Mom says she feels like the “Universe” has been trying to derail EVERYBAWDY since 2020. Have you felt this way at times? We were able to get through most of our 2022 Bucket List while dodging all the asteroids that seemed to be headed towards us. Losing our bestest fur brother and son, Mr. Zachy, in early 2022 really kicked us all to the curb for quite some time. Zachy loved life to the fullest. He was fun, bossy, loving, smart and da bestest at everything he did. He was always up for trying something new! So, to honor Mr. Zachy, we’re back on track and thinking hard about all the things we really want to experience in 2023. We want this year to be as meaningful as possible…Zachy Style! Have you made your 2023 Bucket List yet? Do you wanna know how? Our 2023 Bucket List Template is the PURRFECT (Lovey’s our Senior editor – meow) way to help you brainstorm, dream AND stay focused throughout the year! In fact, we’re giving our 2023 Bucket List Printable away FREE to all our Fwiends because we want to help YOU have da bestest most intentional year too! WooHoo!
What Is a Bucket List?
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Made popular by the 1999 film “The Bucket List“, a Bucket List is a list of things you want to do before you die – or within a specified period of time. We WUV creating a Bucket List every year to help us dream about and intentionally plan Pawesome experiences for the year ahead. That way when the Universe hurls another asteroid we still have our list to keep us focused fur joy!
Simple Bucket List Ideas
Bucket Lists should include anything you’d really love to do or experience in the coming year. Bucket List Examples can range from being able to walk more than a block (like Scooby when he first became a furSmith at 8 years old), making (and eating!) new healthy and delicious dog and human friendly recipes, hiking a beautiful trail, learning new commands or games and even planning a Dog Friendly Day Trip or Vacation! The possibilities are as unique as you and your pup!
Also think about if and whom you would like to invite to share some of your pawesome experiences with…new pup fwiends? relatives? bestest fur and people fwiends? Sharing cool experiences with fur families are bonding, wonderful memories furever! Our Mantra is “Experiences Over Things”. We believe Experiences are what matters most.
Bucket List Categories
Hopefully we’re already spurring some ideas in your head! Another tip is to read each category below and write down anything that immediately comes to mind under some or all of the categories! Don’t “filter” your brainstorm – just jot down exactly what comes to mind! You can tweak or narrow down your ideas later to help you decide what matters most to you this year…
- Bucket List Goals
- Bucket List Experiences
- Bucket List with Friends
- Bucket List Adventures
- Bucket List of Things to Do
- Bucket List Hikes
- Bucket List Destinations
- Bucket List Travel
- Bucket List Trips
- Bucket List Vacations
Bucket List Adventures
(Or as we call them, PawVentures™)…can include new walking locations, hikes, explorations, group events, bird watching, going on photo shoots at your local garden or anything that sounds interesting and fun fur you and your pup to experience!
At the furSmiths we’re adding more Meetup.com pack walks and hikes to our list! These structured socialization groups with like-minded pups and Pawrents has been instrumental in helping us through our fear aggressive issues. In addition to the meetup walks, we periodically invite our Fwiends to some of our walks for a smaller pack experience!
Don’t have any meetup.com pack walks near you? Create your own! We bet LOTS of pups and pawrents would love to join in on the fun! Plus, you’ll make new walking fwiends! Our best advice is to have rules like the groups we’ve joined. Rules create boundaries so everyone has fun and no “issues” flair up. Some of the best rules include:
- 6ft leash maximum leash (no retractable leashes)
- Stay 6ft apart during the walk
- No touching / sniffing
- If you have dogs with bigger issues you’re trying to work out, stay at the front or the back of the group so they have space. Everyone understands and eventually you won’t be the most drama members in the pack (speaking from fur real experience)!
- Sniffing / Socializing is allowed at the end of the walk for whoever wants
If you need help creating rules for your own Pack Walk, email Mom@theScoobylife.com and she’ll send you the rules from the groups we are in which have really kept everything super fun!
Bucket List Adventure Ideas
Do these the following at least once every year to find cool things to do with your pup nearby. New cool things do pop up throughout the year so re-check periodically!
- Google “Dog Friendly” with your city name or “Dog Friendly Near Me” and see if anything interesting Pops up!
- Call your local Garden Store or Nursery to see if they are Dog Friendly – these are fun places to explore AND take photos!
- Google “Dog Friendly Trails Near Me” or check Alltrails.com for Dog Friendly Hikes within Driving Distance. Tip: Plan hikes for early morning starts to beat the mid day heat and take lots of water on your hike!
- Search for the BEST Sunrise and Sunset Spots in your hometown! You’ll be pleasantly surprised and inspired!
- Ask your local Home Depot / Lowes, etc. if they are Dog Friendly. If so, these stores provide lots of opportunity to people watch and to work on training skills!
Bucket List Experiences
We’ve also found a few new ways to find Unique Bucket List Ideas to spark your imagination!
- Google “Experiences Near Me” and see what looks super interesting. Then, look or call to see if they are Dog Friendly! We just found 10 new cool things for day trips that we didn’t even know existed within an hour-ish drive!
- Search for murals, botanical gardens, outdoor art, labyrinths and mazes “near me” online then call to see if they are Dog Friendly!
- Google “Dog Friendly Geological Sights”, “Historical Sites”, “Archealogical Sites”, etc., and go down those “rabbit trails”! You should find some interesting things you may not have known existed!
- Another cool website to check out for general ideas – then clarify if they are dog friendly or not – is Atlas Obscura. It’s a pretty cool website. Do your homework before going and triple make sure the destinations are dog friendly!
- Google “Unique Experiences Near Me” to find super cool things that other people have discovered and check if it’s dog friendly!
Let us know if you find other new cool ways to search for “off the beaten path” dog friendly things to do! WE want to know PLUS we’ll share with the rest of the Pack to help them have more fun too!
Be sure to check our Planning Your Day Trip Page for extra tips!
Bucket List Vacations
Or, as we like to call them, PawCations! Woof! If you have never taken a PawCation with your fur family we HIGHLY recommend it! It’s always a great idea to do a few Day Trips first so you and your pets get into a travel / ride groove – and to see if they enjoy car travel. If you think everybawdy’s up for it, plan your PawCation! Make sure you have a fair cancellation policy in case someone suddenly becomes not able to travel or be left behind (we cancelled our October Leaf Peepin trip because Lovey injured herself pretty seriously and needed to go to the vet every other day for fluids and pain drops). Stuff happens and taking care of everyone’s health is priority. You can always take that trip another time!
We have LOTS of tips to help you prepare for PawCations on our Plan Your PawCation Page!
Bucket List Journal
Two of the best things Mom ever did were take LOTS of photos and videos AND write down all her favorite memories from PawVentures with Scooby! Journals help you relive your Pawesome Memories furever! Because we love our journals so much, Mom created our Scoobylife PawVentures™ Journals to help you pre-plan loose ideas for your adventures, make notes while you’re there and to write down your best memories once you return! We hope you Wuv our Scoobylife PawVentures™ Journals as much as we do!
We can’t wait to hear about your Bucket List items and get your tips and feedback! Tag us @theScoobylife on social media or email us!
We are wishing you the most Pawesome 2023 Fwiend!