The Ultimate Autumn Bucket List
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It’s the first day of Fall today. Can you feel it? Fall, or Autumn if you’re fancy, is the simplest season of all I think. After a year of nonstop change, activity, and growth, breathing in the crisp air, dressing cozy in my bulkiest sweaters and fuzziest socks, thinking up creative Halloween costumes, and baking sweet treats for Thanksgiving sounds heavenly. I want to be intentional about enjoying this time so I created the Ultimate Autumn Bucket List for 20-30-something women. It’s been a hit with my friends so I thought I’d share it here too!
The 2022 Fall Mindset: Slowing Down
For the record, I’m in California where discussing the changing “seasons” feels a bit delusional. Curse you eternal summer! Even so, when September rolls around I’m hit with the nostalgic excitement of a new school year—and I’m 10 years out of any academic setting. Potential, change, and a fresh start. Regrettably, there’s no word for a joyous flair with one’s mood shifts with a new season.
Truthfully, it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been intentionally cognizant of what’s going on in nature outside of my “survival mode” at home. For the last two years, I have been stockpiling social activities. Then, this summer alone I: turned 30 while dancing alongside my friends at a silent disco. I was in two wedding bridal parties. I invested in myself while I worked on pivoting my career. I road tripped through Italy for 5 weeks— and got engaged(!).
After so many beautiful learnings and the introspective growth of 2020 and 2021, I can’t believe I bounced back into a social life that hard and fast.
The changing seasons are a grounding reminder of time outside the flurry of my to-do lists. My mood shifts from in my head to the moment before me. With every crunchy walk leaf under my feet during my evening walks lit up by the magnificent Fall sunsets. With every home light up to shine on the familial conversations around a dinner table while their front stoop is adorned with pumpkin carvings. It’s nice, safe, and sentimental.
Connecting with Friends and Goals for Extra Motivation
My social battery isn’t what it used to be. As such, I’ve been getting inventive about weaving connecting with friends naturally into my day-to-day. A workout buddy, the goal domination meetings partner, writing session buddy, book club friend, taking hot girl walks. Recently, my best friend and I met over Zoom met at the start of Fall and put together a detailed list of 42 seasonal things we’d like to do these next few months. We refuted some ideas that didn’t really fill our cup. Some of these are social moments, some will be new experiences, some will be easy, and I hope they all will make you feel good.
That’s right, we created a Fall Checklist for the Woman Looking to Connect with the Present Moment, Her Friends, and Feel Joy Checklist. For time’s sake is simply labeled as, The Ultimate Autumn Bucket List.
If the Ultimate Autumn Bucket List is something you’re also interested in doing then here’s how I recommend you approach this project.
The Steps:
Download the beautiful Ultimate Autumn Bucket List.
Call up a friend that you’d like to connect with and review the items.
Edit the list and add your own if you wish.
Put the bigger lift items on your calendar now. I’m of the mindset if you give a goal a specific date and time on the calendar you’re more likely to do it. Fail to plan, plan to fail. Etc. Unless you’re my “Perform a ukelele concert in December 2022” resolution I added to my goals list in January 2022. You, in fact, will not happen.
Send the list to friends and see if anyone is interested in joining you for the activities. Motivation buddy!
Take photos of you doing the thing. Then share your experiences with your friends over text.
Go forth and enjoy Autumn.
Without further ado, the checklist.
The Ultimate Autumn Bucket List
See the sunrise and sunset on the same day.
Learn to tell a really good scary story.
Make a Fall playlist. For inspiration.
Take a luxurious bubble bath.
Fall cleaning - Spring cleaning’s lesser-known ritual.
Donate clothes you didn’t wear this year.
Try to find the most colorful dead leaf of all time.
Bake an apple pie with a lattice and give it to your family, neighbors, or friends.
Make a Thanksgiving-inspired dinner.
Drink hot apple cider on a cold day.
Have a cozy sweater and inhale your coffee moment while looking out a window.
Put together a new layered look from your closet.
Drink the nicest bottle of wine that you’ve been saving for special occasions with friends.
Wear the fuzziest socks you own.
Take a family photo.
Do a puzzle on a rainy day with tea.
Host a game night with friends.
Decorate your home with decorations.
Watch a marathon of nostalgic Halloween movies.
Enjoy feel-good Fall movies galore.
See a new scary movie in theaters.
Participate in the mystical: palm reading or tarot.
Do a walking tour of your neighborhood’s Halloween decorations.
Buy Halloween candy and give it to trick-or-treaters.
Tour a Haunted House.
Escape a corn maze.
Picnic in the park - can be as simple as a blanket, book, coco, and cookies.
Go to a nearby National Park and explore.
Go on a nature walk with a friend and without your phone.
Go stargazing.
Attend Fall Festival. Harvest, Arts, Crafts, Fruits—any festival will do.
Read a page-turning book under a blanket.
Buy a piece of art from a local artist.
Host a chili cook-off with cornbread.
Roast pumpkin seeds.
Carve pumpkins and proudly display them.
Bake pumpkin bread.
Make caramel apples.
Enjoy hot cocoa with marshmallows.
Enjoy a sweet coffee treat: Salted caramel latte or pumpkin spiced latte.
Attend or host a Friendsgiving.
Cheer on a team at a football game.
Be creative, have fun, and connect with your community and loved ones. Tell me in the comments what you would add to this list!
Thanks for reading my musings -
Victoria
P.S. Does it feel wrong to anyone else that Fall starts the last week of September and lasts until the end of December? The only acceptable answer is, Fall starts after Labor Day and ends on December 1st. Right? We’ll make a new checklist in December - stay tuned!
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It’s the first day of Fall today. I put down all the autumn seasonal things that I want to be intentional about doing and created the Ultimate Autumn Bucket List for 20-30-something women.