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In the 2007 film The Bucket List, two terminally-ill men become unlikely friends when they room together in the hospital. They wind up traveling the world together ticking items off their bucket list. The bucket list is a list of items both men hope to accomplish before they die (or kick the bucket).
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Best Friend Bucket List Ideas to Do Outside
- Best Friend Bucket List Ideas to Do Indoors
- Best Friend Bucket List Ideas for Teenagers
- Best Friend Bucket List Ideas for Your Friend Group
- Best Friend Bucket List Ideas for Cheap
You shouldn’t wait until the end of your life to start crossing things off your own personal bucket list. Sit down with your best friend and make a list of all the adventures you both want to share together. No bucket list item is too big, or too small. Achievable goals and wildest dreams can exist side by side. Read on for a little inspiration.
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Best Friend Bucket List Ideas to Do Outside
There’s a lot of world out there to explore. Here are some of the places you can discover and some of the ways you can experience the world with your best friend.
1. Go on an epic road trip
There are tons of great themes you can take to guide your travels, depending on how much time you have. You can drive through the contiguous United States. You can plot a course that takes you to the country’s most bizarre roadside attractions. You can drive along Route 66.
Find points of interest near you and take a weekend trip, or clear your schedule and spend a few weeks exploring. Check out our list of the best travel bucket list activities for more.
2. Be the first to see the sunrise
Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island in Maine is the highest peak on the North Atlantic seacoast. Between October and March, it is the first place in the United States where you can see the sun begin to rise. People trek from all over the world to take in the view.
3. Check out an outdoor festival
If you’re a fan of music, you can check out Coachella, Governors Ball, Lollapalooza, and other outdoor festivals.
If you’re just a general free spirit, you can join your fellow bohemians at Burning Man or Bonnaroo. Step outside of your normal routine and create an unforgettable experience.
4. Backpack through Europe
Taking a gap year and backpacking through Europe is considered by some to be a rite of passage.
But how many people can really afford to go to Europe straight after high school or college? When you go backpacking with your best friend as an adult, you may even be able to afford the occasional hotel room instead of staying exclusively at hostels.
5. Visit Carnival in Rio de Janeiro
This Brazilian festival attracts millions of visitors from around the world. It’s known for over-the-top parade floats, live music, and colorful costumes.
If you have the opportunity to see it in person, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You and your BFF will never forget it.
Best Friend Bucket List Ideas to Do Indoors
Sometimes bonding over your bucket list with your best friend feels more meaningful when you’re closer to home. For those times, here are some bucket list activities that are approved for indoor use.
6. Pursue artistic endeavors
Whether you’re interested in painting, knitting, jewelry making, woodworking, or any other creative outlet, your best friend is the perfect person to explore those hobbies.
Take classes at a local art studio, or hit up a craft store and hunker down at home.
7. Have a spa day
It’s sometimes hard to justify splurging on yourself. Splurging on your best friend, though? That’s easy! Treat each other to a spa day. Get side by side manicures, pedicures, facials, massages - the works. You and your best pal deserve a treat.
8. Build an epic blanket fort
Blanket forts aren't just for kids. In fact, adults have the technical know-how to construct some truly epic blanket forts.
Convert your living room into a massive blanket fort and hide out with your best pal and a bottle of wine.
9. Get matching tattoos
Best friend tattoos are the grown-up equivalent of BFF charm necklaces. Get designs that stand alone but complement one another.
One of you can get the moon, and the other can get the sun. One can get a lock, and the other can get a key. When you’re together, then people can see how well they fit.
10. Put together a friendship photo album
Been friends with your bestie for a long time? Have them bring pictures of you both from the history of your friendship. You can reminisce about the good times, then organize a timeline of your friendship in a photo album or scrapbook.
Best Friend Bucket List Ideas for Teenagers
When we’re young, we don’t always realize how meaningful our friendships will be later in life. If you’re a teenager, here are some bucket list items to check off with your best friend. These can form the basis of memories you’ll treasure for a long time.
11. Go to an amusem*nt park
As teenagers, we sometimes rush away from the things we once deemed cool because we’re afraid we’ll appear childish. Don’t be so quick to put the magic of childhood behind you. Take your best friend and visit the amusem*nt parks you loved growing up.
As a bonus, you’ll no longer need adult supervision to ride the rollercoasters. Read our guide on summer bucket list ideas for seasonally-appropriate activities.
12. Make a time capsule of your friendship
Sometimes you know someone’s going to be your best friend forever. Put together a time capsule with that person and stash artifacts of your friendship.
Make plans to open it up together every year to revisit these mementos and add new ones. Over time, you’ll build a curated exhibit of your friendship throughout the years.
13. Dye your hair
Dyeing your hair bold colors is a teenage rite of passage. And, unlike in the olden days, you can do it without risking permanent grounding. Hair chalks and temporary color sprays can give you an edgy look that washes out in 1-3 shampoos.
14. Volunteer with a local non-profit
People sometimes don’t give teenagers credit for their civic-mindedness. Volunteering for a nonprofit is a noble bucket list entry. It doesn’t just help you represent your generation well. It can also help with college admissions or future job applications.
Most importantly? Giving back to society will help you grow as a person. Pick something you and your bestie will enjoy. You can volunteer at a library, a pet rescue, a food pantry, or wherever your shared interests lie.
15. Start a band
Teenagers today live in an era where people have unfettered access to opportunities. If you and your best pal like to harmonize or rock out together, post some videos on YouTube and score some local gigs.
Best Friend Bucket List Ideas for Your Friend Group
As you get older, you realize that you can have more than one best friend. More friends just means more great opportunities to achieve your bucket list milestones.
16. Start a book club
A book club gives you a great opportunity to assemble your best pals together once a month.
Take turns picking out books, read them independently, and come together to analyze them. Remember that book club meetings aren’t complete without drinks and snacks.
17. Go to a nostalgic concert
Bands and other musical acts continue to tour far past their original heyday. Gather your best pals together for a concert blast from the past.
Whether you’re jamming out to rockers from the seventies or swooning to boy bands from the nineties, you and your friends will enjoy rocking down memory lane.
18. Act like a bunch of kids
Remember the fun you had playing games as kids? Harken back to those days. Go to an arcade, have a paintball tournament, or stay in and play truth or dare. Remember that you’re never too old to enjoy some tried and true childhood antics.
19. Reminisce over old photos
Invite your friends over and get them all to bring photos from past gatherings and the early days of your friendship.
Later additions to the group can get a perspective on the early days, and you’ll all enjoy reminiscing. Consider scanning them into an online album everyone can update in the future.
20. Take a group vacation
As folks get older and their families evolve, it’s sometimes hard to make time for best friends. It’s especially hard to manage the schedules of multiple people. Do your best to arrange an annual friends-group getaway to stay connected.
Best Friend Bucket List Ideas for Cheap
Spending time with your best friend doesn’t have to be an elaborate or extravagant occasion. Here are some low-budget bucket list items that still give you great opportunities to bond.
21. Binge-watch a favorite show together
Many popular shows of years past have been getting reboots. Revisit old faves with your BFF, and get caught up on the reboot. If you watched Veronica Mars in high school, catch up on the older episodes before checking out the most recent present-day season.
22. Start a podcast
Just like a time capsule gives you the opportunity to touch mementos from your friendship, a podcast will serve as an audio slice of life to revisit in your future.
You’ll be able to listen back as you talk about pop culture, politics, your interests—whatever you choose to center your podcast around. More importantly, you’ll get to listen to yourself and your bestie banter across the space of years.
23. Sing in the car
Singing in the car - also known as Poor Man’s karaoke is a time-honored tradition. Revisit your high school days by cruising around town with the windows down and singing the songs of your youth.
24. Hunt for treasure at a thrift store
Rem
ember as a kid the magic in found items? Even something as simple as a shiny stone felt simple.
Get that same excitement by thrift store-hopping with your best friend in search of vintage trinkets and treasures.
25. Invent your own co*cktail
Going out bar-hopping can leave you with a hefty bar tab, not to mention your cab fare. Stay home and whip up your own craft co*cktails for a fraction of the price in good company.
Making Stronger Connections with Your Friends
Ultimately, these bucket list items are all about spending time with your best friends. No matter what stage of life you’re in, your best friend is the person who always has your back. Make sure to keep making space for them, no matter how old you get.
If you're looking for more on bucket lists, check out our guides to writing a reverse bucket list, writing a traditional bucket list, and fall bucket list activities.
