Bucket List Checklist: 100 Ideas — How Many Have You Done?
Reading a list of 100 bucket list ideas is easy. Counting how many you have actually done is more fun. This checklist has 100 ideas we wrote ourselves in eight groups: travel (13), food (12), challenges (13), people (12), learning (12), little joys (13), courage (12) and things just for you (13). Tap the ones you have done and mark the ones you want to do, and you get your score out of 100, a rank in 10 steps, a chart by group and your next 3 ideas, as a card for your feed (1080×1350px) or story (1080×1920px). There is also a "10 things this year" card built from your wants, room for your own items, a printable A4 bucket list template (blank version included) and a 50-item couples bucket list. Share a link to see what you and a friend have both done, and what you both still want to do.
All 100 bucket list ideas
Each group mixes a few big dreams with small things you could do this week. Numbers match the checklist above.
Travel 13
- Take a trip on my own
- Fly to another country
- Travel overnight by train or bus
- Watch the sunrise from a beach
- Get on a train with no plan at all
- Live in another city for a month
- Spend a night at a campsite
- See a sky full of stars, far from city lights
- Soak in an outdoor hot spring while it snows
- Hike to the top of a real mountain
- Cycle all the way around an island
- Go see the northern lights
- Collect five stamps in my passport
Food 12
- Eat a cuisine I have never tried
- Sit at the counter for a chef's tasting menu
- Learn one family recipe by heart
- Bake bread from scratch
- Shop at a market and cook a whole spread
- Eat only street food for a whole day
- Host a dinner party at home
- Queue an hour for a famous restaurant
- Make my own jam, pickles or preserves
- Do a proper tea or wine tasting
- Eat alone at a really nice restaurant
- Make someone a birthday cake from scratch
Challenges 13
- Finish a 10K run
- Go bungee jumping or skydiving
- Go snorkeling in the sea
- Catch one wave on a surfboard
- Exercise every day for 30 days
- Play one whole song on an instrument
- Drive somewhere far on my own
- Hold a handstand
- Walk 20,000 steps in one day
- Enter a contest or competition
- Perform on a stage
- Spend a whole weekend without my phone
- Finish one creative project of my own
People 12
- Take a trip with just one of my parents
- Message an old friend first
- Hand someone a handwritten letter
- Throw someone a surprise party
- Talk with a friend until sunrise
- Take a family photo at a studio
- Record my grandparents' stories
- Volunteer regularly for a whole season
- Look after a pet or a plant for a year
- Become friends with someone I met by chance
- Thank someone I never properly thanked
- Give blood
Learning 12
- Hold a 10-minute conversation in another language
- Read 50 books in a year
- Earn a certificate in something new
- Take a cooking class
- Learn the full dance to one song
- Learn to swim 25 meters
- Build something small with code
- See a whole museum from the first room to the last
- Shoot a whole roll of film
- Make something by hand, like pottery or woodwork
- Go to a talk or book event in person
- Keep a diary for 100 days straight
Little joys 13
- Have a picnic by the river at sunset
- Walk in the rain without an umbrella
- Go outside for the first snow of the year
- Spend a whole day in pajamas watching films
- Buy myself a bunch of flowers
- See my favorite singer live
- Stay at a theme park from opening to closing
- Climb somewhere high to see the city at night
- Become a regular at a local spot
- Print my photos and make an album
- Go to the movies alone
- Take a walk at dawn when the streets are empty
- Write a letter to myself to open in ten years
Courage 12
- Say what I really think, kindly
- Tell someone I like them
- Join a group where I know no one
- Try a completely different haircut or color
- Apply for the thing I was scared to apply for
- Face one thing I am afraid of
- Say no without making an excuse
- Live on my own
- Apologize for something I never apologized for
- Give a talk in front of people
- Get lost on purpose somewhere new
- Put something out into the world with my name on it
Just for me 13
- Have a day with nothing planned at all
- Find a kind of exercise I actually enjoy
- Get a full health checkup
- Build up an emergency fund
- Buy myself one expensive thing I really wanted
- Make one room completely my style
- Declutter my room and my phone
- Sleep eight hours every night for a week
- Talk to a counselor, just for me
- Book a hotel night just for myself
- Write down my top ten films and books
- Take one photo of myself every month for a year
- Earn money from something I love
All 50 couples bucket list ideas
Dates, trips, at home, milestones and doing things together, ten of each. Tick them together on the "Couples 50" tab above.
Dates 10
- Take couple photos at a photo studio
- Wear matching outfits for a day out
- Wear outfits we picked for each other
- Share one umbrella on a rainy walk
- Catch a late-night movie together
- Take each other to our favorite places
- Drive around looking at the city lights
- Have a picnic with a blanket and a basket
- Take a late-night walk holding hands
- Go back to where we first met
Trips 10
- Take our first trip abroad together
- Watch a sunrise together by the sea
- Spend a night camping together
- Take a day trip by train
- Plan a surprise trip for the other
- Go somewhere it is snowing
- Do a road trip around an island
- Stay in the room all day on a trip
- Mail each other postcards from a trip
- Go stargazing together
At home 10
- Cook a whole dinner together
- Binge a whole series in one night
- Dye each other's hair
- Finish a 1,000-piece puzzle together
- Have a board game night
- Keep a plant alive together
- Write each other letters
- Read the same book and talk about it
- Bake something together
- Make a photo album of us
Milestones 10
- Celebrate our first anniversary properly
- Pull off a birthday surprise
- Get matching rings
- Meet each other's families
- Hang out with each other's friends
- Decorate a Christmas tree together
- Count down to the New Year together
- Make a time capsule to open in a year
- Give each other silly award certificates
- Recreate our first date on an anniversary
Together 10
- Work out together for 30 days
- Run a race together
- Take a one-day class together
- Ride the scariest ride together
- Volunteer together
- Hike to a summit and take a photo at the top
- Save up together for one big goal
- Be the first to say sorry after a fight
- Do one thing from each other's own bucket list
- Write a letter to us ten years from now
More things to try
Liked counting what you have done? Try the AFI top 100 movies checklist or the BBC 100 books checklist. To break this year's goals into small steps, use the mandala chart planner.
How to use the bucket list checklist
- 1
Tap every idea you have already done to tick it. For things you have not done but want to, tap "Want to" on the right. The group tabs make counting faster.
- 2
Missing something? Add it under "Add my own". Your score, rank and how far the bear has climbed update with every tap.
- 3
Save the "How many have I done" card or the "10 things this year" card as an image, or print the A4 PDF for your wall. Copy your link and send it to a friend or partner to compare.
FAQ
Where do these 100 bucket list ideas come from?
We wrote them ourselves so that most people can honestly answer "done" or "not yet": 13 travel, 12 food, 13 challenges, 12 people, 12 learning, 13 little joys, 12 courage and 13 just-for-you ideas. Big dreams like seeing the northern lights sit next to small ones you could do this week, like going to the movies alone. There is no right list, so add whatever is missing with "Add my own".
Is there a couples bucket list?
Yes. The "Couples 50" tab has 50 ideas in five groups of ten: dates, trips, at home, milestones and doing things together. Tick them together on one phone, or each tick your own and swap links to see what you have both done and what you both want to do next. There is no app to install, no account linking and no paid tier, and you can add up to 60 of your own items. Each tab has its own name field, so you can put both names on the couples card.
How do the ranks work?
There are 10 ranks based on how many you have done: 0 Still Packing, 1-5 First Steps, 6-10 Neighborhood Explorer, 11-20 Weekend Adventurer, 21-30 Quiet Adventurer, 31-40 Says Yes to Things, 41-55 Life Collector, 56-70 Fearless Explorer, 71-85 Full of Stories, 86-100 Bucket List Champion. The couples list uses the same percentages (each item counts as 2%) with its own couple ranks. The higher you go, the closer the bear on your card gets to the flag at the top of the hill. "Want to" marks and your own items do not count toward your score.
Can I add my own bucket list items?
Yes. Type up to 30 characters under "Add my own" and it joins the list, with the same "Done" and "Want to" marks (up to 60 on each list). Your own "Want to" items go first on the "10 things this year" card and on the last page of the PDF. They are not included in your share link, so friends only see your ticks on the 100 ideas.
Can I print a bucket list template?
Tap "Checklist PDF" for an A4 PDF (3 pages by default). Pages 1 and 2 list all 100 ideas by group in two columns, each with a "Done" box and a "Want to" box, filled in with your current ticks. Page 3 holds your own items plus blank lines to write on (more pages if you added a lot). For a clean copy with nothing ticked, tap "Blank template PDF". The couples list prints on 2 pages by default.
How do I compare with a friend or partner? Is my list stored anywhere?
Copy link puts your ticks into a short code at the end of the address (?r=...). When a friend opens it, they see what you have both done, what only one of you has done, and what you both want to do. Nothing is sent to a server: your ticks live only in this browser and in the link you share.
How do I write a good bucket list?
Make each item specific enough that you will know when it is done ("cycle around an island" beats "travel more"). Mix a few big dreams with small things you could do this month so you keep ticking things off. Do not try to do all 100: pick 10 for this year and put them somewhere you will see them. And keep the ones you have already done marked, because a year from now it is nice to see how much you actually did.
What size are the images?
The feed card is 1080×1350px (4:5), so Instagram will not crop it. The story card is 1080×1920px (9:16) with space left at the top and bottom for Instagram's own buttons. On a phone you can use Share to send it straight to an app.
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