When I checked off my first bucket list item, visiting Hampton Court Palace, I really felt like life couldn’t get any better. I have been fascinated with Henry VIII since I was in middle school and even wrote my college paper on this favorite palace, so visiting it was a life-long dream. Walking into the grand banquet hall and sitting in the royal chapel, rooms that Henry VIII had actually walked in and worshipped at, was a surreal experience.
My husband and I had saved up for many years to afford our recent trip to Great Britain, Ireland & Scotland, and although it was the experience of a lifetime, it made me a bit sad that my other bucket list items would have to wait until time and money were in ample supply again.
I really wanted to recapture the sense of joy I got when I stepped over that threshold at Hampton Court, so I decided to create a smaller scale bucket list. Most of these should fall in the $0 - $500 range, but they will still be more affordable than most of the things on my “big” bucket list. Once in a lifetime experiences are amazing, but being able to check things off your list every month or two can bring that sense of fulfillment and joy into your life so much more often.
Grab your notepad, your pen and maybe your significant other, and start penning your “doable” bucket list this weekend! I hope the below helps get you thinking about all the little things you’d like to do, or things you've wanted to try that might push you a bit out of your comfort zone.
Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day
Take a cooking class (Goodwill stores and YMCAs often offer free or low-cost cooking classes)
Take a wheel pottery class or painting class
Read a classic novel (I’m going to start with The Marble Faun, by Nathanial Hawthorne)
Spend a weekend in a mountain cabin, no internet or tv
Write a song and set it to music – try Musicshake for free music to set your amazing lyrics to
Spend a weekend alone – I have never done this in my life
Knit a Scarf
Attend the symphony or opera
Treat myself to a Spa Day – I have had massages and a facial once, but I’d love to do a full day - mud bath, face masks, hair color and cut, the whole works!
Have my palm or tarot cards read
Attend a Black-Tie Gala – find a charity in your area that you’d like to support and attend their yearly fundraiser
Get professionally fitted for a bra
Make pasta from scratch
Visit an Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon and get a complete makeover
Take guitar lessons, or piano, or cello or any other instrument you’d love to try. Many music stores provide lessons and you can rent the instrument, you don’t have to buy one.
Build a Zen Garden in your backyard – you only need a small area to create a peaceful “adult sandbox”
Read a book that was on the ‘banned’ book list in the decade you were born
Go to a Renaissance Faire and dress up for it
Go on a Yoga retreat
Fly in a helicopter
Dye your hair a crazy color – e.g. pink for breast cancer month
Have your nails done with a color you’ve never tried before – try black, deep purple, orange, baby blue or another color you’d never normally choose and then OWN IT girl!
Buy yourself a piece of jewelry you’ve always wanted, like a string of pearls. I think that buying yourself a nice piece of jewelry is a great way to reward yourself for all you do for others, or just because you can!