The Most Interesting Degenerate’s 2026 Bucket List (That Will Bankrupt You in the Best Way)

Spread the love

Want to start 2026 with a bang? Try something new for a change.

This bucket list is made for adults who like expensive and chaotic fun, as long as it stays controlled. Each item is a big swing with a simple plan, a cost note, and a safety rule, so it doesn’t wreck you.

Copy the headings into Notes, add checkboxes, and work through them during the year. Do a few. Ignore the rest. Think of it as a menu.

Cost and reality check

Set money and risk limits before enthusiasm wrecks your judgment.

Pick one hard ceiling for 2026. Split it into travel, tickets, gear, and recovery so decisions stay easy. Travel means flights, trains, hotels, and whatever moves you locally.

Watch the quiet leaks. Insurance, airport transfers, last-minute taxis, baggage fees, non-refundable mistakes, and time off work stack up because they arrive separately.

You never fix overspending by gambling more or chasing losses. Unless you’re committed to learning the hard way.

The degenerate checklist

Skydive somewhere cinematic

A tandem skydive is a supervised jump where an instructor controls the parachute and landing. Freefall lasts seconds. The glide lasts longer and gives you time to breathe and look around.

Where you jump matters more than the jump itself. Coastlines, mountains, and wide open land make the memory stick, while flat scenery fades fast. Choose established drop zones and respect weather calls, because good operators cancel jumps when conditions are wrong.

Bungee jump with a view

You know what bungee jumping is. Get checked in, secured, counted down, and sent off once, with no repeats and no warmup.

The fear spikes and burns out. What stays is where you were and the walk back to solid ground. Pick places you’d go even without the jump and operators who take their time instead of rushing the line.

Hot air balloon sunrise

You rise slowly. No engine, no rush. Just air, height, and the ground spreading out below you as cities or fields come alive.

Flights get pushed often, so keep your morning loose. It’s colder up there than you expect, even in warm countries. Dress for it.

Take a helicopter

You lift straight up, float where hikes would take half a day, and stitch landmarks together in minutes. Weather calls the shots, so flexibility matters.

Make this one clean splurge instead of stacking it with other big expenses. Ten sharp minutes with the right view lasts longer than an hour you rushed through.

Get scuba certified

Get certified so you’re trusted to dive on your own. Then actually do it.

Good instructors drill breathing, buoyancy, emergency response, and basic underwater awareness. You learn the gear and how not to lose your head when something feels off. It takes days or weeks, so knock it out early in the year.

Cage dive with sharks

A shark cage dive is you in a metal cage, submerged in open water, watching sharks pass close enough to feel unreal. It is intense because the distance feels small, even when the setup is controlled.

Expect your nervous system to spike at first. Slow breathing and staying still do more than trying to act tough. If you let the moment slow down, the fear will cloud the fun.

Zipline through the jungle

Imagine a series of suspended cables that send you flying above trees at speed. You cut across gaps, hear wind and cables, and see depth the way you do in a dream.

Wear closed shoes, empty your pockets, and assume you will get wet or muddy. The guide and harness fit decide whether you feel free or spend the whole ride thinking about straps. If anything feels rushed, speak up. A good crew slows down and gets it right.

Sleep in an ice hotel

What even is this? An ice hotel is exactly what it sounds like. You sleep in a room made from ice and snow, on a bed built to keep you from bleeding heat into the floor.

Dress for the occasion, please. Damp socks will ruin the night faster than the temperature. Book one night, then sleep somewhere warm after. Get the experience, wake up proud of it, and then go back to civilization.

Participate in the San Fermin festival

San Fermín is a week in Pamplona where the city turns into a moving crowd. The festival runs from July 6 to July 14, and the best-known event is the morning bull run held from July 7 through July 14.

Claim a safe viewing spot early, soak in the rituals and street energy, then leave before density turns stupid. Book lodging far ahead. The city fills up fast.

Go to a live esports final

Esports means pro players competing in video games in organized leagues, with live events, broadcasts, and real stakes in the standings and prize pools. That’s a lot of toxic masculinity, screams, and bad smell, sorry.

Know who you want to win. Pay attention to tempo, the pauses, the crowd spikes, and how locked in the players look when the noise hits. I watched pixels turn into pressure.

Visit Nathan’s hot dog contest

Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is a July 4 ritual that feels like a national holiday. It happens at Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island. And, yes, it’s absurd, chaotic, and over quickly.

Show up early, grab a sightline, and lean into it. It’s loud, packed, and ends before your brain fully catches up, which is exactly why it feels memorable. Sort of.

Puppy bowl party

The Puppy Bowl is a football broadcast… starring puppies. You watch it for the same reason you watch comfort food TV. No justification needed.

Keep it low-effort and friendly. A couch, food, chill people, and a small shelter donation turn into something wholesome.

Get a cringe tattoo

A cringe tattoo will be your receipt for the year lived. Or Pickle Rick. Start by deciding what you want the tattoo to say about you, then pick an artist whose style matches it, and then choose a placement you will not regret when life gets boring again.

Safety is not optional. Clean shop, clean tools, and clear aftercare. Do not do it drunk.

Buy a meme coin at 3 AM

This is the internet’s version of buying a souvenir. If you cannot laugh about losing the money, you should not touch it, because the whole point is a controlled mistake you can afford.

Basic security keeps the joke from turning into a nightmare. Never share a seed phrase, verify addresses carefully, distrust urgency, and walk away the second it starts stressing you out.

Spend it all in the casino

You show up with a fixed stack and leave when it hits zero or the night ends. That’s the entire plan. No reloads, no chasing, no pretending this is investing. The house edge guarantees you lose thousands of hands, so you give it only dozens.

Too lazy to go to a casino or don’t have one nearby? Send your crypto to a Bitcoin casino online, sit down at the highest-volatility tables or slots you can find, and play fast until the balance reads zero. Or the sun comes up. Whichever arrives first.