castle
91. Go Skinny dipping
92. Watch a Meteor Shower
93. Start a Blog
94. Read the Entire Bible
95. Start a YouTube Channel
96. Ride a Mechanical Bull
97. Donate Blood
98. Research My Family Tree
99. Eat at a 5 Star Restaurant
100. Make a Difference in Someone’s Life

Journal your Bucket List

I encourage you to create your own bucket list journal or set aside pages in your existing journal to write down your experiences. I wish I had started this part of my bucket list journey sooner, but better late than never. In your journal you can put:

BUCKET LIST ITEM:
DATE ACCOMPLISHED:
WHERE I WAS:
WHO I WAS WITH:
WHAT WAS MY FAVORITE PART ABOUT THIS EXPERIENCE:

Now go and have fun!

Remember, you are the only person who is accountable for your personal bucket list! No deadlines, no pressure, no specifics, just you and your list of hopes and dreams! Now go out there and get started writing down your ideas! You are on your way to bringing more joy and adventure into your life and creating experiences that will last a lifetime!

Share in the comments any ideas you may have for more Bucket List items or your favorite Bucket List thing you have ever done!