As a planning nerd, I enjoy activities that others bristle at. For example, this year I didn鈥檛 just commit to one New Year鈥檚 resolution听but 20. (It鈥檚 called , y鈥檃ll!) One of my goals is to rewrite my bucket list, and with all travel plans canceled for the foreseeable future, I now have plenty of time to do so. The list isn鈥檛 limited to travel鈥攖here are life events I hope to experience, such as getting married and bouldering a V7, that will take up a permanent residence until I see them through鈥攂ut I think some of us adventurous types听feel the urge听to accomplish feats, like climbing Mount Everest or stepping foot on all seven continents, without necessarily reflecting on if that鈥檚 actually what we want. I鈥檓 guilty of this as much as the next person.
In the past, when working on my dream file, I鈥檝e Googled things like 鈥bucket-list ideas鈥 rather than thinking things听through myself. (As you can imagine, I ended up with items like 鈥渨alk across hot coals鈥 and 鈥渟cream like a gladiator inside the Colosseum,鈥 neither of which I have the faintest desire to do.) In this day and age of travel, which has been marked by overtourism and massive carbon emissions, we need to acknowledge that not every single destination听on the planet听can or should be on the agenda. With the future of travel uncertain鈥攅specially the question of 鈥攔eflecting on our current dreams might help us to re-prioritize. We have to get choosy听about where听we鈥檒l go and even the modes of travel we鈥檒l participate in, and living through this pandemic is making these听crystal clear.听So听whip out a red pen, and get ready to edit your own bucket list. This step-by-step guide will help you to pare it down to the places that really matter to you.听
How to Get Started
If you鈥檝e compiled a physical bucket list in the past, find it. If this is your first time putting one together, decide听where to keep听it. I have the utmost respect for the yellowing paper list, but I prefer to听use a website called to record all my to-dos, thoughts, and dreams. I love the site鈥檚 visual capabilities听and that it also exists as a phone app. As an evangelist of听听(the bestselling productivity book by David Allen), I subscribe to the methodology of having a single dashboard for my听entire听life. In addition to my bucket list, I use Notion to store items like work projects, my 20 New Year鈥檚 resolutions, my shopping lists, and notes from books.听
Once you have your list in front of you, do a few听read-throughs, and cross off听anything that doesn鈥檛 utterly thrill you. Next, spend a good 20 or 30 minutes brainstorming new ideas. My favorite technique is the good ol鈥 mind map. Consider all areas of your life鈥攔elationships, hobbies, work, travel, health, finances, spirituality鈥攁nd write out as many dreams as you can think of for each one,听whether it鈥檚 improving communication with your partner by learning about the five love languages, getting your sport-specific guide certification, achieving financial independence, or starting a prayer journal.听Then听make a list of your interests鈥攁 period of history, a type of food, a landscape, or a culture鈥攁nd find experiences that tap into them. If you鈥檙e a foodie and haven鈥檛 been to Italy, you may want to听plan a trip to the island of Sardinia听to . When you feel like you鈥檝e exhausted all your ideas, log off, and sleep on it (seriously).
Find Inspiration
The next phase of crafting a kickass life list is the most fun: get inspired! If you鈥檝e ever cut out images from magazines or created a mood board,听you know what I鈥檓 talking about. Select a handful of sources, and spend a few days or weeks living vicariously through them. Think: movies and TV shows, books that dive deep into a single destination, magazines, social-media accounts, travel blogs, and even conversations with friends about their own trips. Don鈥檛 neglect your own backyard, either. There鈥檚 this societal understanding of a bucket-list trip being a lavish adventure to a far-off destination, but a true explorer is curious about their听own surroundings. Take a scroll through Yelp, search for interesting locales听in your state or those nearby, and expand your horizons in terms of what qualifies for your list.
Allow yourself to follow your interests and go down rabbit holes. The key to making sure this process is fruitful, though, is to set a deadline and stick to it. You have your whole life to organically add things to the list鈥攄on鈥檛 feel pressure to plan everything out now.
Cull Your List
By this point, you should have amassed a bunch of fantasies, which means it鈥檚 time for another cull. If you鈥檝e gone through the KonMari tidying process, the principle of only keeping what 鈥渟parks joy鈥 will be familiar. Do that in this context, too. Ask yourself questions like:听If I only had one more year to live, what would I most want to experience? Why do I want to do this?听Would I still want to do听this if I didn鈥檛 care about what others thought?听And, for some of us, Would I still be intrinsically motivated to seek this out if I couldn鈥檛 post about it on social media?听Remember, life鈥檚 too short to invest in activities听you think you should do rather than those听you can鈥檛 imagine living without. Eliminate everything that doesn鈥檛 pass these听litmus tests.
Revisit It Frequently听
One of the indelible truths about travel is that it changes us. In addition to hopefully making us better people, it introduces us to cultures, ideas, and activities we may have never been interested in previously. Last year for my birthday, my parents took me to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico听to go caving. Crawling around in a dark, wet hole for several hours was not the glamorous vision for a birthday I had in mind, but lo and behold, my browser history is now full of glorious听caves around the world, a few听of which I hope to admire in person one day. On the other end of the spectrum, some experiences sate our thirst and give us permission to cross similar journeys off our lists. Once might be enough for a specific style of travel or a destination: You may realize that you鈥檙e not the type to spend an entire vacation lounging on a tropical beach, or that you prefer traveling alone instead of being part of a group tour.听Or perhaps, like many travelers, you realize that the experience of a single place gets richer the more time you spend there, so听instead of seeking out new harbors, you choose to return again and again.
Commit to dusting off your bucket list at least once a year鈥攑erhaps when deciding how you鈥檇 like to use your vacation days鈥攁nd give it a quick edit.
Never Stop Dreaming
Finally, we must never stop dreaming, even听now, while听we鈥檙e stuck at home.听Make the most of what鈥檚 available from your day to day鈥攂ooks, podcasts, and films about grand adventures to provide inspiration, socially distanced chats with friends and neighbors, and walks around the block to deliberate on ideas from your research. When the world opens back up, you鈥檒l be ready.