A Minimalist Guide to the Bucket List

Image Source: Flickr: Morgan Sherwood 

What is a Bucket List?

A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket.  Everyone's got a bucket list, either a hard copy or a mental list of things they want to do before they die.  It sounds morbid, but it is actually a wonderful tool for organizing what is important to you and setting achievable goals.

Time is Short

What absolutely kills me is talking to older people who are too nimble to finish their bucket lists.  They says thinks like, "I wish I could have climbed Half Dome, but now I'll never be able to do it."  The pain of regret is worse than physical pain.  You only get one shot around this massive watery ball, you have to make every moment count.  Time slips by way too fast!  

Set a Concrete Plan of Action

Making a bucket list is easy, executing it is hard.  If you put off everything into the category of "someday," someday may never come.  Fear, a lack of prioritization, and excuses keep many from achieving perfectly achievable goals.  The cost of checking items off of your bucket list is much smaller than you think.  

Paris: Check! 

You have to have a plan!  You're not going to be handed a plane ticket to Paris from a stranger on a bus.  However, if you do, don't take it; that's creepy.  Ever seen Taken?  
If Paris is at the top of the list, then for about $1000-$1200 and a week of your time, you can see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the whole shebang.  If you travel in the off season, you can find plane tickets for under $800 from the West Coast of the U.S.  How do I know? I've done it! A few nights of  hosteling, some street crepes, and a couple of Euro for the entry fees, and you've got yourself a tour of the city of lights. 
"That's too expensive!" You might say.  Leaving this world having not seen all of the glorious art and architecture of Paris, that is the real expense, if I may counter.  If you want it badly enough you will do whatever it takes to get there.