One Sunday evening my wife and I started creating a couples bucket list mainly consisting of all the places we wanted to travel and it got me thinking that I’ve never created a bucket list. Sure, I have pretty extensive goals, vision & values, but I had never taken the time to create a bucket list.

So, I opened up the Google Keep app on my phone and started a “Bucket List”. I brain dumped all the things I would like to do before I die (AKA Kick the Bucket). To get more ideas and spur the imagination I looked for bucket list examples by searching for things like best bucket list ideas, travel bucket list, and things you must do before you die. I was selective in what I added to my list but ultimately ended up creating a pretty good size list of things I wanted to do.

Jump to section: My Bucket List | Experiences | Travel & Destinations | Financial | Business/Professional | Couples/Relationship | Family

Tips for creating your bucket list

As I was creating my bucket list I found my “logical” (AKA Asshole Brain) brain kicking in and trying to reason why I shouldn’t add some things to my list.

  • Don’t limit yourself! When you’re creating your bucket list just put everything on there that sounds like something you might want to do, be, have, or experience.
  • Have a list app on your phone so you can easily add items when inspiration strikes. I like Google Keep. It has all of the features of Evernote, but it’s easier to use and I can share my lists with friends and collaborate. You can also set reminders so it pops up daily, weekly or monthly.
  • If you have a significant other consider creating a couples bucket list. It can be fun to daydream about vacationing together, making love in exotic destinations and that once in a lifetime experience you want to have together.
  • Even if you’re creating a couples bucket list make sure to create your own as well.
  • Understand that some items on your bucket list should also be included on your goals list. We’ll discuss how those are different later.
  • Also, make sure to add things you’ve already done!

Add the things you’ve already done

One of my favorite aspects about writing out my bucket list initially was seeing all the things I had already done. You see, I normally focus on the future and don’t dwell in the past, so it was nice to take a stroll down memory lane. This is the equivalent of writing something on a to-do list that you’ve already done and then crossing it off. It just feels right!

A few of the noteworthy things I’ve already crossed off my bucket list are: Fight in a UFC type fighting competition, dive off a waterfall in Maui, get published on Forbes, become a (great) father, start a business, build a successful business, own a rental house, and get married to the woman of my dreams.

A few of the items that are at the top of my list are: Make my company an employee-owned company, give a TED Talk, achieve zero debt, write and publish a book, speak at MozCon, become a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, travel to Thailand, help inspire someone else to do what they once thought was impossible and many more below.

My Bucket List

Experiences:

  • Learn to fly a plane
  • Fly a plane from Vancouver to another destination
  • Invent a product
  • Zipline through a rain forest (Thailand Jan 2018)
  • Fight in a UFC type MMA competition
  • Catch a wave surfing
  • Paddleboard from Fishers landing to downtown Vancouver on the Columbia River
  • Cliff Dive in Thailand
  • Snowboard Whistler, Canada
  • Do a back flip on a snowboard
  • Jump off a cliff on a snowboard
  • Scuba Dive
  • Dive off a waterfall in Maui (Dec, 2013 – Maui, Oheo Gulch AKA See even sacred pools)
  • Hang glide
  • Swim with the Dolphins
  • Skydive
  • Drive a Ferrari (Aug, 2017 – Thanks Gongster! Link to video)
  • Kitesurf
  • Ride in a hot air balloon
  • Shoot a sniper rifle (Dec 2016 – Hit a target from 500 yards away)

firing rifle

Travel Bucket List:

  • Hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
  • Experience the Northern lights in a glass igloo
  • Dive the great barrier reef in Australia
  • Climb the Pitons in St. Lucia
  • Trek to Macchu Picchu Peru
  • Visit Ogle Iguaçu Falls, Argentina/Brazil
  • Ride on a jet ski
  • Get paid to travel somewhere
  • Travel the world
  • Stay in an overwater bungalow
  • Travel on a yacht
  • Learn how to cook Thai food… in Thailand (Feb, 2018)
  • Visit Stonehenge
  • Bungee jump
  • Drive the road to Hana in Maui (2013, 2015 & 2017)
  • Stand under a waterfall (2013, Maui)
  • Ride one of those Flyboards
  • Ride a horse down a beach
  • Travel to Rome, Italy
    • Visit the Colosseum
    • Tour the Vatican
    • See the Trevi Fountain
  • Travel to Venice, Italy
    • Visit Piazza San Marco
    • Ride in a gondola
  • Travel to Florence, Italy
    • Watch the sunset over Ponte Vecchio
    • Climb to the top of Giotto’s Campanile
    • Climb to the top of El Duomo
  • Travel to Pisa, Italy
    • Take gratuitous pic of holding up the Leaning tower of Pisa
  • Travel to Cinque Terre, Italy
  • Cabo
  • Key West
  • Travel to Paris, France
    • Visit the Louvre in Paris
    • Visit the Eiffel tower
  • Bali
  • Bora Bora
  • Snorkel with manta rays in Bora Bora, French Polynesia
  • Maldives
  • Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui – Jan/Feb 2018)
  • Seychelles
  • Santorini (Greece)
  • St. Marteen
  • St. Lucia
  • Cruise the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
  • Swing at the “end of the world” in Ecuador
  • Spain
  • Ireland
  • Sydney, Australia
  • Fiji (Savusavu Sept 2018)
  • British/US Virgin Islands
  • Caribbean islands
  • Aruba
  • Jamaica
  • Tahiti
  • The Cook Islands
  • Punta Mita
  • Curacao
  • South America / Brazil?
  • Furnando De Noronhah – Brazil
  • Turks & Caicos
  • Kauai
  • Japan
  • Europe – Sicily, Barcelona,
  • London
  • Amalfi Coast
  • New York
  • San Francisco
  • New Orleans
  • Yosemite

Health & Fitness Bucket List:

  • Achieve a Blue belt in jiu-jitsu
  • Achieve a Purple belt in jiu-jitsu
  • Achieve a Brown belt in jiu-jitsu
  • Achieve a Black belt in jiu-jitsu
  • See my abs 🙂
  • Run a Spartan (Sprint)

Climbing over obstacle at a Spartan Sprint

  • Run a Spartan Race (Super)

Finishing at Spartan Super in SeattleSpartan Super with mykids

  • Run a Spartan Race (Beast)

Positive Impact Bucket List:

  • Give at a TED Talk
  • Help teens/ high school students develop positive life skills
  • Do an inspirational talk (May, 2017 – Spoke at VanTalks. Link to Video)
  • Write a book
  • Publish a book
  • Create/Run a podcast
  • Help a stranger in an unexpected way
  • Volunteer at a homeless shelter
  • Work for free
  • Help another person develop a positive mindset
  • Help another person do something they thought was once impossible
  • Help someone become a millionaire
  • Speak to a High school and inspire them

Business/Professional Bucket List:

  • Start a business
  • Fail at business
  • Lease our first office
  • Hire our first employee
  • Build a successful business
  • Get nominated to the SEMpdx Board of Directors
  • Get nominated to the Vancouver Chamber Board of Directors
  • Build an amazing leadership team at Webfor
  • Make Webfor an employee-owned company
  • Have Webfor be listed as a top employer/workplace
  • Have Webfor win VBJ Fastest Growing Businesses Award
  • Be listed as Accomplished & Under 40
  • Get column published on Forbes
  • Be featured on Mashable
  • Get published on Huffington Post
  • Write a column for Entreprenuer.com
  • Speak (or have a team member speak) at SMX Advanced
  • Speak (or have a team member speak) at Pubcon
  • Speak at Swivel Conference (Oct, 2018)
  • Speak at State of Search (Oct, 2018)
  • Speak at Seattle Interactive Conference (Oct, 2016)
  • Speak (or have a team member speak) at MozCon

Financial Bucket List:

  • Start Roth IR
  • Invest in 401(k)
  • Buy a home
  • Have a rental home
  • Have a rental home that cash flows
  • Pay off vehicle loans
  • Hire a housekeeper
  • Achieve financial freedom
  • Pay off student loans
  • Have zero debt (other than mortgages)
  • Have zero personal debt (including mortgages)
  • Build dream home (April, 2011 – ended up buying it from a builder)

Relationship/Couples Bucket List:

  • Marry the woman of my dreams
  • Be the best partner/husband I can be (Always a work in progress)
  • Show my wife how thankful I am for her every day
  • Go to a Tony Robbins Seminar together (March & Sept 2018)
  • Have/Make great friends
  • Travel around the world together
  • Create our own private bucket list and keep private 🙂
  • Have a romantic dinner with her in all the places we visit
  • Go on a cruise just the wife and I (2011, Caribbean Cruise)
  • Run an obstacle course race together (2015, Rugged Maniiac)

Family & activities w/ kids:

  • Be involved in my children’s  school & extracurricular activities
  • Take the children on vacations with us (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017)
  • Become a (great) father (Always a work in progress)
  • Road Trip Across the country
  • Road Trip down coast through California
  • Road Trip on the Oregon Coast
  • Do the Road to Hana w/ the Kids
  • Take the kids snorkeling
  • Go on a Disney cruise w/ the kids (2006 & 2012)
  • Give them the right mindset to allow them to be happy and make a positive impact (A work in progress)
  • Spend quality time with them doing physical activities (paddle boarding,  hiking, snorkeling, etc. )
  • Paddleboard on LaCamas lake

 

Additional Info & Resources:

What is a bucket list?

Why create a bucket list?

How to create your first bucket list?

What are the differences between goals and a bucket list?

Some great example bucket lists here:

https://bucketlistjourney.net/my-bucket-list/

https://www.locationrebel.com/bucket-list/ (A dinner conversation with Shawn Ogle inspired me to make my bucket list public to hold myself accountable)

https://bucketlist.org/

https://personalexcellence.co/blog/bucket-list/