452 Unique Ideas For Your Bucket List

The Bucket List is a collection of experiences and you hope to accomplish before you kick the proverbial bucket and leave this world.  This one is mine. The world is amazing and I never cease to learn of new places and adventures to add to it. My list is not in any order of priority. I’ve broken it down into different categories to better organize the type of experiences I want to check off.

There’s the Classic list with the things that you’ll often find on anyone’s bucket list. The Adventure list is for experiences that require me to leave my comfort zone physically and the Food list because maybe we should live to eat, instead of the other way around. The Odd list is for stuff that will make you scratch your a head a bit, the Hidden Gems list for things you might not have heard about, and the Indulgent list because we should all treat ourselves once in a while. You can use these links to jump to those particular lists.

At the very bottom, is the Everyday list of things that you can check off over and over again, because not every experience needs to require planning or a flight.

What Should Go On Your Bucket List?

I want to live life as fully and deeply as possible, to spare the time to appreciate the big and the small moments. Together, they make a life special. My recommendation for your own bucket list is to find things that speak to you. It should be something you are willing to put in the time and the investment to accomplish. It can be grand or mundane, but it should be personal.

My list is not complete. Please send any suggestions my way. Better yet, if you can help me check any of these items off my list or want to do something with me, I’m all ears.

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

Classic Bucket List Ideas

1. Go to space
2. Meet the Dalai Lama ✔
3. Buy a house for my parents
4. Sleep under the stars in the Sahara Desert ✔
5. Float in the Dead Sea ✔
6. See the Aurora Borealis ✔
7. Kayak in Puerto Rico’s Bioluminescent Bay ✔
8. Celebrate Holi in India ✔
9. Celebrate Carnaval in South America ✔
10. Set the sun rise and set on all 7 continents
11. See a bullfight in Spain
12. See the man burn at Burning Man ✔
13. Go skinny dipping ✔
14. Climb Kilimanjaro
15. Haggle for useless trinkets in Morocco ✔
16. Climb above the clouds in Machu Picchu ✔
17. Celebrate Songkran in Thailand
18. Return to the Trevi Fountain ✔
19. Camp in the Serengeti
20. Be debt-free ✔
21. Spike my adrenaline in New Zealand ✔
22. Dive the Great Barrier Reef ✔
23. Jump out of a plane ✔
24. See lava erupt in Hawaii ✔
25. Get soaked on the Maid of the Mist ✔
26. Ride a gondola in Venice ✔
27. Bike down the Death Road in Bolivia ✔
28. Say a prayer in the Hagia Sophia ✔
29. Jump off a large waterfall ✔
30. Dive with dolphins ✔
31. See the Salar de Uyuni ✔
32. Celebrate Dia de los Muertos in Mexico ✔
33. See the giant Buddha on Lantau Island ✔
34. Start a fire without matches ✔
35. Cross the Capilano suspension bridge ✔
36. Visit the Sistine Chapel ✔
37. Soak in a thermal hotspring ✔
38. Road trip in Baja California ✔
39. Ride the Trans-Siberian railway
40. Draw something beautiful ✔
41. Explore the Lofoten Islands ✔
42. Be a New York Times Bestselling author
43. Tube down the river in Laos
44. See the Taj Mahal at sunrise
45. Sunbathe on Ipanema and Copacabana beach ✔
46. Release a lantern at the Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai
47. Ride an elephant ✔
48. Stand in the middle of the Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo ✔
49. Speak fluent Spanish
50. Learn to play the ukulele ✔
51. Hike in the Swiss Alps ✔
52. Marvel at La Sagrada Familia ✔
53. Ride a camel in the desert ✔
54. Eat crawfish in Louisiana ✔
55. Fly a hot air balloon over Cappadocia ✔
56. Have a cappuccino in Rome (only for breakfast) ✔
57. Stand atop the tallest building in the world ✔
58. See the Monarch butterfly migration
59. Eat chimney cake at a Christmas Market ✔
60. Milk a cow
61. Wander in Angkor Wat ✔
62. Attend the Morning Alms in Luang Prabang
63. Stand at the footsteps of Christ the Redeemer
64. Join a flash mob ✔
65. Be a member of a TV studio audience ✔
66. Run with the bulls
67. See the tuna auction at the Tsukiji fish market ✔
68. Soak in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland ✔
69. People watch in Paris ✔
70. Ride in a helicopter ✔
71. Learn to surf ✔
72. Walk the Camino de Santiago ✔
73. Get soaked at Skogafoss ✔
74. Walk the Great Wall of China
75. Take the funicular up Sugar Loaf ✔
76. Bundle up in an Ice Bar ✔
77. Shoot an AK-47 ✔
78. Wear lederhosens to Oktoberfest ✔
79. See the windmills of Holland ✔
80. Go to a medieval faire ✔
81. Fight in La Tomatina
82. Be surrounded by a million fireflies ✔
83. See the sunrise over Haleakala ✔
84. Go Zorbing in New Zealand ✔
85. Sleep in a capsule hotel ✔
86. Go jet skiing ✔
87. Ride the blue train from Ella to Kandy ✔
88. Fly over the Andes and not crash ✔
89. Dash through the snow on a snowmobile
90. Visit all 50 United States
91. Do some graffiti ✔
92. Photograph a geisha ✔
93. Release baby turtles back into the oceans
94. Stand at the “end of the earth” ✔
95. Find myself by chance in Timbuktu
96. See the snow monkeys bathing in Japan ✔
97. Row a boat to the Lake Bled church ✔
98. Roam the City of Petra ✔
99. Stand atop Mt. Sinai ✔
100. Cage dive with great white sharks
101. Get Lost in Fes ✔
102. Eat in Barcelona’s La Boqueria ✔
103. See salmons swim migrate upstream
104. Fly on a seaplane ✔
105. Patent something
106. Eat a thali in India with my hands ✔
107. Be a guest on Good Morning America and/or The Today Show
108. Airstream across America
109. Drive Route 66 ✔
110. Make the news ✔

Bucket list tip #1: Think experience rather than just location. If you’ve dreamed of going to paris, think about the things you’d want to do there and Turn those into bucket list items.

Adventure Bucket List Ideas

1. Hit 250 kph on the Autobahn
2. Drive a rickshaw through India ✔
3. Free dive the Blue Hole
4. Hunt and cook a deer
5. Walk from Tokyo to Kyoto on the Nakasendo Trail
6. Free dive in Jellyfish Lake ✔
7. Ride a motorbike through Vietnam
8. Ice climb a glacier ✔
9. Kayak in the Grand Canyon
10. Sail down the Nile River ✔
11. Dive with a Mola Mola
12. Swim with Whale Sharks ✔
13. Explore New Zealand in a camper van ✔
14. Go lobster diving ✔
15. Fly a stunt plane ✔
16. Hike up Zion’s Angel’s Landing ✔
17. Race the Mongol Rally
18. Drive across the Gobi Desert ✔
19. Walk On The Wings Of A Plane ✔
20. Paraglide in Nepal ✔
21. Explore Yellowstone’s backcountry ✔
22. Dive a cenote
23. Sail the Atlantic Ocean
24. Summit Mt. Toubkal ✔
25. Dive for pearls
26. Hike to the top of the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto ✔
27. Ride the Vomit Comet
28. Dive in Raja Ampat
29. Row a boat under the Cherry Blossom blooms in Japan ✔
30. Play in a game of Kok Born
31. Hang in the Bamboo Forest on Maui ✔
32. Catch some air on a hang-glider ✔
33. Sail around Greenland
34. Via ferrata in the Dolomites ✔
35. Finish an ultra-endurance race ✔
36. Dive the wrecks in Coron ✔
37. Ride a speedboat through a narrow canyon ✔
38. Climb Svolvaergeita in Norway ✔
39. Dive Darwin’s Arch in the Galapagos
40. Dive the crystal clear water of Silfra ✔
41. Learn to do a wheelie on a motorcycle ✔
42. Try flyboarding
43. Speed over 300 kph on a bullet train
44. Ride the bamboo train in Battambang
45. Feed the deers in Nara ✔
46. Snowshoe above the Hakkoda Wall ✔
47. See a Muay Thai fight at Rajadamnern ✔
48. Catch and cook a fish ✔
49. Stand Up Paddleboard in the Arctic ✔
50. Ride a dog sled
51. Ski indoors ✔
52. Dive with whale sharks ✔
53. See orangutans in the wild ✔
54. Climb down to Kelingking Beach ✔
55. Take a polar plunge
56. Surf in Morocco ✔
57. Squeeze through a slot canyon ✔
58. Run a marathon in Antarctica
59. Dive an underwater museum ✔
60. Hike the Annapurna Circuit ✔
61. Run wild with Bear Grylls ✔
62. Raft down the Amazon River ✔
63. Visit a longhouse in Borneo ✔
64. Explore an ice cave in Iceland ✔
65. Extract honey from a bee hive
66. Run a 100-miler
67. Freedive the Sardine Run in Moalboal ✔
68. Win a fight ✔
69. Ride the Ha Giang Loop in Vietnam
70. Walk towards the light in Jomblang Cave ✔
71. Hitchhike in the Balkans ✔
72. Drive an F1 vehicle
73. Cycle around Lake Ohrid ✔
74. Sand board down a sand dune ✔
75. Dive in all 5 oceans
76. Climb Half Dome ✔
77. Walk on a bed of hot coals
78. Go Arctic stand-up paddleboarding ✔
79. Abseil down a waterfall ✔
80. Hang over the edge of The Devil’s Pool
81. Search for the Proboscis monkey in Borneo ✔
82. See Uluru when it rains ✔
83. Drive in a NASCAR vehicle
84. Graduate from an Ivy League university ✔
85. Bike through Eastern Europe
86. Race a drone
87. Swallow a ball of fire
88. Motorcycle through South America
89. Ride down a volcano ✔
90. Compete in the Death Race ✔
91. Run across Leichtenstein ✔
92. Dive the Red Sea ✔
93. Drive on the Bonneville Salt Flats
94. Deep water solo in Thailand

BUCKET List Tip #2: don’t get caught up with  what you see on social media. It should be more than just getting the same photo you’ve seen. if you find a travel blog you like, comb through it. See If anything they’ve done resonates with you and put it on your own list.

Food Bucket List Items

1. Eat a beignet at Café Du Monde
2. Eat fondue in Switzerland ✔
3. Shuck an oyster ✔
4. Eat Txuleta in San Sebastián ✔
5. Eat at a Michelin 3-Star restaurant ✔
6. Forage for truffles
7. Dine in complete darkness ✔
8. Eat fresh uni underwater
9. Harvest chicatana ants in Oaxaca
10. Taste port wine in the Douro Valley ✔
11. Eat at a Michelin-starred food cart ✔
12. Feast at a Hawaiian luau ✔
13. Eat Tafelspitz in Vienna ✔
14. Drink an Aperol Spritz in Bellagio ✔
15. Eat Kaya toast and half-boiled eggs in Singapore ✔
16. Learn how to make a perfect omurice
17. Eat supermarket poke in Hawaii ✔
18. Brunch at the Red Bull Hangar 7 ✔
19. Complete the Big Texan Steak Ranch 72 oz steak challenge
20. Enjoy an omakase in Japan ✔
21. Secretly dine on an ortolan
22. Afternoon Tea at the Burj Al Arab ✔
23. High Tea at the Ritz in London
24. Win a chicken-wing eating contest ✔
25. Roast a whole lamb on a spit
26. Make your own nokkedon in Aomori
27. Make my own Kombucha
28. Scrap fresh sushi from the bones of a tuna
29. Eat a country rat
30. Jiggle and eat a Japanese cheesecake ✔
31. Bite into a Happy Pierrot chicken sandwich ✔
32. Cook for a famous chef
33. Explore the the Taipei night markets
34. Eat a bat in Palau ✔
35. Win an eating challenge ✔
36. Survive street meat in India ✔
37. Eat a home cooked meal with a big Italian family
38. Find the best steak in Buenos Aires ✔
39. Eat a still moving octopus at the Gwangjang market in Seoul ✔
40. Boil an egg in a thermal hot pool ✔
41. Eat sheep brains in Jemaa El-Fna ✔
42. Drink some real absinthe ✔
43. Go on a poutine crawl ✔
44. Make moonshine in Kentucky

BUCKET List Tip #3: don’t be afraid to think small. it doesn’t have to be a bucket list item for someone else. It just needs to be something you’ve always wanted to do.

Hidden Gems Bucket List Ideas

1. See the synchronous fireflies in Elkmont
2. Explore the Marble Caves in Chile
3. Climb the Heavenly Stairs
4. Celebrate the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge
5. Climb the Takstsang Monastery in Bhutan
6. Wander the dunes of Sossuvlei in Namibia
7. Visit the sea gypsies and stilt houses in Borneo ✔
8. Soak in the thermal baths of Pamukkale ✔
9. Watch the fires of Azerbaijan burn
10. See the sunrise over Wadi Rum ✔
11. Fly above Sigiriya ✔
12. Hike the Wave ✔
13. Marvel at the Cave of the Crystals
14. Stand before the “Door To Hell” in Turkmenistan
15. Walk along the Nine Arch Bridge in Sri Lanka
16. Walk In La Valle De La Luna ✔
17. See the pagodas of Bagan at sunrise ✔
18. Sled down Mt. Wallberg
19. Play in the Salida Turda ✔
20. Descend into the Lost World ✔
21. Drive the Transfaragaran highway ✔
22. Celebrate New Years in Kiribati
23. Get away to Bucas Grande Island
24. Ride the Winter Stove train
25. Visit all 9 bathhouses in Shibu Onsen ✔
26. Dive in Chuuk
27. Visit the most beautiful bookstores in the world
28. Hike in the Azores
29. Visit a paper making town in Japan
30. Light something on fire at Las Fallas in Valencia
31. Behold Vestrahorn ✔
32. See the buddha in the Ngu Hanh Son cave ✔
33. Explore a Glacier Ice Cave in Iceland ✔
34. Get muddy at the Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea
35. Attend the Thaipusam festival at the Baku Caves ✔
36. See where Romeo met Juliet in Verona ✔
37. Ride The Bernina Express from Switzerland to Italy ✔
38. Sneak into Buzludzha ✔
39. Drive the Road to Hana ✔
40. Hike The Corcovado Rainforest ✔
41. Explore the Catacombs under Paris ✔
42. Cross the Rakotiz Brucke bridge in Germany
43. Go sledding on a frozen Lake Baikal

Bucket List Tip #4: If you are looking for an adventure, pick a continent you’ve never been to and narrow it down to a country. Do a Search For “Adventures In [Fill In The Blank]” and click on the image tab. Then get carried away down that rabbit hole.

Indulgent Bucket List Ideas

1. Listen to Flamenco in an Andalucian cave ✔
2. See Roger Federer win a Grand Slam
3. Solve an Agatha Christie murder on Burgh Island
4. Smoke a cigar in Cuba ✔
5. Sip champagne in a penthouse hot tub ✔
6. Gamble in Monte Carlo
7. Hear Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony live ✔
8. Go all out in Barcelona ✔
9. Saber a champagne bottle ✔
10. Ride the Orient Express
11. Bath in a Japanese onsen ✔
12. Smoke a Hookah in the Middle East ✔
13. Attend the Cannes Film Festival
14. Stay in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora
15. Visit every Disney park in the world
16. Spend 24 hours in a spa ✔
17. Visit an onsen town in Japan ✔
18. Walk down a red carpet premiere
19. See Tom Brady win the Super Bowl with my dad ✔
20. Drink a beer in a motel hot tub ✔
21. Fly First Class ✔
22. Sit front row at Fashion Week
23. Ride the Presidential Train ✔
24. Bath in an outdoor mountain onsen ✔
25. Get a perm in Korea ✔
26. Stand front row at a Twice concert ✔
27. Pretend to understand the art at the Biennale festival in Venice
28. Sip sake in an onsen ✔
29. Go on a 6 month cruise
30. Leave a 100% tip ✔
31. Make a $1000 bet on a hand of “War”
32. Get front row tickets to a Blackpink concert ✔
33. Join the sunbathing crowd at Polignano A Mare ✔
34. Enjoy a private hamman in Morocco ✔
35. Party at the Playboy Mansion
36. Hear Alfie Boe sing ‘Bring Him Home’ from Les Misérables live ✔
37. See ABBA in concert ✔
38. Get an 8 hour massage ✔
39. Sleep in a castle
40. Have $1,000,000 in my bank account
41. Fly a hot air balloon in Myanmar ✔

Bucket list Tip #5: Learn something new. It’s astonishing how many times I’ve picked a subject or skill to Learn and then stumbled onto a whole world of new experiences.

Odd Bucket List Ideas

1. Stomp grapes to make wine
2. Raise an Amish barn
3. Take a photo in every Photoautomat in Berlin ✔
4. Dig for dinosaur bones
5. Film an “Ed” reunion with Tom Cavanagh and Julie Bowen
6. Become an American Ninja Warrior
7. Build my own furniture ✔
8. Publish a book of poems
9. Hand feed a crocodile in the wild ✔
10. Kiss the Blarney Stone
11. Take sides in the Battle of the Oranges in Ivrea, Italy
12. Be a merman for a day
13. Sing along unabashedly at a Taylor Swift concert ✔
14. Learn how to pick a lock ✔
15. Photograph Kok Boru at the World Nomad Games ✔
16. Become a Royal Geographical Society fellow
17. Eat at Mechoui Alley in Marrakech ✔
18. Become a National Geographic Society fellow
19. See the “Alexander the Great” statue in North Macedonia ✔
20. Pay homage at the Cup Noodles museum in Yokohama ✔
21. Read 52 books in a year
22. Go to a pet cafe in Tokyo ✔
23. Dance with an African tribe
24. Bathe in a mixed gender onsen ✔
25. Fight a luchador ✔
26. Be a lighthouse keeper for a day
27. Sleep in a monastery ✔
28. See The Water Buffalo Chariot Races in Indonesia
29. Dive in the Bay of Pigs ✔
30. Dance with Twice
31. Do a fashion shoot for Vogue Italia
32. Sleep in a capsule hotel ✔
33. Visit a nudist colony
34. Sumo wrestle
35. Get over 1,000,000 views on YouTube ✔
36. Run from an attack dog
37. Relax in a sensory deprivation chamber ✔
38. Get a matching tattoo ✔
39. Visit the island where they filmed Mamma Mia 2 ✔
40. Learn to play the ukulele ✔
41. Make a short feature film
42. See Punxsatawny Phil predict the weather on Groundhog’s Day
43. Float in a sensory deprivation chamber ✔
44. Build an igloo
45. Hear Gabrielle Aplin sing “Home” live ✔
46. Play Pachinko for 24 hours
47. Create a board game
48. Get in or turned away at Berghain. It doesn’t matter.
49. Watch a movie at a drive-in theatre ✔
50. Train with Buakaw in Thailand ✔
51. Live abroad ✔
52. Eat over 100 bowls of soba noodles in Morioka, Japan
53. Dance with Matt ✔
54. Snowboard indoors in Dubai ✔
55. Be on a Japanese variety show
56. See my work at a film festival
57. Sleep in an ice hotel
58. Skydive indoors ✔
59. Sleep in a yurt in Mongolia ✔
60. Make my own paper
61. Dive in an aquarium
62. Visit the birthplace of KFC ✔
63. Be silent for 10 days
64. Summit a 6000m mountain
65. Throw a football with Julian Edelman
66. Sheer a sheep
67. Be on a reality TV show
68. Fly on a trapeze ✔
69. Give a Ted or Ted(x) talk
70. Ride A Tricycle Down A Canyon Swing ✔
71. See the World’s Largest Ball of Twine
72. Follow’s Dracula’s trail in Romania ✔
73. Fight in the Thunderdome ✔
74. Write a hit country song
75. Eat a possum pie ✔
76. Find the one
77. Break a Guinness World Record ✔
78. Listen for aliens at the VLA ✔
79. Get published in Vanity Fair
80. Win a didgeridoo playing contest ✔
81. Meet Park Ji Yoon
82. Play an extra in a movie
83. Watch a game of Kok Boru in Kyrgyzstan ✔
84. Crash an Indian wedding
85. Exhibit my work in an art gallery
86. Dress up for Comicon
87. Ride a reindeer ✔
88. See my work on a billboard
89. Stare at the Roswell night sky ✔
90. Learn to breakdance
91. Take a date to an Air Supply concert
92. Stay overnight at a Jjimjilbang in Korea
93. Shoot for National Geographic
94. Impress Richard Branson
95. Eat a live coconut grub ✔
96. Do the Game of Thrones walk of shame in King’s Landing
97. Visit Sleepy Hollow
98. Ride a rollercoaster at the Mall of America ✔
99. Dunk a basketball
100. Throw a pot of hot water into sub-freezing air
101. Drive a Delorian
102. Be a hobbit ✔
103. Be my own boss ✔
104. Herd reindeer in Mongolia ✔
105. Dance all out in a silent disco ✔

Bucket List Tip #6: Share the experience. Whether it’s with a friend, a partner, or a new travel companion. having someone with you means you have someone to reminisce about the adventure with later on.

Everyday Bucket List Ideas You Can Do Over And Over Again

1. Make someone smile
2. Tell someone you love them
3. Do something unexpected
4. Offer someone your time
5. Stay up all night talking
6. Watch the sun rise and set in the same day
7. Leave a random note for someone
8. Sing your favorite song at Karaoke
9. Run or dance in the rain
10. Sleep in on a weekday
11. Stay cozy inside and do nothing on a rainy day
12. Take a long bath
13. Reserve your judgment
14. Let the small stuff go
15. Share a meal with someone

If you’ve made it to the bottom, thank you. I hope you found some good ideas along the way. Feel free to bookmark this page and come back when you need a little inspiration for your next trip.

I’ve spent many years chasing after these experiences. And I write about them as much for myself to remember down the line, as to inspire and share these amazing things for others to experiences themselves. Dig around, explore, and I’m sure you’ll find something that will have you planning your next trip sooner rather than later.