Focus: FUN! - Create A List

Tools, tips and tricks to fill your leisure hours with FUN

‘The List’ is The Bomb!

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

We’ve already established that you’re going to have, maybe, one hundred and thirty THOUSAND hours to fill in your Third Act that were taken up by other responsibilities in your second. Yeah, you can travel and fish and maybe go out to dinner a few times before that gets old - so you’ve got about 100 hours covered… Trust me when I tell you that you will find days that Netflix seems like the only option. What’s the solution? Start planning for that NOW! My guy and I have this thing we call “The List.” It’s out on Google Docs, so either of us can update it at any time. Whenever we find something that looks like fun to do together, we put it on The List. This thing has everything from local sporting events to once/year festivals to wacky stuff that just looks like fun, like axe throwing and this quirky one-man-band thing we have in Sacramento. If it looks like fun, on The List it goes!

How to use The List

I use The List in two different ways. First, I love anticipation. Sometimes anticipation of the event is better than the event itself! So, maybe once per quarter, I’ll peruse The List and schedule events. I’ll sign myself up or at least pick a date and put the outings on a huge wall calendar that I have. This has two advantages. First, as I’ve said, I get to look at and anticipate all of the upcoming fun on days when fun is a bit distant through the sameness of everyday life. Secondly, it allows me to find friends to do these things with in advance. I always try to have a few things from The List on my calendar for any given month.

The second way I use The List is on those days when I’m… just… plain… BORED! There are enough spontaneous things on The List that I can pick one and go after it on those days. Farmer’s markets, fun restaurants and hikes are good go-to’s on those days. It has kept me from sinking into my couch and eating an entire chocolate cake more times than I like to admit.

How to cultivate The List

The List started out as a few things from a magazine article that had 50 great things to do in Sacramento, or something like that. It has come a LONG WAY since then! Sometimes we run across ideas in articles like that one or while talking with friends. (I have a few friends that are amazing at finding cool stuff to do.) I also tend to lurk on local Meetups, not so I can go meet up with them, but to steal their ideas for The List. Groupon and Living Social are other ways to find new things in the area that grab you. And, once you get on someone’s mailing list (like a local municipality or a local venue) you’ll find that your name miraculously shows up on tons of them. We like to walk 5Ks so I’m on all kinds of lists for that. I found a sunset paddle that way and we took a sculling class from someone that likely got my name from a walk we did. Just start looking for ideas! You’ll be amazed at how many come up if you just have your feelers out for them.

Ideas to get you started

It’s FALL! And Fall is a great time to get out in the cooler weather before it becomes yucky. So, what are you going to put on your list for Fall? Here are some ideas:

Apple picking - All 50 states grow apples! Google “apple picking near me” and you’ll likely find tons of options. You’ll find not only a fun day of picking, but often apple pies and turnovers and more cider than even your grandkids can drink. And, if you’re lucky (and over 21), you may even find spiked cider or hard cider at your picking venue.

Pumpkin patch/Corn maze - A lot of these places have all kinds of fun other than just picking your pumpkin for Halloween. Most have food and you can find hay rides and pumpkin carving contests and even Punkin’ Chunkin’ which allows you to load your pumpkin into a cannon and shoot it for distance! Try a nighttime glow maize maze if you’re ready to get really lost!

Crush - If you’re lucky enough to live somewhere near a wine country (and there are getting to be more and more of them across the US) this is Crush season! What is Crush? It’s the time of year that winemakers harvest their grapes and stomp the wine out of them. There are all kinds of events, usually including barrel tasting and grape stomping for the more adventurous among us.

Fall foliage - Of course, New England is the area known for the changing of the leaves, but just about anywhere you live there will be vibrant colors this time of year. Take a drive out to the country or take a hike and make it a challenge to find as many colors as you can!

Oktoberfest - Craft beer is getting to be big business across this nation, and many of the brewers borrow a tradition from Germany called Oktoberfest. Though it sounds like it should be in October, it usually starts in mid-September. Special beers are brewed for the occasion and sometimes breweries hold events, as well, with wursts and schnitzels and polka music (but hopefully not the polka music). Pull on that lederhosen, pack up that stein and I’ll see you at the bar!

Harvest festivals - If you’re up for a hay ride or a hoedown a harvest festival might be for you. If not, try it anyway and come away with some beautiful fall fruits and vegetables from the harvest. You’ll find everything from pears and persimmons to delicata squash and brussels sprouts. YUM!!!

Haunted houses - If you like getting the pee scared out of you, I guarantee you’ll find at least 5 haunted houses in driving distance of where you are around Halloween. Local charities put these things on, as do national events companies and everyone in between. I went to one at a place called The Winchester Mystery House one year. It was a flashlight tour and my (then) 12-year-old son about pulled my arm off he was so scared. :-) Mostly, the frightening stuff is just people jumping out at you or coming around the corner with a fake knife. They’re not allowed to actually touch you - just give you a heart attack. They’re fun for all ages.

So, try it for yourself! Pull up a document and start it with 4 or 5 things that sound like fun to you. Add that restaurant you’ve been wanting to try or that new escape room that opened in the next town over. Review it once/month until you get used to it being out there. That way you won’t forget about it. Send me a note or put something in the comments when you get your first List event scheduled!

Happy Fall! Happy Rest Of Your Life!!!