Bucket list posts

Starting a bucket list was one of the single most influential things Ive ever done in my life.

Seriously.

In 2009, I was stuck in a day job I wasnt excited about, longing for travel, and wishing I could do something about it.

Id saved up all of my vacation time for the year to go to Rio de Janiero for Carnival. It was two weeks of the most epic adventures Id ever had in my life.

We went hang gliding over Rio, went to Iguazu Falls, danced in the Carnival parade we did it all.

And the whole time there was this nagging thought that I couldnt shake:

I should be able to do this stuff whenever I want.

To cap it all off, the day I got back I got a 20% pay cut.

A few weeks later I had a chance encounter with Chris Guillebeau, and he encouraged me to do two things:

1. Create a bucket list
2. Start a blog to hold myself accountable for checking things off said, bucket list.

So thats what I did.

Two months later Location Rebel was a reality, and I set to work checking things off my bucket list.

This led to me leaving my job, moving to Thailand, starting a business and creating a lifetimes worth of stories in a short period of time.

Chris and I used to meet at Starbucks every month or two during that first year. It was pretty cool to see him 11 months after that first meeting at a Starbucks in Bangkok:

Within a couple years of publishing my list in an effort to hold myself accountable for actually doing these things, I:

• Moved to a tropical island
• Climbed a mountain
• Went to Cuba and smoked a cigar before the embargo was lifted
• Played Pebble Beach Golf Course
• Stayed in an overwater bungalow in the Maldives
• Had a Singapore Sling at the Raffles

The list goes on [you can see it below].

Over a decade later, Imstillworking for myself and having adventures. And its all thanks to creating my bucket list of 100+ things I wanted to do before I died.

Ive realized that my goals have changed a lot since I first created that list, so my bucket list has evolved since then as well.

In this post, Im going to answer questions like:

• What is a bucket list?
• How do you create your own bucket list?
• What items should you put on a bucket list?
• Why should you create areversebucket list?
• And more.

Ive also included the most up-to-date version of my bucket list that you can use for ideas and motivation.

What is a Bucket List?

I can hear some of you right now, saying what the heck is that?

Quite simply:

A bucket list is a list of things to do before you die [or kick the bucket].

The key here is that your list should be things that you want to do and would love to do.

Thats all there is to it.

It was made popular from the movie called The Bucket List where two terminally ill guys [Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson] meet in a hospital and then set out on an adventure to try and do everything on their lists.

I mean, who wouldnt want to go and have some adventures with these guys, right?

What Should You Put on Your Bucket List?

My thoughts on this have evolved a lot over the last 12 years.

My original list, had some unique items, but a lot them were your typical see the Eiffel Tower type items. [Which,checkby the way.]

Theres nothing wrong with wanting to see the typical touristy hotspots. But I think your bucket list should be more personal than that.

For instance, what are the things youre truly interested and passionate about? You should have a lot of items specifically related to those things.

Whatpeopledo you want to have experiences with? The best part about traveling and frankly, life in general, are the people you share things with.

So my current iteration of my bucket list has a number of things Id like to do with certain people that I think would be really meaningful.

A few other categories to think about are:

• Career/Business
• Family
• Friends
• Unique Experiences
• Food
• Hobbies
• Skills

We go into more depth on this one in our How to Start a Bucket List post. So if youre looking for a walk-through for creating your own, check that out.

The Bucket List Quest

A bucket list can be whatever you want it to be, but I personally love the idea of a quest. A quest is atypeof bucket list, but youre generally working towards a goal in a specific niche.

For instance, Chris wanted to visit every country in the world by the time he was 35.

Im trying to play the top 100 golf courses in the world.

Im also trying to visit the top 100 bars in the world.

While I dont call them bucket lists, thats effectively what they are.

Its a list of things I would like to experience before I die they just happen to be all related to a common concept.

So if youre really passionate about something, consider creating a quest rather than just a typical bucket list.

My Bucket List [And Bucket List Ideas for You]

Without further ado, lets jump into my current bucket list.

This has evolved quite a bit from the original 100 things I published. Many items are still on there, and many have been removed. But Ive crossed off the ones Ive done, and added a little commentary about each section, to help give insights that might inspire you and your own list.

Experiences with Specific People

I love being around people who are passionate about something. This holds especially true, when I have a shared passion for that thing. So many of these are people Id like to meet, but I dont just want to shake hands and say hi. I want to do something more memorable than that.

• Drink Japanese Whisky with Kevin Rose
• Shoot a Vlog with Peter McKinnon
• Shoot a vlog with Jesse Driftwood
• Jam with Joe Bonamassa
• Chat watches with Ben Clymer at Hodinkee [November 2019]
• Share a Cocktail with Ryan Chetiwardanya
• Go for a Bike Ride with Noah Kagan
• Visit Lake Como with Nick Ramil
• Golf with Justin Timberlake
• Take an International Trip with My Mom
• Take an International Trip with My Dad
• Meet Phil Knight
• So many things with my wife and daughter, listing just one would be impossible.

Places Id Like to Ski

• Vail, Colorado [Many times now]
• Aspen Mountain, Colorado
• Deer Valley, Utah
• Snowbird/Alta, Utah
• Chamonix, France
• Lake Tahoe
• Zermatt, Switzerland
• Anywhere in Southern Hemisphere
• Niseko, Japan [February 2018]

Drinks

• Take a wine class
• Get a drink of mine on a menu at a bar [The Ogle Gilt Club, Portland, OR]
• Drink a scotch older than me [Glenlivit 50, January 2013]
• Have a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel [November 2015]
• Visit the #1 bar in the world
  • #1 bar 2020: Connaught Bar
  • #1 Bar 2019: Dante
  • #1 bar 2018: Danelyan
  • #1 bar 2017: American Bar
  • #1 bar 2016: Dead Rabbit
  • #1 bar 2015: Artesian
• Drink a bottle of Opus One [May 2021]
  
• Go Wine Tasting in Napa Valley [October 2013]
• Go to ALL of the top 100 bars in the world
• Drink a bottle of wine from my birth year [May 2021]

Food and Restaurants

Eating can be one of the great joys and experiences in life. This is especially true when you travel. If you like to eat, food can be a fantastic starting point when creating your own bucket list.

• French Laundry [Napa Valley]
• Alinea [Chicago]
• Tickets [Barcelona]
• Eleven Madison Park [NYC]
• Ultraviolet [Shanghai]
• Gaggan [Bangkok]
• Osteria Francescana [Modena]
• Franklins BBQ [Austin]
• Blue Hill at Stones Barns
• Fireworks Feast on Prince Edward Island [September 2018]
• Eat sushi in Japan [February 2018]
• Eat Chili Crab in Singapore [November 2015]
• Eat a beignet in New Orleans
• Have pad thai in Thailand [January 2010]
• Eat tacos in Mexico [January 2013]
• Literally, throw another shrimp on the barbie in Australia
• Eat a steak and drink Malbec in Buenos Aires
• Make Gordon Ramsays Beef Wellington

The Fireworks Feast was the single greatest culinary experience Ive ever had:

Work and Business

Many of these bucket list goals were set when I originally published this list in 2009. Its nice to see that Ive made some progress!

• Start my own business [2005, 2007, 2012, 2019]
• Make My First Dollar Online [August 2007]
• Make an Average of $10/day Off My Online Business [Summer 2010]
• Make a Living off My Online Business [Summer 2010]
• Reach 10,000 Followers on Twitter [2014]
• Reach 100k YouTube Subscribers
• Shoot a Sequel to The Desk
• Work from a Resort Hotel [Many times now]
• Gross $100,000 in a month [Current best: $68,221 August 2021]
• Gross $500,000 in a year [Current best: $311,000 2020]
• Do a $50k Product Launch [January 2014]
• Donate $10k+ to a cause thats important to me
• Launch a charitable arm to my business
• Speak in Front of a Large Crowd [TEDxCMU 2012]

Golf:

As I mentioned above, golf is a passion of mine and something Ive traveled extensively for. So naturally, a portion of my bucket list is going to have some golf-related items.

• Make a Hole in One
• Make a double eagle.
• Make an eagle.
• Break 80 [March 2016]
• Break 70
• Take my dad to Bandon Dunes [June 2020]

My Top Golf Courses Id Like to Play

• Cypress Point
• Pebble Beach [June 2015]
• St. Andrews [Old Course] September 2016

• Augusta National
• Pine Valley
• National Golf Links of America [September 2018]
• Tara Iti
• Shinnecock Hills
• Wade Hampton
• Friars Head
• Bandon Dunes [November, 2013]
• Loch Lomond [September, 2016]

Real Estate

• Buy a House [April 2014]
• Sell a House for a Profit [August 2021]
• Buy a Vacation Home in Caldera Springs or Sunriver

Sunriver is one of my favorite places on Earth:

Hotels

Ive always had a weird obsession with luxury hotels. Often its thehotelthat Im most excited for when I travel. This list could easily be dozens of items long, but these are some of the highlights for me:

• St Regis New York
• Shangri-La at the Shard [January 2018]
• Park Hyatt Tokyo [November, 2018]
• Overwater Hut in the Maldives [November, 2015]

• Post Ranch Inn [Big Sur, California]
• Marina Bay Sands [Singapore]
• Upperhouse [Hong Kong]
• Como Shambala Estate [Bali]
• Mandarin Oriental [Bangkok]
• Burj al Arab [Dubai]
• Four Seasons Hualalai [Hawaii]
• Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch [Colorado]
• Posthotel [Washington]
• Allison Inn [Oregon]

Cool Experiences

Major Events

• Go to a World Cup purely for the atmosphere
• See Foo Fighters in concert
• See Rolling Stones in concert
• See Paul McCartney in concert [July 2019]
• See Dave Matthews at the Gorge [August 2008]
• Go to to a Full Moon Party in Koh Phanang
• Attend the Monaco Grand Prix
• Have a Beer at Oktoberfest in Munich [September 2017]
• Dance in the Carnival Parade [February 2009]
• Attend each of the tennis Grand Slams [0/4]
• Go to the Masters [April 2012]
• Finish a Marathon [May 2011]

Travel Experiences

• Have a pint of Guiness in Dublin [December 2017]
• Go to New York City [August 2010]
• Go to Burning Man
• See the Eiffel Tower in Person [April 2019]
• Visit the Ruins of Pompeii
• Rock Climb in Yosemite National Park
• Heli-Ski in Valdez, Alaska
• Ride Every Roller Coaster at Cedar Point
• Go to Cuba Before the Embargo is Lifted and Have a Cigar [January 2012]
• Take a roadtrip from LA to NYC [March 2012]
• Hang Glide Over Rio de Janeiro [February 2009]
• Visit Iguazu Falls [February 2009]
• Stay in the Amazon Jungle
• Trek to Machu Picchu
• Visit Every Continent [4/7]
• Travel for at least 3 months straight [April 2010]
• Live for a month on a tropical island [September 2011, Bali]
• Go to the airport with no pre-conceived idea of where Ill be going [May 2010, BKK > MNL]
• Fly in a fighter jet
• Visit Victoria Falls in Zambia
• See a giraffe in the wild
• Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
• Go on a cruise

Other Interesting Bucket List Items:

• Climb a Mountain [August 2009]
• Be an extra in a Hollywood movie
• Bungee Jump [June 2006]
• Go Skydiving [June 2012]
• Learn how to sail
• Go to Space
• Do a Vipassana Retreat
• Get a photograph published
• Get an article Ive written published [June 2011]
• Fly in a private jet
• Become proficient at Adobe Photoshop [2011]
• Learn a foreign language
• Bench press 200 pounds
• Make at least 1 terrifying decision that will get me closer to my goals [January 2010 Move to Thailand]
• Record an album with 10 original songs
• Achieve zero debt [2016]
• Drive a Ferrari [June 2015]
• Do something newsworthy [May 2011]
• Take dance lessons for
  • Samba
  • Ballroom
  • Tango
  • Salsa
• Swim with dolphins
• Ride something larger than a horse [June 2012, Camel]
• Play tennis with a current or former top 10 player in the world.
• Embarrass myself in front of a bunch of people [June 2013, see Reverse Bucket List video below]
• Compose at least one spectacular HDR image [June 2012]

• Climb a 5.11 climbing route [The current best is 5.10+]
• Win [another] tennis tournament with at least 12 entrants]
• Wake up before 6am everyday for 2 weeks [October 2014]
• Create a list of my top 100 albums of all time
• Have coffee with the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company
• Write a book
• Shake hands with a President
• Give a speech that makes people both laughandcry. [June 2018, Best Man Speech]

What is a Reverse Bucket List?

This past year theres been a growing trend of people creating whats known as a reverse bucket list.

Essentially this is when instead of writing a list of things you want to do in life, you create a list of things youve already done.

The idea is to help you realize that youve done more than you think. Its a great way to be thankful for those experiences, rather than frustrated at the things wehaventdone.

Plus, we all like to take a minute and appreciate everything weve already accomplished, right?

We look at what it is in detail and talk about how to create one in this video:

Wantto learn more? Check out our post on reverse bucket lists.

How to Get Anything You Want in Life

A lot of people start out with a bucket list because theyre thinking of all the things they truly want in life. Whether its material items, experiences, or relationships.

Well heres the deal, getting anything you want in life is actually not as difficult as you think.

Read: How to Get Anything You Want in Life [in 31 Simples Steps]

How to Create a Bucket List of Your Own

Over the years Ive written quite a bit of content about bucket lists, because creating one has had such a dramatic affect on my life.

Hopefully, these posts will help you come up with some cool bucket list ideas of your own and give you some things to think about as you begin creating your list.

• How to Create a Bucket List Stuck on how to start? Youre in the right place. In this post, I share 10 real deal actionable steps on how to get started right now. Read this and youll be brimming with your own bucket list ideas by the end of the day.
• The Best Bucket List Books for Doing More in Life I dont know about you, but there are few things I find more inspiring than reading the stories of people who have done the impossible. In this list of books, youre going to find people doing just that. Plus a few books chock full of ideas to help you create your own list.
• The Importance of Having a Bucket List in Business Look, bucket lists dont just apply to life, you can apply them to business too. In this post, I share how having a bucket list can help transform your business opportunities.
• Why Every Entrepreneur Should Have a Bucket List Building your own business can be rough. It can be hard to focus on anything outside of work and sitting at the laptop 10 hours a day doesnt help. This post shares my advice on how entrepreneurs can break out of a rut with a bucket list.

Enjoy, and heres to doing more of the things that make us happy in life!