Psychologist Dr. Christopher Peterson, who is the author of Pursuing the Good Life, says that a bucket list might help with goal setting but the drawback is that it also implies a “check off the boxes” approach to our time on Earth, which can lead to a superficial sense of fulfillment and distract from deeper, more meaningful experiences.
So let’s take a look at a bucket list that is meant to not be completed. An anti-bucket list, if you will. A few days ago, Reddit user TheDeadYeti made a post on the platform, inviting everyone to share the things that they have tried and vowed to never do again. From chasing popularity to staying at hostels, here are the most upvoted entries to the discussion.
#1
Cave crawling. I’ve done walking cave tours since this story I’m gonna tell, no problem. What I’m talking about is laying on my stomach and sliding through gaps in caves that look too small for a house cat to slip through. The one that made me reconsider caving as a hobby was a professional cave club tour, but not one advertised to the public because it was so demanding and specialized. I felt really comfortable with the two leads despite some minor claustrophobia because they were highly recommended by the club. I had little pings of fear here and there but the leaders were so comforting that it was adding to the experience rather than taking away from it.
We were probably a quarter mile crawl (no place to even fully get on your hands and knees let alone stand and stretch) one group leader in front and one in back to insure our group was sandwiched by experienced guys. Anyway, the leader was in front of me, two of my group behind me then the 2nd leader. The guy behind me got legitimately stuck and started grabbing and scratching at my legs and feet which sent me into a full blown panic, the third guy got kicked in the nose and lip which pissed him off and caused him try to leave, but this is literally a perfect human sized tunnel so no one could urn around, plus the 2nd leader was behind him blocking him in, causing him to freak out as well. After a solid ten minutes of yelling and kicking at each other, the leaders got us to quiet down enough so they could make a plan. I crawled ahead another 200 feet or so with the 1st lead to a wider gap where we could both get on our hands and knees and turn around, ten minutes ago this big gap would’ve been a god send, in that moment though I was so panicked it didn’t matter, I might as well have been buried alive. Anyway, the lead left me and crawled back to help pull the stuck guy through, but couldn’t because he was just too big. The two guys in the back had to crawl all the way out, sliding backwards since they couldn’t turn around head first, then the 2nd leader crawled all the way back to pull the stuck guy out. Obviously I immediately agreed to leave when I was told the guys were pulling out and silently cried all the way back.
I have never been so genuinely terrified in my life, it’s an indescribable feeling. Imagine every drop of adrenaline your body can produce being pumped through you but not being able to crawl more than four or five feet per minute, soaking wet, covered in stinky mud, freezing cold yet sweat is burning your eyes but your arms are stretched out so far forward so you can only use your dirty finger tips to swipe it away. It was like one of those nightmares where you’re trying to run and scream but your legs don’t work and your scream for help comes out silent.
I’m glad I did something that scared me that deeply though I’m not sure why lol. It was just a little too close to a real disaster for me. I’ll base jump in a squirrel suit before I cave crawl like that again.
Not taking care of my teeth.
Seriously guys, Brush Your F*****g Teeth.
#3
Buy a place with an HOA .. if I do that again. Someone kick me. Hard.
It wouldn’t so bad if they weren’t such *a*s-douches*.
#4
Date a man that follows Andrew Tate and his comrades in misogyny. The men’s rights online coalition and ideology is a problem for all genders.
#5
Go to Vegas. The disconnect between the lights and flashiness and the poor and homeless begging was unsettling. Plus it’s way too hot there for me.
#6
Get a puppy. I love this little demon but I’m not doing this again. I’ll adopt some 7 year old lazy mutt.
#7
Go to disney – OMG what a waste of time and money.
#8
Hopefully chemotherapy.
#9
Live with someone.
Dogs, cats, reptiles, rodents? Hell yes. All fine.
A human being? No f*****g thanks.
#10
I once tried to impress a date by ordering the spiciest dish on the menu. I’ll never again pretend my taste buds can handle what they clearly can’t. Lesson learned: ghost peppers aren’t a substitute for personality!
#11
Get pregnant.
Labor’s not so bad, I can do that. It’s the 9 months before and the 4 years after that I won’t do again for love nor money.
#12
A cruise. Average to below average food, watered down drinks, claustrophobic on the ship, contributing to an ecological nightmare, crammed in a boat with hundreds if not thousands of other people, stressful suboptimal excursions…an overall expensive nightmare I have no desire to ever repeat.
#13
Assume that every co worker is a friend.
#14
Drinking. Honestly life is funner without the alcohol involved, and it’s not fun as you get older.
#15
Attend a massive event. I was at Obama’s inauguration in 2008, I went to college nearby and thought it would be cool to be a part of. It was freezing cold, and many people weren’t ready for that. I was, but I wasn’t ready for the realities of 2.5 million people descending on a city with a population of 600k. No food, no water, no restrooms, no shelter, no room to move at all, nowhere to sit down after hours on end of standing and walking. Trash everywhere, subway stations were a claustrophobic’s nightmare, people were fainting from dehydration. I ended up walking over 4 miles over the Potomac to Virginia to catch a train home. Ended up being an exhausting 12 hour day. It’s cool to say I was there but I’ll never put myself in a crowd that size again.
#16
I live in LA so I have routine access to Universal, Disney, Six Flags, Knotts, etc.
I will never go to a park in the summer.
It’s 100F. Kids aren’t in school so it’s packed. You stand in the sun for hours for a 30 second ride.
My dad is coming this weekend and wanted to go to Disney. I flat out refused. We’ll go in November.
#17
I will never have another wedding in my life. If my husband and I divorced, I’m positive I would stay single. I’m not expecting to divorce him. But if I did, I don’t ever want to try it again. One and done. If it doesn’t work with him, I won’t bother ever trying again.
#18
Spend time trying to get people to see why I’m worthwhile to be friends with.
#19
Attempting to catch escaping Goslings. They have a lovely nest in a large pen with Momma but so far they’ve escaped and got stuck somewhere else 4 times. 4 times today and it’s only 1pm.
Every rescue risks genuine injury from Mum who despite me returning her babies every time and then feeding/watering the family – still tries to kill me for helping.
F*cking Geese Man.
#20
Swim in the Dead Sea. Don't do it, fam, it's not worth the risk of TOO MUCH SALT in any opening in your body. Scratched your arm too hard? SALT. Blinked at the moisture in the air? SALT. Spread your legs while having a p*ssy? GUESS, F*****G GUESS. Oh, and here's the fun part, once your tender bodily orifices start burning like the fires of hell from SALT, you *will* start thrashing around because AAAAAA GET IT OUT GET IT OUT GET IT OUT. And that *will* splash water everywhere, causing more tender bodily orifices to get tainted with SALT. By the time you make it back to shore everything will be on fire, and it will take a long, long time to wash all that SALT out. The Dead Sea: not even once.
#21
Hostels! I’m very glad they exist as cheap options for young people, exactly how I experienced them, but I’m now happy to close that chapter of my life lol. Extra privacy, extra cleanliness, and extra comfort are vastly more worth it to me now and fortunately I can afford that!
#22
Outdoor music festivals where you camp. My husband and I went to Sweetwater in Atlanta 2 years ago (when it was still cool) and it ruined other fests for me. We got to go see music all day long, then go back to the hotel and shower and actually SLEEP at the end of the day. I didn’t realize how old I had become until I vowed to never sleep on the ground in the mud in a tent again.
#23
New York City on New Years Eve.
#24
Accidentally eat poorly cooked chicken teriyaki in a strange city far from home the night before an early flight.
#25
Dating a woman who says she loves you 4 days into the relationship. To any guy or girl reading this, please use it as a warning. The only thing that’ll come out of a relationship like that is trouble.
#26
Mardi Gras and the Kentucky Derby. Everyone should do them once but if you do them more than once something is wrong with you.
#27
Run a marathon. That was awful.
#28
Jet skiing.
My brother refused to slow down. My ankles, knees, hips and back were so f****d up from all the bouncing that when we stopped at a beach I couldn’t walk.
The jet ski was extremely bouncy, and we hit a particularly bad patch of water. We jumped and slammed back down and my head flew forward and my chin hit his back. I legitimately felt my brain rattle.
Two weeks later I was diagnosed with PCS after having nonstop migraines, throwing up, extreme lethargy and what I can only describe as disassociation.
#29
Polyamory. I barely dipped my toe in and got burnt real bad. I’m good to not try that again.
#30
Giant swing.
One I went on was 200+ft high when we pulled the quick release to drop. Thought since I love rollercoasters and thrill rides I’d enjoy it.
I did not like freefalling while parallel to the ground. At all. Only time I’ve let out a blood curdling scream of pure terror.