buck • et list

noun

a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime

If my memory serves me well, my original bucket list included only destinations, chosen by photos I’d seen in magazines that looked exciting and inviting. I laugh at the idea that Mardi Gras once held the top spot, and now I wonder if the party noise might keep me up past my bedtime.

A bucket list, it seems, can be ever-changing, like New Year’s resolutions and life and career goals.

According to a project on the subject by Stanford Medicine, “As we live, our aspirations change. The goals and aspirations of our teenage years will be vastly different from our aspirations in our 20s and 30s. Young people often have daring deeds listed. As we get older, people become more risk averse and their bucket list focuses on goals like traveling and spending time with loved ones.”

Indeed.

In the book “The Bucket List: 1,000 Adventures Big & Small,” editor Kath Stathers writes, “At every point of our lives, we have things we really want to do … whether it’s to perform on stage with Katy Perry when we’re 7 or to walk under cherry trees in Kyoto when we’re 70. …

“Bucket list entries take many forms: They can be personal goals, such as writing a novel, or epic adventures, such as taking a road trip. They can be a big deal, such as scaling every mountain on every continent, or gentle achievements, such as selling something you made with your own hands.”

Stathers’ book is a compilation of bucket list destinations and disciplines, captured in small pockets of text atop amazing photographs. Truly, 1,000 ideas are presented, organized geographically. Browsing its pages is both fun and educational.

Some ideas that held my attention:

31. Stay in a hotel that will melt when the season ends. - Jukkasjarvi, Sweden

779. Trek up the world’s highest waterfall. - Angel Falls, Venezuela

883. Find your own gemstone in the desert. - Coober Pedy, South Australia

1,000. Set foot on Antarctica.

If you know me, you’re well aware that I would never have these items on my personal bucket list. Too cold, too high, too hot, too much …

But the book made me appreciate how subjective a bucket list really is. Mine, for sure, is likely only exciting to me. It doesn’t list sky diving, cliff diving, diving of any sort. It includes just a few destinations and experiences, one of which I will be able to cross off by summer’s end: seeing James Taylor in concert. Although the opportunity has presented itself countless times, life has always tabled it - until now. This is the greatness of a fluid bucket list.

Since the book is arranged geographically, it’s fun to see what’s recommended nearby. Check out these close-to-home suggestions:

345. See a play on Broadway. - Broadway, New York

347. Glide around the Rockefeller rink. - Manhattan, N.Y.

353. Research your family tree. - Ellis Island, N.Y.

And this one, truly in our own backyard:

357. Snuggle up at a drive-in movie. - Walnutport

(The outdoor theater’s name isn’t listed, but we know it well!)

So, what’s on your bucket list? If you don’t already have one, start by jotting down places and ideas that inspire you, speak to you.

“It is your personal creation to reflect where you want to go and what you want to see and do in your life,” Stathers writes. “So start dreaming, start planning, and get going!”

Next on my bucket list is a trip to Nashville to experience firsthand the sights and sounds of Music City. It might also have to include a daily nap, but I’ll be ready.

Kelly Lutterschmidt

editor

Whitehall-Coplay Press

Northampton Press

Catasauqua Press