Where Americans Are Planning The Most Life Experiences
For some people, there are just a small handful of things they want to do in their lifetime, but others have bucket lists that go on and on forever. Overall, we discovered that the average American has about 19 items on their bucket list.
Topping the list by state, however, is Indiana, where the average resident has 28.83 items to check off their bucket list. While lists vary greatly from one person to the next, the most common item on Indiana residents’ lists is going on a cruise, which 64% of people say they want to do.
Up next on the list is North Carolina, where residents’ lists include about 26.10 items. When it comes to things residents want to do, 58% report wanting to learn a new language, making it the most common bucket list item in the state.
Coming in third place for lengthy bucket lists is Georgia with an average of 25.20 items. Residents of the Peach State, like those to their north, also want to learn a language, as 57% report it. This is followed by Arizona (23.28) in fourth place and New York (22.56) in fifth place.
While some bucket lists live solely in Americans’ heads, 41% of people say they have turned their goals into a physical list. When it comes to checking off items, 2 in 5 Americans believe they will complete everything on their bucket lists.
The Most Popular Bucket List Items
To gain insight into items on Americans’ bucket lists, we asked about a variety of items across six categories: travel, challenges, activities, events, accomplishments, and taboo experiences.
Overall, travel items dominated the ranking, claiming 5 of the top 10 spots. Topping the list as the most common bucket list item among Americans is visiting specific landmarks in Europe (51.9%). From the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the Colosseum in Rome, there are countless European sites that people all around the world hope to see in person one day.
Coming in second place on the bucket list is learning a new language, with 50.8% reporting it. Whether it’s to make travel more immersive or to advance in a career, learning additional languages can offer many benefits.
In third place, we found that 42.2% of people want to visit specific landmarks in North America. While the U.S. is full of exciting sites like the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore, Canada and Mexico also offer much to travelers seeking to see the wonders of the world.
This is followed by going on a cruise (41.1%), becoming a millionaire (40.6%), and traveling via train (36.6%) in fourth, fifth, and sixth place, respectively.
When it comes to events Americans want to attend in their lifetime, we found the Super Bowl was the most common, with nearly 1 in 4 people reporting attending it. Similarly, 20.1% of people hope to attend the Olympics to see the world’s athletes on the largest stage.
Why Americans Are Delaying Their Bucket List Plans
For many people, a bucket list is a guide to how they plan to live their lives as they check off certain goals along the way. For others, however, a bucket list is more of a fantasy, as they struggle to complete all the items on it for various reasons.
For 80.4% of Americans, a lack of disposable income makes it difficult to check items off their list. Similarly, 79.2% say general inflation and the cost of living are making it harder for them to complete their bucket list.
In recent years, travel costs have continued to increase. This has led to 75.2% of people struggling to check off items on their travel bucket lists. Some of the cost increases have resulted from global conflicts, which 55.2% of Americans say have also made it harder for them to complete their bucket lists.
Sometimes bucket lists become daunting simply because of life itself. As we move through life, things we used to consider important can take a back seat to new goals that arise, like pushing that trip abroad to start a family or further your education.
This is the case for more than half of Americans (54.2%) who say getting older and shifting priorities have made it difficult for them to check items off their bucket list.
Methodology
In this study, we set out to learn about Americans’ bucket lists. To do this, we surveyed residents of each state and major cities and asked a variety of questions about how many items are on their bucket lists, what types of items are on their lists, factors that affect their ability to finish their lists, and more.
We then calculated the average number of items on bucket lists by state and city and ranked locations accordingly. When asking about bucket list items, we asked about six popular categories, including: travel, challenges, activities, events, accomplishments, and taboo activities.
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Anthony Martin is a nationally licensed insurance expert with over 16 years of experience and has personally served over 10,000 clients with their life insurance needs. He frequently authors entrepreneurial and life insurance content for Forbes, Inc.com, Newsweek, Kiplinger, and Entreprenuer.com. Anthony has been consulted as an expert life insurance source for dozens of high-profile websites such as Forbes, Bankrate, Reuters, Fox Business, CNBC, Investopedia, Insurance.com, Yahoo Finance, and many more.
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travel costs. https://www.ustravel.org/research/travel-price-index
