I like to get excited over things and having stuff to look forward to. I therefore thought it would be a good idea to start sketching out my FIRE bucket list. This will change a 100 times but hopefully it will both help keep me excited about the journey, and maybe provide you with some inspiration for your own FIRE bucket list too!

A word of note however, I am not a proponent of deferring all fun and ‘the good life’ until I reach FIRE. I intend to enjoy the journey and do lots of cool stuff on the way. The difference with the things below is that some are more time intensive and harder to do whilst still working for the man! I’ll try to tick off what I can during my FIRE journey, anything crossed out means I’ve managed to do it already!

Last update: 14 April 2024

Life Goals

These are the bigger ticket life goals I’m currently aiming for, some are silly, some are super important and close to my heart:

  • Achieve FIRE before I turn 40 [less than 300 days to go now…!]
  • Start a FIRE themed Podcast [watch this space…!]
  • Quit the corporate grind (again)
  • Get a golden retriever
  • Adopt / surrogate a child before I turn 45
  • Have an extensive vegetable and herb garden
  • Have a hobby farm and keep rare breed animals
  • Start a financial literacy social enterprise
  • Live near my family to maximise time spent with them
  • Have a hair transplant! [DONE: May 2022]

Adventure Travel / Climbs / Hikes

Adventure travel, my true passion and an area of my FIRE bucket list that will change often as I recover more! There are so many things to do:

  • Climb Mt Kinabalu in Malaysia
  • Climb Mt Rinjani in Indonesia
  • Climb Mt Fuji in Japan
  • Hike the GR20 in Corsica
  • Hike the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal
  • Climb Island Peak in Nepal
  • Climb Aconcagua in Argentina
  • Hike the Appalachian Trail in Eastern USA (or part of it…)
  • Hike in Patagonia
  • Climb Ben Nevis in Scotland (to complete the three peaks of the UK)
  • Hike the Kalalau Trail in Hawaii
  • Visit Antartica (climb Vinson Massif)
  • Visit the Isle of Skye and hike the Cuillin Ridge (and other fun routes!)

Vacations / Places to Visit

These are normal length holidays of less than a month at cool places around the world:

  • Visit Tibet and see Lhasa
  • Visit Bhutan
  • Visit Easter Island
  • Go skiing in Hokkaido
  • Party in Mykonos
  • Active trip to Costa Rica
  • Visit 60 countries [update April 24 – currently 45]

Extended Travel / Living

These are places I’d like to spend extended periods of time (circa 1 – 3 months):

  • Sydney, Australia 🇦🇺
  • Bali, Indonesia – specifically Canggu to learn to surf properly 🏄‍♂️
  • Hawaii, USA 🇺🇸
  • Seattle, 🇺🇸
  • Visit all of the National Parks in the USA in a camper van 🚐
  • West Coast of Canada (with a month in Tofino, BC) 🇨🇦
  • Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪
  • Amsterdam, the Netherlands 🇳🇱
  • Barcelona, Spain 🇪🇸
  • San Sebastian, Spain 🇪🇸

Personal Development

I feel my personal development goals need a lot more work, perhaps I’m just boring…! But this is it for now:

  • Learn basic level of Mandarin – Status: Began lessons in April 2021 [update April 24 – still terrible!]
  • Lean basic level of Spanish
  • Re-learn piano to grade 5 level
  • Get back to my ideal weight / athletic body(!) [update Feb 2023 – I started CrossFit again]
  • Develop Asian food cooking skills
  • Sketch out charitable giving goals / framework
  • Live on my own for 6 months [DONE: September 2023]
  • Run a half marathon [DONE: December 2022]

Something which jumps out at me, which I’m quite happy to see, is that most of the above is experience based. I’m not really that interested in buying ‘stuff’ anymore – in fact I’m almost allergic to it : ) To me, ‘stuff’ holds you back and pins you down. Whilst I’m still young (ish) I want to keep my freedom and flexibility as much as possible. Let’s see if that changes!

What’s on your FIRE bucket list? There are lots of ideas at the Wunderlust magazine website. Comment below!