Bucket List Items for the New Year

There is a bumper sticker slogan that says, “Don’t Quit Your Day Dream.” As corny as that may sound, you could pick a worse formula to guide you in making choices for things to do in 2020.

 

So, what is on your bucket list for this year? What would you want to do if you knew this was going to be your last year on earth?

 

 

Things To Do In 2020

Travel More

 

By all means, get out and travel more. This is probably the most popular bucket list ingredient around, and for good reason. Travel more, and you broaden your horizons.

 

You see new ways of doing things, and you learn points of view that you normally wouldn’t consider. If you’re on a tight budget, that’s okay; you don’t have to go far.

 

Start by just going across town and work your way up from there. When you can visit big cities and small towns in other states.

 

Take guided tours, unguided tours, and custom tours. See the rivers, mountains, woods, and oceans. Take a trip to someplace where they speak a different language than you. It’ll all make your life richer, and isn’t that the point of having a bucket list?

 

 

 

Talk to Someone New

 

Get out of your comfort zone and talk to someone you’ve never talked to before. This could be as challenging as starting a conversation with someone you find attractive, or as easy as just saying “hi” to the mailman.

 

Not sure what to say? Try the old bartender’s trick and ask them how their day is going. Talking to someone new might be the easiest of all the things you decide to do in 2020.

 

 

Learn More

 

Learn for the sake of learning, not just to advance your job or career. Like traveling more, learning more doesn’t mean you have to go big all at once.

 

Learn to tie a bowline knot, for example, or to bake a souffle. If you’re feeling ambitious, learn something about history or art, or begin teaching yourself a new language.

 

Watch a classic movie from the American Film Institute’s “100 Years… 100 Movies” list, or read a book from a similar list. This will help you become a well-rounded person, and it will teach you to think in new ways.

 

 

Dance More

 

There are so many ways to dance – without even leaving the house! Think about it: when was the last time that you shook a leg?

 

Do silly dances like the limbo; you probably didn’t even think of that one as a dance move. Go further and take a class, so you’ll meet new people and get out of your comfort zone.

 

Not feeling it? Stay home and turn on the radio and dance any way that you feel like dancing. Sway, twirl, or cut a rug – it doesn’t matter, just so long as you dance!

 

 

Make Some Music of Your Own

 

This could be the year that you start taking music lessons, or just the year you start singing in the shower.

 

Kurt Vonnegut once wrote about singing in the shower, “Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” If vocals aren’t your thing, try an instrument.

 

You don’t have to train for a professional career; just the act of learning to play music will enrich your life.

 

Write a Postcard

 

Before everybody had an email account they used to write postcards and letters to each other. It’s been jokingly referred to as “snail mail.”

 

You might feel silly writing a letter to someone out of the blue, but sending a postcard is so easy that it’s ridiculous for you not to try. The U.S. Postal Service still sells postcard stamps that are cheaper than regular letter-mailing stamps.

 

Next time you’re traveling, ask your friends for their addresses and try it out. Send one to yourself so you can see what it feels like to get something in the mail that isn’t a bill or an advertisement.

 

You’ll discover that it’s fun and it feels good, and you’ll want to send more mail to people.

 

All in all, there’s so much you can add to your bucket list. Try writing out what you want to do, then narrow it down to the things you want to do in 2020.