As a couple, youve joined your lives together as one. You might share a home, a favorite TV show, and even children or pets together. But do you have the same ideas about what should go on a bucket list?
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Bucket List for New Couples
- Bucket List for Newlywed Couples
- Bucket List for Couples That Have Been Married for Years
Creating a bucket list can bring you closer together, whether you end up checking off each item or not. Going through that bucket list is an even greater bonding experience, giving you the opportunity to do things you might not do otherwise.
And whether youve just started dating, you just tied the knot, or youve been married for years, creating and completing a couples bucket list will create an even stronger bond. Here are some ideas for couples bucket list activities to get you started.
Bucket List for New Couples
New couples spend much of their time getting to know each others likes and dislikes.
A new couples bucket list should generally consist of activities that will help you learn more about your partner, but also activities that create long lasting memories.
Here are some date night bucket list ideas and other activities you might want to do with your new partner.
1. Have a stargazers picnic
Picnics are a classic day-date option. But you can step up your picnic game by enjoying a night out under the stars. Pack up some snacks like wine, bread, and cheese, and lay out a blanket on a clear and starry night.
2. Take a cooking class
Taking a class in cooking is a fun date-night activity. But it also creates a new activity for the two of you to do together. After youve learned the basics of cooking, you can explore new recipes together and even create some of your own.
Try out some new food while you're at it! Read our article on food bucket list ideas from around the world for some inspiration.
3. Play truth-or-dare
Most people played a few games of truth-or-dare in their teenage years. But the lighthearted game can also be fun for adults. Strike up a game of truth-or-dare, and ask all the questions youve been dying to ask your partner. Or, dare them to do something utterly ridiculous, just for fun.
4. Go to trivia night
A local bars trivia night can teach you what peculiar things your partner might know all about. Working together to win a game of trivia will give you an idea of how the two of you perform as a team.
5. Invent a new cocktail
Get creative to come up with a unique cocktail that represents your relationship. Take turns thinking of ingredients you want to add, garnishes, and how it should be presented. Then, come up with a name for your cocktail that perfectly describes the two of you.
6. Take a polar plunge
Sometimes a relationship can feel like taking a plunge into unknown waters. You can take that plunge together [literally] by participating in a polar plunge. Itll also give you the chance to support each other through a difficult experience.
7. Plan your dream vacation in detail
You might not be ready to splurge on a flight together just yet, but you can take an afternoon to plan out your ideal vacation in minute detail.
8. Go camping
Escape from the hectic day-to-day by getting out into nature. Sharing a tent is one of the most romantic getaways, and it will also give you a taste of what it would be like to live together.
9. Be tourists in your own city
You dont have to travel far from home to go on a tourist excursion. Pretend youre visiting your city or town as a tourist from afar, and enjoy everything it has to offer.
10. Visit each others home towns
Visiting your partners home town can teach you a lot about how they became who they are. If you come from different places, take turns showing each other around the towns where you grew up. If you grew up in the same town, show each other around your old haunts.
Bucket List for Newlywed Couples
When you said your vows, you swore to stick together through thick and thin. And part of living your lives together is checking off items from your bucket list. You can make that task even more meaningful by creating your bucket list together after youre married.
Here are some bucket list ideas for newlywed couples to consider.
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You can sign up for a course at a local college together, or find an online language-learning program. Practice speaking to each other in your new language whenever you can at home.
12. Grow a garden
Nurturing something together, even if its just a single plant, can help you grow as a couple. Plant some vegetables or flowers, and take pride in what you cultivate together.
13. Make a memory book
By now, youve shared quite a few memorable moments together. Spend some time putting those memories together in a memory book. You can write about those times together and include photos you might have, too.
14. Start a new tradition
A new tradition can be something as simple as eating pizza on Tuesdays, as silly as making a wish at 11:11, or as meaningful as youd like.
15. Run a race together
If youre feeling athletic, pick a race you want to run together, and start training. Push each other and support each other to reach your goal.
16. Volunteer together
Volunteering is a good deed you can do together, once or on a regular basis. Choose a charity or event that speaks to you both and volunteer your time to help out.
17. Make playlists for each other
Put together a playlist of all the songs that make you think of each other or your relationship. Then play your playlists for each other and see if you can guess the meaning of each song.
18. Go on a long road trip
Spend some time together traveling, whether its to another town or a cross-country trip.
19. Make a time capsule
Create a time capsule containing trinkets that represent your life together. Plan to open the time capsule in 5, 10, or 20 years.
20. Go tech-free for 24 hours
Spend a full 24 hours without phones, computers, or TV. You can entertain each other with stories, board games, and other old-fashioned fun.
Bucket List for Couples That Have Been Married for Years
Being married for years means youve been through a lot together, for better or for worse. But you still probably have quite a few things youd like to experience and achieve with your partner.
You can create a bucket list that brings you closer together and allows you to see even more of the world. As you go through the years together, try to find opportunities to achieve your bucket list dreams, and add more goals as you think of them.
Here are some bucket list ideas for couples who have been married for years.
21. Surprise each other
After being together for years, you might feel like the element of surprise has gone by the wayside. You can change that by deciding to surprise each other. See who can surprise the other person the most.
22. Take on a DIY project
Take on a project around the house or something more artistic. Doing-it-yourself together is a great way to spend time one-on-one.
23. Write each other love letters
When was the last time you wrote each other a heartfelt love letter? If youre like many modern couples, the answer might be, Never. Try your hand at penning beautifully romantic missives for each other.
24. Make music together
If you already play instruments, choose a piece of music you can practice and play together. If not, resolve to learn a simple song together on guitar, piano, or other instruments.
25. Experience another culture
You can experience a different culture by going to another country or by visiting another cultural community closer to you.
26. Stay up all night
Remember the days when you were first dating, and youd stay up all night talking about everything and nothing at all? Take one night to do that again.
27. Play hooky
Both call into work sick and spend the day doing whatever you want together. You can go to a theme park or stay home watching movies. Just dont get caught!
28. Face your fears
Each choose something youre afraid of [heights, deep water, etc.], and then find a way to face those fears together.
29. Re-enact your first date
Repeat your very first date together, moment by moment. Even if your first date was watching Netflix in your apartment, the occasion is no less worthy of re-enactment.
30. Find a new hobby together
Choose something you both want to pick up as a hobby. It could be as involved as horseback-riding or as whimsical as juggling.
Having Fun with Bucket Lists
The idea of a bucket list might seem a bit morbid at first: it is, after all, a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket. But bucket lists are meant to be fun and lighthearted. Theyre not serious tasks you absolutely have to complete before you die, but things that would make life even greater.
Making a bucket list with your partner is a bonding activity in itself, and going through the items on your list is even more so. From having a simple picnic to driving cross-country, a couples bucket list outlines the kind of life you envision together.