How to Turn Your Life into An Adventure with a Bucket List
This week I have been reading The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau, a fellow Portland native and free-thinker whose books (including The $100 Startup and The Art of Nonconformity) I have read and enjoyed. Chris’s book makes the case for finding joy and adventure in life through the pursuit of a life quest.
Sound interesting? While following his personal quest of visiting every country in the world before the age of 35, Chris met a number of fellow adventurers following their own mission in order to bring a sense of purpose and meaning into their lives.
Create the Perfect Adventure…
If you haven’t checked out The Happiness of Pursuit yet, I highly recommend it. In today’s world it is all too easy to get wrapped up in our responsibilities and forget what makes life worth living . Many lose that sense of wonder and curiosity we had as children, envisioning all of the exciting adventures we would someday go on. Do you remember all the crazy dreams you had for your life before “the real world” hit you and you started playing by the rules?
If you’ve found yourself consumed by the world of routine and monotony, don’t worry. It isn’t too late! This is the perfect time to start planning your next big adventure. Your quest doesn’t have to be travel-related, although that is certainly a fun one to take on! It may be a personal quest, an academic one, a health based quest, a creative mission, or a combination of all of these.
My big adventure, or life quest, is a bucket list I have created. Some of the items on my list are big goals, like learning a new language, which may take some time. Others will be quite a bit easier, like taking a hot air balloon ride during the summer. The best part? I’ll be taking YOU with me through this blog as I experience each adventure that makes up my bucket list. I’ll be sharing photos and details throughout the process, and I hope that following along on my journey inspires you to create your own!
Life is meant to be exciting and beautiful and full of questions. You don’t have to follow society’s rules to succeed in life. In fact, you should ignore those “rules” at all costs! Take some time to dream up what you really want your life to look like. You’ll find that happiness is never far behind.
The Bucket List
(My goal here is to come up with 50 bucket list items that are both meaningful and inspiring to me. I will continue to update this list as new ideas come to me.)
- Go on a hot air balloon ride
- Run a marathon
- Visit Thailand
- Become conversationally fluent in French
- Learn to surf
- Do a Color Run
- Go zip lining in South America
- Go scuba diving
- Release baby turtles into the ocean
- Write a book
- Hike to Macchu Piccu
- Hike the Grand Canyon
- Visit Croatia
- Go on a cruise
- Become conversationally fluent in Spanish
- Watch a meteor shower
- Visit the Greek islands
- Go to a yoga retreat
- Sail the Whitsunday Islands in Australia
- Go kayaking in New Zealand
I love this quote by Stephen Kellogg…
“It’s better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb, than the top of the one you don’t.”
Where are you at in your life today? Do you feel excited to jump out of bed in the morning? Could you die six months from now and have felt that you lived a truly fulfilled life?
It’s never too late to start. Give yourself a couple of quiet hours this week to dream up the adventure you can’t not do. Then make a plan! Trust me, you will never regret pursuing your passion. I believe in you.
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