One of the best things we could have done before we moved from our last home was make a bucket list of places we wanted to go, experiences we wanted to have, and people we needed to make sure we got to spend time with. The girls and I have always really clinged to certain places and experiences no matter where we live. Places like parks, a hill we would drive down that felt like a roller coaster, a trail, a restaurant with our favorite food, things like that.
I think it’s a good thing because it gives us some instant roots to plant to make it feel like home no matter how new that place is-it makes the unfamiliar a little more familiar. It’s easy to get attached to places or certain experiences first because well you can go and search those on your own and create an instant memory. It’s a little easier than meeting friends right away. Thankfully we have been so lucky to gain amazing, life-long friends wherever we go but the places and experiences tend to come first. It’s a little easier to go on a hunt for fun places in a new town then it is to hunt for friends haha. ( I’ll talk about the hunt for friends in a different post!)
We made sure we did everything on our bucket list before we left our last home and I have to say it was the best thing we ever did. We started early so we weren’t jamming them in at the last second and so that we had plenty of time to cross everything off. Let me tell you, it made a huge difference in leaving. Yes, we had a touch of sadness at the end of every bucket list check off BUT it gave us a piece of completion when it was time to go. We fit it all in and had that one last memory of all of the places we loved!
I encourage you to do that if you are getting ready to move onto your next adventure! Visit my printables page for a printable checklist you can use. There is a place to fill out where you are leaving as well as a place to list your checklist items and a box to fill some memories of that place. It will be a sweet keepsake of your “old home”!
