350+ IDEAS FOR THE BUCKET LIST
Personal List of Dreams for More Fulfilled and Meaningful Life For the Next Decade
Before our departure to Mexico and after publishing my Dream List for 2009–2017 on my previous blog, I shared a list of our dreams for the upcoming 10 years.
Many of those dreams once seemed out of reach, yet over time, we’ve managed to check off numerous items from that list.
Thus, some new and more adventurous dreams were added to our list.
I believe we will manage to accomplish the rest of it before the deadline (despite the war in our home country and all “other” circumstances).
And I hope our experiences and achievements can be a source of inspiration for others to pursue their own daring dreams.
Below, you’ll find a mix of my personal dreams (marked “I”) and those of my husband (marked “A”), along with shared dreams. Completed dreams are denoted with the year of fulfillment (marked accordingly F 2017, F 2018, F 2019, etc).
Keep in mind that this list is dynamic and constantly evolving, just like us. So, join us as we embark on this ever-changing adventure of chasing dreams and discovering new possibilities.
To sustain, change, find, become, experience, accomplish:
1. Go for a long-term trip with our dog (F 2017).
2. Spend 1 year traveling (F 2017–2018).
3. Try what it is like to be a digital nomad (F 2017).
4. Live like a local for a month (F 2017).
5. Become parents (F 2021, F 2023).
6. Write a book (I).
7. Give a TED Talk (I).
8. Create a character for a movie (A).
9. Take part in a conference.
10. Live in an art-residence for a few months and do art.
12. Become a mentor (I) (F2017/2018).
13. Perform at a stage in a theater (I).
14. Create a list of “101 books you must read before you die” (I).
15. Establish a guesthouse.
16. Write down all my night dreams in course of a year (I) (F 2017).
17. Spend a month without eating meat (F 2017 — no meat diet for 6 months).
18. Spend 6 months without alcohol (F 2017–2018).
19. Be a vegan for a month (F 2018).
20. Try a raw food diet for a month.
21. Not to eat sweets for a month (F 2017).
22. Live a month without being late.
23. Live 6 months consciously saying only truth no matter what.
24. Start every morning with fresh fruits for a month (F 2017/2018 — we did it for more than a year instead of 1 month).
25. Not to talk small for a month (aka no idle chatter) (I F 2017).
26. Read 100 books within a year.
27. Observe 12 sunrises and 12 sunsets — once per each month (F 2018).
28. Make a photo of a day in course of 365 days.
29. Live a month by the sea or an ocean (F 2017/2018–1 year 8 months in total).
30. Never dye my hair (I — in progress).
31. Find a place that we can call our home.
32. Own our own house (it’s not about owning a property, more of settling down in a specific place related to the dream #31 and create our own home).
33. Establish a school (I).
34. Cure myself from migraines (I).
35. Create an online course (I, F 2020).
36. See all 5 oceans: Atlantic Ocean (F 2018), Pacific Ocean (F 2017), Indian Ocean (F 2019), Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean.
37. Travel to North America (F 2017), South America, Antarctica, Asia (F 2019), Africa (F 2022) and Australia and step foot on all 7 continents.
38. Live in a temple for 2 weeks (I).
39. Give a speech to over 20,000 people (I).
40. Not to cut my hair for a year (I) (F 2017–2018).
41. Participate in an exhibition as an artist with my own paintings (I, F 2019).
42. Cross a country on a bicycle.
Learn, master and study:
43. Get a PhD (I).
44. Plant a garden and watch it growing.
45. Get a pilot’s license (I).
46. Learn to play drums (again!) and perform a piece at the stage.
47. Learn surfing.
48. Grow a pineapple (F 2018).
49. Paint a mural — a large painting on the wall of a house, it doesn’t matter which house, it may be even our own one.
50. Stop being nice to everyone and learn how to value myself(I, F 2017).
51. Develop a habit of saying “no” when I want to, respect my own boundaries (I, F 2017).
52. Learn how to gain full control over my emotions (I, in progress)
53. Develop a habit of expressing myself freely (I, F 2017).
54. Take a course for yoga-instructors (I).
55. Attend a writing class (I).
56. Learn Spanish at least at a level of a tourist (F 2017).
57. Learn Spanish at a level that is enough to communicate with locals, to be able to make jokes and understand jokes of others (I).
58. Get first aid certification at the Red Cross.
59. Master basics of acupuncture (I).
60. Get certified as a career coach (I).
61. Pass a basic course of a massage (I).
62. Take a practical survival course at a survival training center.
63. Get certified as a Scrum master (I).
64. Take a course of capoeira (I).
65. Get a certificate of an art-therapist (I).
66. Take a portrait photography class (I).
67. Take sculpting classes (A).
68. Learn how to work with woods (A).
69. Learn the basics of watercolor painting (I).
70. Learn how to work with metal (A).
71. Learn the basics of healing herbs (I).
72. Change my mindset and my relationship with money (I) (in progress).
73. Learn how to make a perfect chocolate Lava cake.
74. Learn to play ukulele (A).
75. Learn to play harmonica (I).
76. Learn to sail and go on a sailing trip for a week.
77. Learn the basic skills of horseback riding (I).
78. Read Bible, Quran and Torah.
79. Learn how to make pistachio éclairs.
80. Run a half marathon.
81. Run a marathon.
82. Make our own wine.
83. Start a YouTube channel (I) (F 2017).
84. Launch my first coaching program in English (I) (F 2017 — launched 2 private coaching programs in English).
85. Overcome my fear of doing live videos (I) (F 2017).
86. Create a Facebook group of more than 1000 members (I). (F 2017 — created a FB group of more than 2000 members and closed it).
87. Pass a culinary course under the mentorship of a famous chef.
88. Learn to differentiate wine.
89. Learn to differentiate cheeses.
90. Make an intended kiteloop (A).
91. Tame a raven.
92. Try snow kiting.
Travel, visit, and do:
93. Fly into space as a passenger of a suborbital aircraft.
94. Drink Cuba Libre in a bar in the homeland of Fidel Castro, Cuba.
95. Visit a cigar factory in Cuba.
96. Tour Havana in a classic car, Cuba.
97. Visit the Ernest Hemingway’s house in Cuba and follow in his footsteps.
98. Rent a camper, go on a 1-month trip across the US, visit various cultural festivals and ask people we meet what makes them passionate about their job and why they’ve chosen their profession.
99. Walk 32 km from edge to edge of the Great Canyon in the US.
100. See giant sequoias, accent the Half-Dome rock and walk along John Muir Way of 97 km length in the Yosemite National Park, US.
101. Observe the geysers in Yellowstone Park, US.
102. Feed the pigeons in Central Park of New York City, US.
103. See a Broadway musical in New York, US.
104. Listen to a saxophonist at the top of Empire State building, New York, US.
105. Arrive to the Times Square in New Year Eve in a limousine listening along Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love A Bad Name” and see how at 23:59 a new year ball goes down, New York, US.
106. See how Pixar animated films are being created in Emmerville, US.
107. Rent a muscle car and go to the Burning Man festival, US.
108. Go to a Paw-Wow, US.
109. Go up into the clouds and look down on Maui by hiking Waihe’e Ridge Trail in Wailuku, Hawaii, US.
110. Fly over an active Hawaiian volcano in an open-door helicopter ride, US.
111. Ride a cable car in San Francisco, US.
112. Taste the best crabs in San Francisco, US.
113. Tour the White House, US.
114. See a rainbow at Niagara waterfall, Canada.
115. Swim on a kayak along with killer whales in the Johnston Channel, Canada.
116. Observe polar bears in their natural habitat on Baffin Island, as they roam the islands and swim amongst icebergs, Canada.
117. Hike and kayak at the foot of Coronation Fiord where the Penny Ice Cap glacier ends in the sea water, Canada.
118. Pass the Inca trail and meet the dawn on Machu Picchu, Peru.
119. Pass a shamanic ritual in the homeland of Carlos Castaneda, Peru.
120. Watch the flamingos in their natural habitat in Rio Lagartos park, Mexico. (F 2017).
121. Get acquainted to Mayan descendant and see the pyramids (Mexico) (F 2017).
122. See the Caribbean Sea and go kitesurfing (A), Mexico (F 2017).
123. Swim in a cenote waters, Mexico (F 2017).
124. Visit Frida Kahlo museum, Mexico City, Mexico (I) (F 2017).
125. Get lost in the Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropologia), Mexico City, Mexico (I) (F 2017).
126. Climb the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico (I) (F 2017).
127. Visit a cemetery on the Day of Death — Dia de Los Muertos, Oaxaca, Mexico (F 2017).
128. Try the best Mexican fresh fish tacos, Mexico (F 2018).
129. Try enchilados, quesadillas, burritos, chilaquiles and figure out the difference (F 2017).
130. Try the best tamales, Mexico (F 2018).
131. Try Mexican atole drink (F 2017).
132. Try mole in Oaxaca region, Mexico (F 2017).
133. Swim with turtles at the Akumal beach, Mexico (F 2017).
134. Drink hot chocolate prepared according to the traditional Indian recipe, Mexico (F 2017).
135. Listen to the singing mariachi, Mexico (F2017).
136. Try the local tequila in Mexico (F 2017).
137. Go by bicycle by the Death Road from La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia.
138. Walk the Fitz Roy path in Patagonia, Argentina.
139. Learn how to dance tango in Argentina.
140. Brave the Devil’s throat at Iguazú, Argentina and Brazil.
141. Dive Belize’s Great Blue Hole.
142. Search for pink river dolphins, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador.
143. Visit an endangered tribe in the Amazon, Ecuador.
144. Observe Mt. Tungurahua from the high-flying rope swing in Casa del Arbol, Ecuador.
145. Go round the mountain range of Torres del Paine, Chile.
146. Go sandboarding from the Dune Grande in the Valley of Death, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.
147. Spend a night in a tent on Easter Island, Chile.
148. Visit a place with no time zones and see the imperial penguins in Antarctica.
149. Take the polar plunge and drunk ourselves in the Southern Ocean, Antarctica.
150. Lick the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.
151. Swim along the Panama Canal wearing a panama hat.
152. Catch a perfect wave in Costa Rica.
153. Walk the Arenal Skywalk in Costa Rica.
154. Visit the international city-community of Auroville and communicate with a Ukrainian living there, India.
155. Sit in front of the Taj Mahal in India ( I haven’t done it on my solo trip to India. At that time I thought I want to come back here with my future husband and visit it together).
156. Sink a spoon into a Daulat ki chaat and taste all the layers of sweetened milk spiced with saffron, pistachios, dried condensed milk, Delhi, India.
157. Climb the steepest residential street in the world — Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand.
158. Get acquainted with the customs of Maori people, New Zealand.
159. See the yellow-eyed penguins in New Zealand.
160. Observe the sperm whales on the Kaikoura Peninsula, New Zealand.
161. Watch the kiwi on Stewart Island, New Zealand.
162. Climb the Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand.
163. Explore the Waitomo Glowworm Cave, New Zealand.
164. Take a high speed ride in Hydro Attack shark in Queenstown, New Zealand.
165. Walk along the eastern coast of Tasmania from Binalong Bay to the Eddiston rock, Australia.
166. Dive the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia.
167. Attend the Brisbane Writers Festival, Australia.
168. Float down Norway’s Geirangerfjord, Norway.
169. Land successfully at the world’s most extreme airport in Lukla, Nepal.
170. Have a cup of coffee with a view of Mount Everest, Nepal.
171. Accent to an altitude of 5364 meters to the South Base Camp of Jomolungma, Nepal.
172. Go by the highest and longest railway in the world from Beijing to Lhasa, China.
173. Accent to the North Base Camp Everest, Tibet, China.
174. Listen to Tibetan stories over a cup of bhoe cha butter tea, Tibet, China.
175. Walk the Great Wall of China (It was too cold when I lived in China in 2012–2013, so I still haven’t done it;)).
176. Buy Vietnamese flip-flops in Vietnam.
177. Watch long-nosed monkeys in wild, Borneo, Malaysia.
178. Meet sun bears in Borneo, Malaysia.
179. Trek and boat the Kinabatangan River, Borneo, Malaysia.
180. Take part in an expedition to Africa.
181. Visit a poor region in Africa.
182. Go gorilla trekking in Uganda.
183. See Victoria Falls, Zambia or Zimbabwe.
184. Sit on top of the world after hiking Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
185. Go chimpanzee trekking, Tanzania.
186. Stay in an underwater hotel room, Pemba, Tanzania.
187. Track rhinos in Namibia.
188. Get a glimpse into the Samoan village life, Samoan Islands.
189. Dig into a pot of chili crab in Singapore and enjoy its spicy and sweet gravy.
190. Go for a two-week trekking in Svanetia, Georgia.
191. Do a 21 kilometers hike around the Caldeira das Sete Cidades, São Miguel Island, Portugal (F 2019).
192. Take part in the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Cappadocia, Turkey.
193. Stay overnight in an Ice Hotel, Sweden.
194. See leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy (even if I spent a half of my life in Italy, I still haven’t seen it).
195. Walk the prolonged Camino Santiago to the foot of the Atlantic, Europe.
196. Throw tomatoes at La Tomatina, Spain.
197. Experience a BBQ dish at El Diablo Restaurant where heat from an active volcano is used to cook the food, Lanzarote, Spain.
198. Treat ourselves to a plate of jamón ibérico, Spain.
199. Do kitesurfing in the Atlantic Ocean in Casablanca, Morocco.
200. Celebrate the solstice at Stonehenge, Great Britain.
201. Attend a proper British afternoon tea in London, Great Britain.
202. Attend the Piping Live Festival in Glasgow, Scotland.
203. Have a pint of Guinness beer in an Irish Pub in Ireland.
204. Taste oysters at the Galway International Oyster Festival, Galway, Ireland.
205. Get lost in the center of all religions, Jerusalem.
206. Track wolves in Belarus.
207. Visit Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania, Romania.
208. Fly a microlight with birds, next to Saint-Flour, France.
209. See sakura cherry blossom in Japan.
210. Participate in a Japanese tea ceremony, Japan.
211. Taste the best sushi in the world at Sukiyabashi Jiro, the famed sushi restaurant from the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”, Tokyo, Japan.
212. Explore the ancient ruins of Petra in Jordan.
213. Take a bite out of a crispy falafel sandwich overstuffed with vegetables in Amman, Jordan.
214. Sing the “Glorious Sea, the sacred Baikal” song in the middle of the Baikal lake, Russian Federation.
215. Go on a car trip for the villages of France.
216. Experience as a co-pilot the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack, Austria.
217. Hitch-hike around Iceland.
218. Relax in the Blue Lagoon hot springs in Iceland.
219. Descend into the Thrihnukagigur volcano, Iceland.
220. Kayak through icebergs in Greenland.
221. Visit the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where US space exploration began, Florida, US.
222. Do the world’s highest tandem skydiving jump and fly directly over the Shuttle Launch Pads of Kennedy Space Center, Florida, US.
Try, experience and see:
223. Visit a country located on an atoll island.
224. Attend the FIFA World Cup.
225. Attend Formula 1 race.
226. Ride an ostrich.
227. Fly a Cessna plane (F 2019).
228. Experience zero gravity.
229. Attend a TED Talk.
230. Go heliskiing (I) and heliboarding (A).
231. Watch one of each James Bond movies with Barry Nelson, David Niven, Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig and figure out who is the best James Bond for us (in progress, 2019).
232. Listen to somebody playing hurdy-gurdy live.
233. Dance with a tribe.
234. Try acupuncture.
235. Try to milk a cow.
236. Make a DNA test and find out our ethnicity and genealogy.
237. Listen to somebody playing dulcimer live.
238. Rappel down a waterfall.
239. Touch the sky with tandem paragliding (I).
240. Step foot on a glacier.
241. Shake hands with a President.
242. Be interviewed by a famous podcaster.
243. Try zorbing.
244. Taste a nopal cactus (F 2017).
245. Taste chicatanas (giant winged ants) (F 2018).
246. Try horchata drink (F 2017).
247. Taste mamey sapote (F 2018).
248. Try maracuja (F 2018).
249. Try avocado ice cream (F 2018).
250. Try papaya (F 2017).
251. Try chayote (F 2017).
252. Try rambutan (A) (F 2017).
253. Try carambola (F 2017 — we collected them from our garden).
254. Try guayaba (F 2017).
255. Try green and purple tuna fruit (F 2017).
256. Taste nasty noni (F 2018).
257. Try bonete fruit (F 2018 — found it in the woods and tried it without even knowing that it’s endemic).
258. Pick a coconut from our garden (F 2017).
259. Play the pinata game (F 2017).
260. Make a painting while sitting on a floor in a museum.
261. Build a beautiful sand castle.
262. Have our portraits painted.
263. Drive a train.
264. Walk the red carpet at a huge event.
265. Watch a space shuttle launch.
266. Walk along a crater of a volcano.
267. Understand the principle and play the Leela game (I).
268. Spend a night in the castle with a ghost.
269. Walk across hot coals.
270. Ride a helicopter.
271. Participate in an eating contest.
272. Go to a drive-in-movie theatre.
273. Ride a donkey.
274. Ride a Segway.
275. Stay overnight on a private island.
276. Fly a kite.
277. Release baby turtle into the ocean (F 2017).
278. Visit an observatory.
279. Fly in a private jet.
280. Spend a night in a treehouse.
282. Do a test-drive of a Ferrari car.
283. Watch an open heart surgery live.
284. See a killer whale.
285. Find a bottle bearing 100 $ hidden by the TV showmasters «Heads and tails» (“Орел и Решка”) (F 2017).
286. Plant a forest (at least 25 trees).
287. Go underwater in a scientific bathyscaphe.
288. Give a heartfelt surprise to someone (F 2016).
289. Fly on a zeppelin.
290. Have a dinner in a Michelin 3-star restaurant.
291. Swim in a cage with sharks.
292. Get a unique antique.
293. See a bear catch a salmon.
294. Observe how a pelican catches fish (F 2017).
295. Free dive with the whale sharks (F 2017).
296. Watch the sandpipers looking for food on a beach (F 2017).
297. Swim with giant ocean manta rays and see them “dancing” (F 2017).
298. Watch iguanas in the wild (F 2017).
299. Try kickboxing (I).
300. See a koala in the wild.
301. See a sloth in the wild.
302. See an armadillo in the wild.
303. See a whale in the wild (F 2017).
304. See a toucan bird in the wild.
305. See a red panda in the wild.
306. See a platypus.
307. See a moose in the wild.
308. See a Kangaroo in the wild.
309. See an alpaca.
310. See northern cardinal in the wild (F 2018).
311. See green parrots in the wild (F 2018).
312. Fly in a first class somewhere.
313. Hold a tail of a crocodile in its natural habitat (A) (F 2017).
314. See tarantula in wild (F 2018).
315. Try not to go insane and survive the practice of Vipassana.
316. Visit a chocolate factory.
317. Send postcards to strangers (F 2019, I sent 31 postcard on my 31th birthday to complete strangers).
318. Try floating (F 2017).
319. Type a story using a typewriter (I). When I published this list on my old blog, I got an antique typewriter as a gift from a person I know only through Facebook, now I just need to write down my story with it ;)
320. Jump into the crowd from a scene.
321. Take a flyboarding jetpack flight.
322. Swim with a bioluminescent plankton (F 2017).
323. Shave my head.
324. Feed a wild deer from my hand (F 2017).
325. Visit a ball.
326. Pass behind a waterfall.
327. Go to a railway station and buy a ticket to an unknown city with no plan in mind.
328. Sunbathe on a nudist beach (F 2017).
329. Adopt an animal from a shelter.
330. Attend a hockey match.
331. Swim with wild dolphins.
332. Attend a baseball game.
333. Appear in a movie (even in a crowd scene).
334. Observe a Polar light.
335. See and feed coati from my hand (F 2017).
336. See a baobab.
337. Watch hummingbirds in wild (F 2017).
338. Feed hummingbirds (F 2017).
339. See a possum in a street (F 2017).
340. Pick a mango from a tree and eat it (F 2017).
341. Try the hottest chili pepper in the world.
342. Make a bet on the hippodrome racetrack on the horse with the funniest name.
343. Try one of seven most smelly cheeses in the world.
344. Sleep in a hammock all night long.
345. Fly a biplane.
346. Make the Christmas tree decorations with my own hands.
347. Get on an Arena’s kiss cam.
348. Take a bath of champagne.
349. Live in a house that has a fireplace (F 2017).
350. Live in a 16th-century colonial house.
351. Live in a house with a private swimming pool (F 2017).
352. Live in a house with an ocean view (F 2017–2018).
353. Participate in a charity event that has to do with freedom of travel for everyone.
354. Open a bottle of champagne with a sword.
355. See an anteater in wild.
356. See a raccoon in wild.
357. See a tapir in wild.
358. Celebrate a Thanksgiving day with Americans (F 2018).
To get acquainted, to hear, to meet, to touch the idol:
359. Meet Woody Allen.
360. Meet the Dalai Lama.
361. Meet Stephen King.
362. Meet Bill Gates.
363. Meet Elon Musk.
364. Get acquainted to John Alan Lasseter.
365. Get acquainted to Richard Branson.
366 Meet Paulo Coelho.
367. Meet Jim Carrey.
368. Get acquainted to Joanne Rowling.
369. Meet Elizabeth Gilbert (I).
370. Meet Martha Beck (I).
371. See Oprah Winfrey (I:)).
372. Attend a seminar held by Tony Robbins (I).
373. Work at a seminar held by Tony Robbins (I).
374. Attend AC/DC concert.
375. Attend Guns N’ Roses concert.
376. Attend the Rolling Stones concert.
377. Attend Depeche Mode concert.
378. Attend Foo Fighters concert.
379. Attend Coldplay concert.
As life unfolds, dreams may change, but our sense of adventure stays strong. Let’s keep exploring, knowing that each dream chased brings us closer to who we truly are.
Iryna — Mom Who Travels