Autumn is just around the corner, so I’m sharing a fall bucket list for inspiration as the temperatures cool and leaves change!

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If you have any questions about this, just click here! All content copyright Where’s Emma Now 2012-2024.

Is anyone else not sure how to transition to fall when you’re still sweating all day every day? Just me? Okay then. 😉

It’s a little hard to wrap my head about talk of sweaters and PSLs when I’m still missing the American love of air conditioners. But fall is one of my favorite seasons, and everyone here tells me it kicks MUCH faster than my hometown in North Carolina, so let’s do a fall bucket list!

Summer Bucket List Recap

It’s hard to believe I started this summer in Oklahoma! The whole process has a touch of the surreal – part of me feels like we’ve barely begun to settle into Italy, but then I realize we moved out nearly three months ago!

No surprise here, this season was less about traditional summer fun and more about The Big Move. I’ve already shared a bunch about the process, which you can check out here, here and here, plus way more if you join the email list.

We started the summer with a weekend trip to Dallas with my parents and haven’t stopped moving since! I don’t know what our record is for how many different cities or hotels we’ve been in in a given season, but this summer may have won it.

That being said: we fit in a great goodbye summer to the US! From my brother’s Nashville wedding to a final bon voyage in Baltimore, we soaked in as much Americana as we could before jumping on the plane. Wedge did so well with the travel in spite of it being a bit of a mess at times.

We are LOVING Italian life. It’s complicated, and almost daily I have a hilarious or strange interaction in Italian with locals (you can get daily recaps in my Instagram stories), but we are settling into our new apartment and new town well. We’ve already had one weekend getaway and are actually in the Dolomites right now to grab our first taste of cooler weather!

Fall Bucket List

This fall is about building new patterns. If you’ve got kids or are in university culture, there’s a clear moment where you hit reset and create new patterns for the season. Even though I’m not in those worlds right now, I want to grab the fall moment as a chance to create some new patterns.

Right now I’m deeply feeling the need to build some routines. An unexpected side of expat life is that life tends to be all over the place. With unusual schedules, easy travel opportunities, and plenty of visitors, no routine works 100% of the time. That being said, I want to create some habits that I stick to when I’m in town at the least.

Routines get a bad rep as being boring, but the reality is that habits create more space in your brain to think, learn, decide and create in other areas of life. (This is no kidding why Steve Jobs wore the same shirt every day.) In a phase where every minor errand involves more than the usual amount of mental brain space – figure out how to get there, if it’s open, if I have the car, if I need cash, then add the language barrier – putting parts of my day on autopilot sounds glorious. So this season is going to be about building some good habits and routines that let me take advantage of everything Italy has to offer!

And don’t misunderstand – I’m definitely going to try and create some of these based on Italian culture. Morning cappuccino and evening Aperol spritz sounds pretty excellent in my book!

Since my fall bucket list is so unique to expat life (probably won’t have any hayrides here), I put together one for you and shared a more specific version that’s mine!

Fall Inspiration

• Create some new morning and evening routines 
• Find a local autumn-themed event at a farm, pumpkin patch, or the state fair
• Read a book each month
• Try a new recipe and revive a few favorites
• Take a weekend getaway somewhere beautiful
• Have friends over
• Decorate for fall
• Drink apple cider, pumpkin spice latte or another favorite seasonal drink

My Fall Bucket List

• Create some new morning and evening routines
• Visit a vineyard
• Read Save Me The Plums, You Are a Badass, and Every Day in Tuscany
• Make pumpkin bread, butternut squash soup, and a fall cocktail
• Work on learning Italian
• Host a friendsgiving
• Visit at least one new country and three new Italian cities or areas
• Become a regular at my town’s weekly market

As always, I share a free downloadable fall bucket list to tape to your mirror or fridge when you need some fall inspiration! You get it by joining my email list – what are you waiting for?

What’s on your fall bucket list? Any fun local traditions? Let’s hear them!