A Curiosity-Fuelled Summer Bucket List

You might love the idea of summer—the long days, the looser schedules, the promise of some sunnier days.

And yet, somewhere between school holidays, the laundry pile, and the pressure to “make the most of it,” it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind on even the fun stuff.

Enter the summer bucket list.

What starts with good intentions—picnics, beaches, fire pits—can quickly turn into another list of things you should be doing.

For years, I made summer lists like they were contracts with joy. But by the end of July, I’d be half-ticked-off and half worn-out.

Somewhere in the middle of trying to have a good time, I forgot to notice whether I actually was.

Here’s what changed everything:

I stopped treating summer like something I had to conquer… and started following my curiosity instead.

Curiosity doesn’t ask you to rush. It doesn’t compare. It doesn’t have a checklist or a destination.

It simply asks, what if I noticed this? or what happens if I try that?

And in doing so, it gently pulls us out of overwhelm and back into presence.

Because when you feel stretched thin, curiosity doesn’t demand energy—it offers it.

It’s the gentle restart your nervous system might need when you feel like you have to be and do all the things just because “it’s summer”..

Try not to see this as a list of goals. Rather reframe it as a list glimmers—small, no-pressure invitations to help you reconnect with yourself, your surroundings, and even your sense of play.

You don’t need to do them all. Or do them “right.”

Just follow your interest. Let yourself wonder again.

The Curiosity-Fuelled Summer Bucket List

Pick one today. Come back tomorrow—or don’t. This is yours to shape.

1. Walk a route you’ve never taken

2. Lie on the grass and look at the sky for 5 minutes

3. Text someone just to say you’re thinking of them

4. Buy yourself a magazine you used to love

5. Eat something slowly, outside if you can

6. Leave your phone behind for a short walk

7. Watch the sunset or sunrise, on purpose

8. Rearrange one corner of your home

9. Draw something badly (no erasing allowed)

10. Take a 5-minute ‘holiday’—window open, feet up

11. Write a one-line diary entry for 3 days in a row

12. Make a playlist that sounds like sunshine

13. Sit on your front step with a cold drink

14. Do something with your hands (paint, knead, cut, fold)

15. Say no to something that doesn’t feel like a yes

16. Visit a local place you’ve never set foot in

17. Gift something to someone for no reason

18. Stand still in nature and count 3 things you can hear

19. Wear your favourite clothes for no occasion at all

20. Try one thing from our Summer Scavenger Hunt

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This is how summer gets to feel now:

A little less effort. A little more ease. A little more *you.

When we let curiosity lead, we find joy in unexpected places: on front steps, in ordinary walks, in the sound of birds.

We don't have to make it epic—we can find some joy in the smaller, more thrown together things.

If this list gave you ideas, here are 2 ways to follow the feeling:

1. Download our free Summer Scavenger Hunt – 28 curiosity-fuelled prompts to keep you exploring all that summer can be for you

2. Join the Summer Wellcation – A self-guided, 4-week invitation to feel better in the season you love

If you’re craving a slower, more intentional season, that’s exactly what Summer Wellcation is created for.