Bucket list/challenge ideas

[Intheshit1]

So I want to come up with a list of 50-100 tasks/challenges/things to try this year!

I want it to include a mixture of free/realistic things and also a few extravagant things that really are once in a lifetime things. So one such example would be to visit a place where I would have the opportunity to see the northern lights of I got lucky!

I feel I need a challenge in my life. Life for a variety of reasons has become a little dull recently and I realise that whilst I am incredibly lucky to say that, life is just plodding on and somewhat passing me by. I’m not moaning about my life but I’m well aware that life moves quickly and we get one shot to make most of it.

So that said: give me an idea. Challenge me. What’s on your bucket list?

It could be a place to visit? A skill to learn? Something that is rewarding. Something g that helps others? Something to make me a better person? A food to try? A challenge that takes time and effort to complete? Something that costs no money. Something hard? Something easy? Something crazy!

I am finally getting round to reading War and Peace this year, and so far (200 pages in) it’s better, and less hard work, than expected! Any bucket list books you’d always wanted to read?

Also want to improve my 5k running time (the first step was to work out what my current 5k time was, which despite regularly running, I’d never actually tracked).

I also fairly regularly bake something new and slightly more complicated than my usual repertoire, like cinnamon buns, Bakewell tart, a new kind of bread (did challah recently), a Jewish fancy stuffed chocolate loaf cake thingie…

Any cooking challenges like that you fancy?

Ooooh books is a good idea! Yes! I’ve added that category to the list.

And cooking: to bake my kids birthday cake! Great suggestion re cooking. My eldest is 8 and I have never baked him a birthday cake.

If you have Kindle Unlimited, there is a book of 500 challenges you can get. It is separated into sections like physical, education, wellbeing etc. I've written a load down but am in bed at the moment otherwise I'd post some. Let me know if you want the name of the book to download yourself, or if you don't have KU then let me know and I'll start posting some in the morning.

I like the idea of reading a classic you've never read.
Also trying to cook something new

Sporty things ? - will depend on your fitness now, but maybe learn to ride a bike / take up a martial art / run a 5k (or 10 if you can already run, or marathon if you can do a 10K) / swim a mile, or swim a length (again, depending on where you are starting)

Take 10 mins in a day to just breathe..... can do some meditation or yoga or prayer or reflection....but just 'stop and be you'

Write a letter or send a card to someone every month (different people) "just because" rather than waiting for a birthday or Christmas or a bereavement

Take a day to 'be a tourist in your own town / City'. Go and visit the museum or Cathedral and walk round the things you'd do if it were a City you've never been to before

Apply to be on a game show/TV contest.

Watch the sunrise over the sea.

Raise some money for charity

Get involved in a conservation project

I'm attempting to visit every Dante Gabriel Rossetti painting in the UK. We've visited some fabulous art galleries from Bournemouth to Dundee in pursuit of them. You could pick a favourite artist.

Read a genre/author you'd usually avoid
Pick a language at random on duolingo
Start an art journal or scrapbook of your bucket list challenges

DH wanted to do some new things when he turned 50. A few didn't happen unfortunately, however:

He climbed Scarfell Pike and Snowdon. Ben Nevis is still on the list.

He took some golf lessons. (Wasn't keen).

We went to a free BBC radio comedy recording.

He did an Ancestry DNA test (and found an uncle!). We've both enjoyed finding out more about our family history.

He read a Dickens novel.

He learned to play the guitar a bit (online lessons).

He's still doing Duolingo Spanish lessons.

I learned a bit of sewing and crochet.

I tried dinghy sailing (i was rubbish!).

I still want to go to an auction.

I forgot our (middle aged) challenge is to visit all of England's cathedrals.

Get yourself a set of watercolour paints, a good brush or two, and some watercolour paper.

Check out a couple of online tutorials on YouTube and see how you go.

If you like it, bringing your paints on holiday is a great way to pass some peaceful and productive time.

I like the painting idea. Maybe something creative like that! The kids can join in too.

A country/city beginning with the same letter as your name, learn a language (could be sign language), a pottery class, alpaca trek (they are great), a perfume workshop (where you can blend your own), learn to ice skate/ski/snowboard/ sunrise at the beach, concert, theatre, ballet, opera, something in the garden.... day as a zookeeper type thing, photoshoot - individual or with family, go abseiling, plant a tree.

I always say it gives a bigger sense of achievement to aim for one huge bucket list item than to do lots of little ones. So, for example, you say you want to see the Northern Lights (and they are spectacular, btw,) but then you say ‘if you get lucky.’ Well, help yourself make a bit more luck and plan a single journey that will be long enough to ensure you the best chance of seeing them. You get so much more out of a more immersive experience, and you can tick off a lot of the littler ambitions while there or in the planning - reading books, watching sunrises, etc.

I don’t save bucket lists for special occasions, I have one big ambition each year, and knowing that this ambition is what I am working towards has given me focus and a goal. I’ve been a part of some incredible things in recent years (some of which have featured on tv and in British and foreign news articles) because I’ve gone for one big thing to do instead of lots of little things.

If it were me, and the Northern Lights were on my list, I’d be learning to read solar activity tables, planning the best time to go, learning about the place, adding in extra activities such as reading novels set in that landscape, learning a bit of the language, planning other one off activities such as learning to drive a snowmobile or husky mushing. I would have an absolute ball, and make it the adventure of a lifetime. And then pick a different adventure of a lifetime the next year, and so on!

@backinthebox That sounds amazing! Would you mind sharing some of your big ambitions and stories?

Teach yourself to handstand. Go for an early morning walk in silence. Spend time upsidedown or with your legs up a wall.
Cook a meal you've never made before. Teach yourself to like a new food. Spend up to 5 minutes looking into your own eyes, making contact with your inner you and accepting yourself. Make your own skin exfoliator and use it daily. Train yourself to lucid dream. Keep a dream diary. Do something out of your comfort zone. Create a new daily routine. See and note one interesting or beautiful thing a day.

Go on a local pilgrimage. Live like a tourist in your own town and do the things out of a guidebook.

I am trying to get to A2 level of all official EU languages. That should keep me occupied and entertained for years .

Learn to sow your favourite piece of clothing.

Swim in the sea on Boxing Day/New Years day/mid winter

Visit different cities/places that spell out your name - so if you name was Louise then London, Oslo, University, India, Seaside, Exeter.

Host a posh dinner party
Hug a tree
Plant a tree
Hold a snake
Learn sign language (or a foreign language)
Pay for a stranger’s coffee/lunch
Learn to play poker or a new card game
Spend a day when you say Yes to every opportunity or question you are asked.
Go wine, gin or whiskey tasting

Spend a day when you say Yes to every opportunity or question you are asked.
This is an excellent one, and pushes you well out of your comfort zone occasionally, with potentially spectacular results. Obviously do it with safety aspects in mind. I did this recently as I was on standby at work (I work away from home) and had no plans because I didn’t know what work would ask of me. I went to places I normally would not do, and did things I hadn’t thought of, all because I had no firm plans in place and every time someone said ‘you should try this’ I did! If I told you what I ended up doing, you wouldn’t believe it, but cannot post here as outing.

I'm thinking about teaching myself to juggle

I have mine
Learn a musical instrument
Hot airballon ride
Italian Dinner in little Italy
Learn to snowboard
Sing in public
Glastonbury
Go to the lanes in Brighton
Afternoon tea at the Ritz
Visit Moscow
Visit Vegas

I'm going to try and do most of it this year as it's my 40th birthday

I don't have a bucket list but some suggestions:
open water swimming
volunteer at an event
go to a classical music concert / opera / genre you've not been to before
join a dance class or learn a routine
stand up paddle boarding
kayaking
rock climbing
go camping
music festival
couch to 5k /do a parkrun
wine tasting event / qualification
go vegetarian or vegan for a week (or more)
challenge to walk xx miles over the year
don't use the car for a week or don't use it for any journey less than a certain distance
learn how to use a map and compass