Bucket List Ideas: 100 Ideas by Category (and How to Actually Do Them)

A bucket list is useful when it is specific enough to start. "Travel more" never happens. "Take a night train across Europe" can go on a calendar. The 100 ideas below are grouped into 10 categories and written so you could start on any of them this year. Skim them, note the ones that pull at you, and ignore the rest. The list is only worth anything if it is yours.

Travel and places

1. Take an overnight sleeper train through another country
2. Watch the sunrise from a mountain summit you climbed yourself
3. Visit the town your grandparents grew up in
4. Spend a week in a country where you don't speak the language
5. Sleep under the stars in a desert
6. Swim in all five of the world's oceans
7. Walk a long-distance trail such as the Camino de Santiago
8. See a total solar eclipse in person
9. Spend a whole month living in a different city
10. Visit a place purely because of a book you loved

Adventure and the outdoors

11. Learn to scuba dive and get certified
12. Go white-water rafting on a grade IV river
13. Complete a multi-day kayak or canoe trip
14. Climb a 4,000-metre peak
15. Try paragliding or hang gliding
16. Camp alone for a night in the wilderness
17. Ride a horse along a beach
18. Go on a wildlife safari
19. Cross-country ski through a frozen forest
20. Cycle more than 100 km in a single day

Skills and learning

21. Learn to play one full song on a musical instrument
22. Get conversational enough to order and chat in a second language
23. Learn to touch-type at 80 words per minute
24. Take a pottery class and make a set of mugs
25. Learn basic car maintenance and change a tyre yourself
26. Learn to code and build a small app you actually use
27. Earn a first-aid certificate
28. Learn to sail a small boat solo
29. Learn to dance well enough for a wedding floor
30. Read 50 books in one year

Creative projects

31. Finish writing a short story and share it
32. Start a blog or newsletter and publish 20 posts
33. Record a song, even if only friends hear it
34. Paint a picture good enough to frame and hang
35. Make a short film from start to finish
36. Keep a daily journal for a full year
37. Build a piece of furniture from raw wood
38. Photograph a sunrise every week for a season
39. Knit or sew something you wear
40. Enter a piece of your work in a local exhibition or contest

Health and fitness

41. Run a full marathon
42. Do 10 pull-ups in a row
43. Complete a sprint triathlon
44. Hold a two-minute plank
45. Hike 20 km in one day
46. Go 30 days without added sugar
47. Learn to swim a mile without stopping
48. Take a yoga or meditation retreat
49. Cook every meal at home for a month
50. Get a full health check-up and act on the results

Career and work

51. Ask for, and get, a raise you prepared for
52. Mentor someone early in their career
53. Change careers into work you chose on purpose
54. Take a sabbatical of a month or more
55. Publish an article in a publication in your field
56. Lead a project from idea to launch
57. Work remotely from another country for a few weeks
58. Earn a professional certification you've been putting off
59. Give a talk to a room of at least 50 people
60. Build a portfolio or personal website that shows your best work

Money and security

61. Pay off all consumer debt
62. Save an emergency fund covering six months of expenses
63. Invest regularly for 12 months without stopping
64. Buy a first home, or decide on purpose not to
65. Make your first dollar from something you built or made
66. Write a will
67. Track every expense for a full year
68. Take a trip paid entirely from a dedicated savings pot
69. Donate a meaningful percentage of your income for a year
70. Reach a net-worth milestone you set in advance

Relationships and family

71. Write a letter of thanks to a teacher who shaped you
72. Take each parent on a one-on-one trip
73. Record an interview with a grandparent about their life
74. Plan a surprise party for someone who has never had one
75. Host a dinner for friends who have never met each other
76. Trace your family tree back four generations
77. Say sorry to someone you've been meaning to
78. Make a new close friend as an adult
79. Take a weekly phone-free evening with your partner or family for a year
80. Organise a family reunion

Giving back

81. Donate blood regularly for a year
82. Plant 100 trees
83. Volunteer at a food bank
84. Foster a pet from a shelter
85. Teach a free class on something you know well
86. Run a fundraiser for a cause you care about
87. Help build a home with a housing charity
88. Pick up litter along a whole beach or trail
89. Register as an organ donor
90. Pay for a stranger's meal without them knowing

Fun and just-because

91. Attend a music festival for the full weekend
92. Watch a film at an outdoor cinema
93. Learn a magic trick that fools your friends
94. Eat at a restaurant with a Michelin star
95. Go to a live sports final
96. Stay in a treehouse or an ice hotel
97. Try 20 cuisines you have never eaten
98. Spend a full day with no plans and no phone
99. Throw a themed costume party
100. Ride in a hot air balloon

How to turn one idea into a goal you finish

Most bucket lists fail for the same reason most goals fail: the idea never becomes a next step. Use this four-step routine on just one idea from your list.

1. Pick one idea and make it concrete. "Learn a language" becomes "hold a 10-minute conversation in Spanish by June". The SMART goal generator can help you phrase it.
2. Break it into 3 to 5 milestones. For the Spanish example: finish a beginner course, do 20 conversation sessions, then have the 10-minute talk. See how to break a big goal into subgoals.
3. Find the smallest first action. Book the first lesson or download the course. Do it this week, while the idea still feels exciting.
4. Track it where you'll see it. A goal you look at weekly gets done. A goal buried in a notes app does not. A short weekly review keeps it moving.

Write your own list

Pick 10 to 20 ideas that you actually want, not the ones that sound impressive. Mix quick wins you could finish this month with a few big ones that will take years. Then choose one to start now. The template below lets you write your list by category and print it. It can also export your items as a file you import into GoalTracker, so each one becomes a goal you track.