Is your bucket list holding you back?
The Beginner’s Guide to start seeking your someday today.
It's time to stop putting off the experiences you want to have in your life and start seeking your someday today.
We've all done it—created a list of things we've wanted to do or see with the hopes of truly living life; trying to fill our travel cups and social feeds with wondrous experiences that itch our wanderlust scratch.
Too often, our so-called ‘bucket lists’ end up collecting dust on the fridge, with too many boxes unchecked—too many ‘somedays’ that never lead to an adventure today. Well, at Frost River, we’ve decided that enough is enough. If over a year of pandemic living has taught us anything, it’s that we’re not waiting for tomorrow anymore because life is all about balancing what we want with what we need. We’re going to start seeking our someday today. Are you ready to do the same?!
Step 1: Kick your ‘bucket list’ to the curb
Essentially, a ‘bucket list’ is a running list of all the things you haven’t done in your life—a reminder of all the cool things you haven’t experienced or seen. When you think about it that way, it seems pretty pointless to have an ongoing list of non-accomplishments and a little demeaning, to be honest.
We’re not saying don’t have goals or dreams, we’re saying that you’re better than putting your ‘somedays’ on a shelf, waiting for the right time to explore them. You deserve to start seeking your someday today, right now, this very moment. So kick that bucket list to the curb and try reframing your mindset: stop putting off tomorrow. Think to yourself, “what someday can I start seeking today?” Soon, you’ll see that adventure is all around you. All you need to do is choose what’s next, plan, pack, and go!
Step 2: Pick the place
The next step to seek your someday is to choose where you want to go or what you want to see. Many of us think that adventure has to include a long journey, halfway around the world, but adventure can be found right in your very own backyard.
To help you decide, and get you out adventuring as soon as today, ask yourself, what place do you want to visit next? What’s a place nearby that you can explore tomorrow or even today? Don’t dwell too long on this, making another long list of all the places you ever hope to go. Simply see what comes to mind when you think of traveling, and limit your choices to two options: one option that requires a little more time and planning, maybe a road trip to a National Park, and another option that you can take action on today, like visiting the park nearest to you right now.
Once you’ve chosen what place suits your current timeline and budget, commit fully to your next adventure and start thinking about the things you want to do once you get there.
Step 3: Choose an activity
Now that you’ve chosen your destination, whether that’s a nearby park or the top of a mountain across the country, it’s time to plan your activities. There are so many options these days for ways to experience the outdoors, it can be hard to choose or hard to fit it all into one trip.
If you’re traveling solo, it can be easier to prioritize the activities you want to do. However, if adventuring with companions, it’s best to find options that suit all abilities and take into account their wishes as well. Here are some ideas to get you going:
Micro-adventures you can experience today:
- Camp in your yard
- Bike or hike on a nearby trail or path
- Test your navigation skills with a compass in a state park
- Go foraging on nearby public lands
- Find a park in your state that you’ve never been to before
- Try geocaching, here’s an app to get you started
- Take a friend fishing
Adventure activities that take a little more planning:
- Learn how to rock climb or find new places to climb outside
- Try a paddle sport: rafting, kayaking, canoeing
- Go stargazing in a National Park or Dark Sky Sanctuary
- Camp in the backcountry
- Get your scuba certification and submerge yourself in another world
- Go off-roading in designated areas
Step 4: Make a plan
Once you’ve chosen where you’re going, what you’re doing, and who you’re doing it with, it’s time to put pen to paper! This is the time to make actionable lists that will help get you to where you want to go:
- Mark your calendar now and take off work if needed
- Find caretakers for pets while you’re away
- Set a budget for your adventures and stick to it
- Map out your route, how long it will take to travel there and back
- Leave room for activities and down time
- Start a packing list of all the things you will need
Step 5: Gear up
Now that you're actively planning to seek your someday today, it’s important to make sure you have all the necessary gear you need for your adventure.
Some adventures require special gear and in many cases, you can find places to rent gear and equipment to outfit your travel needs. You can even rent vans or campers to add to your trip if you don’t find any thrill in staying in and paying for hotels.
However, the gear you may need to provide for yourself usually falls in the wearable or pack categories. For example, some adventures need special hiking shoes or rain gear that you may want to purchase ahead of time so you know they fit your body and your needs.
What you pack your gear in can also be essential. It’s best to choose a pack or bag made of quality materials and that is versatile enough to accommodate all of your travel goals and withstand the test of time through any adventure, urban or wild.
We’re pretty passionate about gear at Frost River--as this is what we do best. We create reliable softgoods using sustainable solar power right here in America, made by real humans and quality materials so our packs can take you wherever you want to go. In fact, our packs are built so tough that we’re pretty sure they’ll outlast all of your adventures, and if they don’t we offer a lifetime guarantee and even repair services.
Our packs are what motivate us to seek our someday because if there’s one thing that shouldn’t hold you back from finding adventure in the everyday, it’s the pack that gets you to where you’re going. Here’s our shameless plug for a few pieces of gear we know will support any adventure goal:
Curtis Flight Bag
The Curtis Flight Bag is simple yet refined with a large main compartment and outside access pockets that let you carry well and store a bit more easy access stuff. A great weekender or overnight bag, it will be the one to grab for quick get-up-&-go departures or your regular run to the gym. Fits in fine on the plane, the trunk or the train, a real go-bag!
Adventures this bag works for:
- Cross-country travel
- #VanLife
- Weekend getaways
- Car camping
- Hauling climbing gear
- The all-American road trip
Iona's Pack Cubes
Iona's Pack Cubes are the perfect compliment to any Frost River pack or bag. Available in 3 different sizes, they make organizing your travel gear a breeze! You can even personalize them. Get a couple, keep 'em packed, and be ready to roll in a flash when the trail starts calling your name.
Explorer Duffel ESB
The Frost River Explorer Duffel ESB has stowable shoulder straps - they allow you to wear your luggage when you want, then tuck the straps away when you don’t. It makes carrying a big load a breeze. It also takes the pain out of lugging your way through a crowd … slick! Best of all, we build them to last and offer a lifetime guarantee on our craftsmanship.
Adventures this bag works for:
- Cross-country travel
- #VanLife
- Weekend getaways
- Car camping
- Hauling climbing gear
- The all-American road trip
Arrowhead ECO Rolltop Daypack
If you are only carrying a little bit, roll the top all the way down and cinch the leather straps to the bag. Need more space? Unroll the top. The long straps and extra height of the Arrowhead ECO Rolltop Daypack all for expanded capacity. Stash a water bottle inside of the 2-in-1 side pockets for easy access. Waxed canvas is water resistant, and when matched with a rolled top it is especially water tight.
Adventures this bag works for:
- Day hikes, the rolltop is great for shedding layers and keeping them dry
- Urban micro-adventures
- Carry-on anywhere
- Your go-everywhere bag to take you from work to wilderness
Prairie Boot Bag
A duffel bag on the top with a padded and zippered compartment on the bottom. The Prairie Boot Bag works to keep your muddy boots from a soggy wet adventure, or your dirty travel clothes, separate from your clean wardrobe collection for what's to come. Our Boot Bag is an outdoors-person, or traveler's, dream piece of gear when it comes to built-in compartmentalization.
Adventures this bag works for:
- After-work adventures, one bag to keep you adventuring every day
- All-in-one gym bag
- Business on the top, hiking boots on the bottom
- From workday to night out in the great outdoors
- We keep a Prairie Boot Bag in each of the Frost River vehicles, it houses jumper cables in the bottom compartment and tow-straps/safety gear in the top.
Step 6: Go forth and leave no trace
Lastly, it’s time to go on your adventure! This is the part we’ve all been waiting for, but hopefully not too long, now that we’re making our ‘somedays’ a priority.
Make sure to be present in your adventure. Take pictures and leave only footprints. Most importantly, enjoy as much time exploring as you did planning for this experience, if not more. Even though they say it’s about the journey and not the destination, every adventurer knows that planning and packing for a trip is part of the fun.
We hope you start seeking your someday today and if you need quality, American-made gear to get you there, the Team at Frost River is here for you and all of your travels.
