The new bucket list: Finding beauty in the barely planned
In a world that glorifies 20-step itineraries, 6 a.m. flights, and getting your passport stamped like a badge of honor, a quieter shift is happening. People are swapping grand getaways for micro moments: a one-night staycation, a solo café crawl, a slow drive to nowhere in particular. It’s not about doing less, it’s about doing with intention.
This is the new bucket list: one that doesn’t hinge on flight deals or long weekends, but on a desire to feel present. And sometimes, presence starts just a few blocks from home.
I’ll be honest, I’m no different from anyone else who needs a vacation booked just to keep going. The idea of an upcoming trip has always felt like a lifeline, something to look forward to when everything else feels mechanical. Knowing there’s a change of scenery on the horizon can work wonders for your motivation. But these days, I’m appreciating the beauty of the in-between. It’s the pockets of calm that feel less like an escape and more like a gentle return to myself.
Because even the best vacations come with logistics: packing, planning, navigating time zones, and the mental gymnastics of unplugging just enough to enjoy it, but not so much that you come back to chaos. The fantasy of disappearing for two weeks to Europe sounds incredible in theory. In practice? It’s emails to set up coverage, airport security, squeezing everything into carry-on limits, and somehow feeling like you need a vacation from your vacation.
So I’ve been rethinking what it means to “get away.” And I’m not alone. Sometimes, all we really want is a few uninterrupted hours—no flights, no friction, no performance.
What’s emerging in place of grand escapes is something quieter, but no less meaningful. The micro escape is less about departure and more about deliberate pause. It’s a shift in rhythm rather than location. It’s a choice to step outside of your routine and into something slower, softer, and entirely your own.
The micro escape mindset
A micro escape doesn’t look like much on the outside. Maybe it’s booking a hotel 20 minutes from home and sleeping in crisp sheets with no plans. Maybe it’s driving three hours to nowhere, just for the playlist. Maybe it’s committing to a screen-free Sunday, lighting a candle, and letting your thoughts breathe. It’s not a downgrade from a real vacation. It’s an entirely different category, one where the goal isn’t adventure, it’s relief.
You’re not documenting every meal for social media or feeling guilty for not maximizing your itinerary. You’re not “doing nothing.” You’re doing everything your body and mind have quietly asked for but rarely get: a little space. A little slowness. A little softness.
Why “barely planned” is the sweet spot
There’s a reason why micro escapes are having a moment. They fit into our lives in ways traditional travel often doesn’t. You don’t need to budget for airfare, take time off, or arrange a pet sitter. All you need is a few hours of unscheduled time and a willingness to wander.
It’s also a rejection of our hyper-curated culture. We’ve spent years optimizing everything from our careers to our skincare routines to our social lives. The barely planned escape is a return to curiosity. It’s being okay with not having a plan, and better yet, not needing one.
Some days, that looks like an afternoon nap with no alarm. Other days, it’s driving to a part of a city you’ve never explored and lingering in a secondhand bookstore. It’s not flashy. But it’s restorative in a way that’s hard to explain until you try it.
A new kind of bucket list
We used to think of bucket lists as collections of extraordinary moments. Skydiving in New Zealand. Seeing the Northern Lights. Riding a hot air balloon over Cappadocia. And those are beautiful, worthy dreams. But maybe the new bucket list includes things that feel far more ordinary, like resting without guilt or reading a book cover to cover on a Sunday or saying no to plans and not explaining why.
The idea isn’t to stop traveling or dreaming big. It’s to stop waiting for permission to feel good. To recognize that a micro escape doesn’t need to be earned, it just needs to be noticed.
Romanticize the barely planned. Let the days blur in the best way. Turn off your notifications. Sit in silence for no reason. Cancel the thing. Book the room. Let your life be something you escape into, not from.
