My Unique Bucket List Ideas

It’s not uncommon for people to have bucket lists of places they want to check out and things they want to do. As someone who is very experience-driven, I wanted to create my own list featuring some of the best bucket list ideas I’ve come across as well as quirky and even unconventional items. There are many ideas, so they are broken down by broad categories.

Feel free to add them to your own adventures and if you happen to take up any of these ideas, let me know how they go!

Note: This list will continue to grow and evolve over time, so don’t hesitate to bookmark it and come back to it again.

Contents hide

1 Travel Bucket List

2 Location Agnostic Travel Bucket List

3 Experience Bucket List

4 Fitness Bucket List

5 Foodie Bucket List

6 Miscellaneous Bucket List

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Travel Bucket List

Specifically for Japan, check out my Ultimate Bucket List of Things to Do in Japan.

Live, study, or work abroad for a few years
Travel solo
Visit the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, and see the Mona Lisa
See the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt by camel
Visit both ends of the Great Wall of China
Join La Tomatina, a Spanish festival where people throw tomatoes at each other
Stay at the ICEHOTEL (a hotel made of ice) in Sweden
Visit all 50 US states and try the top ice cream shop
Go on a cross-country road trip with friends

See the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights
Go on an African safari and catch a glimpse of the Big 5
Visit Barcelona to see the architecture of Antonio Gaudi
Experience the immensity of a glacier up close
Float in the Dead Sea
Celebrate Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany
Visit the Hermitage, the world’s largest museum, in St. Petersburg, Russia
Make a new animal friend on Galapagos Islands
Cross Abbey Road in London
Get picked up at the airport by someone with a sign with my name on it
Catch glimpse of a geisha in Kyoto, Japan
Shop at Harrods, especially at the food halls
Ride the Trans-Siberian Express from China to Russia
Step foot on Antarctica
See the castles and temples of Kyoto
Enjoy coffee at a Starbucks with tatami seating in Japan

Shop for electronic gadgets at Akihabara in Tokyo
Visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where an art heist remains unsolved
Eat churros for breakfast in Madrid, Spain
Try real basque cheesecake from the Basque region
Explore the Summer Palace in Beijing, China
Visit Tsukiji Fish Market at dawn and pick something to eat raw
Try odorigui (踊り食い), in particular a dancing squid
See tulip fields in the Netherlands
Take the Shinkansen or bullet train across Japan
Go on a food trip around Italy
Buy a Russian matryoshka doll
Eat at Restaurante Botin, the world’s oldest restaurant
Go people-watching at a Parisian café
Watch a Broadway musical in New York City
Watch a West End musical in London
Eat authentic Mexican cuisine in Mexico
Get a bird’s eye view of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
Relax on a Brazilian beach

See the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, China
Cruise the Nile River in Egypt
Drive the streets of Havana, Cuba in a vintage car
Visit Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic
Trek the Andes mountain range
Check out Le Mont-Saint-Michel at high tide and low tide
Hang out on the banks of the River Seine
See the cave paintings in Lascaux, France
Trace what is left of the Berlin Wall in Germany
Visit the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt
See the ruins of Petra, Jordan
Relax in a luxurious resort in the Maldives
Get lost in a Moroccan bazaar
Travel to Bhutan
Bike around Amsterdam, the Netherlands
See the Suez or Panama Canal in action
Visit the sanctuary of Machu Picchu in Peru

Explore the archaeological ruins of Greece
Go to Liverpool, United Kingdom
Visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania
Interview a hawker in Singapore
See Don Quixote’s windmills in La Mancha, Spain
Wander the streets of New York City like Holden Caulfield
Experience those little fish that nibble at dead skin in Thailand
Wear a fresh handmade lei in Hawai’i
Sleep the night in a Mongolian yurt
Jive in a Jamaican dance hall
Go shrimping in Taiwan
Watch a kabuki play in Japan
See how Dia de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico
Visit all the Smithsonian museums in Washington, DC
Travel the entire span of Route 66
Drink at an Irish pub on St. Patrick’s Day
Explore Bath, England

Drive the Pacific Coast Highway from one end to the other
Sail the Mississippi River on a steamboat
Watch a Peking opera
Picnic under cherry blossoms in Japan
View Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France
Take a dip in a Japanese onsen (hot spring)
Go on a cruise across the oceans
Tour the underground of the Roman Colosseum
See the Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand
Taste genuine tapas and pintxos in Spain
Go on a trip without making any plans or bookings. Just pack the bags and go
Live the luxe life in Monaco
Explore the Florida Everglades on an airboat
Travel to Alaska
Fly business class or, better yet, first class
Chill by the Spanish Steps in Rome
Visit Santorini, Greece
Meditate in a traditional Japanese garden

Experience a Thai floating market
Celebrate Chinese New Year in the heart of Asia
Go behind the scenes at a hotel, airline, airport, or cruise ship
Climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge
Watch the Rio Carnival from the grandstands
Stroll Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills
Participate in a Japanese tea ceremony
Cross the Shibuya Scramble Crossing in Tokyo
Join the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival in Taipei, Taiwan
See the Jadeite Cabbage at the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan
Embark on a Night Safari in Singapore
Journey the Mekong River across Indochina
Visit Stonehenge in England
See the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, Rhode Island
Ride a gondola in Venice, Italy
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland
Visit the Palace of Versailles in France
Join the Holi festivities in India

See Mt. Fuji in Japan
Visit Bali, Indonesia
Explore the Forbidden City in Beijing, China
Run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain
Hear the Pope speak at Vatican City
Visit the Holy Land of Jerusalem in Israel
Shop at a German Christmas market
Step inside the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France
Tour Patagonia, the southernmost end of South America
Visit the White House in Washington, DC
See Niagara Falls
Stand under the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles
Unwind in the French Riviera
Pick blueberries in Washington atate
Get a henna tattoo in India
Travel all seven continents
Wander the Silk Road
Walk atop a Hawaiian volcano
Watch a K-pop act in Seoul

Travel to the Stans: Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, or Kyrgyzstan
Visit the ruins of Pompeii in Italy
See the giant statues of Easter Island in Chile
Explore the Taj Mahal at sunset
Mail a friend from a Disney park mailbox
Watch the animal migrations in the Serengeti Plains
See the statue by Michelangelo and Donatello in Florence, Italy
Navigate the Yangtze River in China
Visit Angkor Wat in Cambodia
Hike Mount Kilimanjaro
See the Grand Canyon
Explore the Amazon rainforest
Eat Philly Cheesesteak in Philadelphia
Taste champagne at a winery in the Champagne region
Ski or snowboard in Japan

Location Agnostic Travel Bucket List

These ideas are travel-related, but not really tied to a specific location.

Throw a dart at a map and just go there
Go outlet shopping in a foreign country
Reach the end of a continent
Ride a steam train
Witness a ceremony by an indigenous people
See a dinosaur skeleton
Pan for gold in a stream

Step inside a medieval stone castle
Spend the night in a log cabin
Visit more than one country in a single trip
Go around the world in 80 days
Climb to the top of a lighthouse
Hop aboard a wooden ship
Create a travel scrapbook
Ride a small airplane where each passenger has to be weighed
Stay at a bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere
Sleep in a capsule hotel
Take a sleeper train
Sleep in a cottage over the sea
Explore a shipwreck
Spend the night in a treehouse

Walk through a bamboo forest
Hike through a tropical rainforest
Walk across a rice field
Camp in a national park
See coral ecosystems via a glass-bottom boat
Step on an uninhabited island
Discover a hidden lagoon
See a dolphin in the wild
Walk inside a butterfly garden
Watch turtle eggs hatch
Shower under a waterfall
Give glamping a go
Build an igloo and stay in it
Watch hot air balloons take flight

Experience Bucket List

These ideas are a catch-all for general experiences. Specific lists for food, fitness, and relationships can be found down this page more.

Relearn how to fish and go fishing with friends
Blow molten glass into something cool
Go bird-watching and identify at least three birds
Learn how to command a falcon
Make my own soap from scratch
Learn how to play a long-forgotten or lesser known board game
Collect a coin from every country I visit
Build a piece of wooden furniture
Get a pet cat or dog
Travel with pet(s)
Learn Chinese paper cutting
Create my own fragrance
Paint my own masterpiece
Start a blog to help people
Use a potter’s wheel to create a pot
Learn how to make washi paper by hand

Start a collection
Learn another language
Teach a community college course
Actually read all of the books I own
Actually play all of the board games I own
Buy out all of the inventory from a lemonade stand or similar childhood business
Purchase an original piece of art and see it increase in value
Let a cosmetology student do whatever they like to my hair
Cruise on a private yacht
Fly in a private jet
Sit front row at a fashion show
Get premium seats to a rock concert
Win at a rap battle
Play the drums