Between seeing Indiana Jones this weekend and reading about moms traveling with their children (A Mother's World: Journeys of the Heart), I'm feeling this pull to be adventurous. Of course, the most adventurous I'll be this week is working my butt off to meet two work deadlines and get us ready to leave for our beach vacation. But I used to be adventurous.
Question of the Week:
What is the most adventurous thing you have done (besides become a parent, because that is craziest adventure of all)?
Mine was skydiving. I really did jump out of a perfectly good airplane! It was in tandem with a pro somewhere down in the Virginia Beach area. It was exhilirating and beautiful and such an adreneline rush!
I also backpacked around Europe, sometimes venturing to places by myself over trains that arrived in the middle of the night to schetchy train stations. And I spent a week on an African island in Tunisia where me and my friend were the only Americans that almost everyone there had ever seen and only other vacationers from Europe spoke any English. But I think the skydiving was really the most adventurous.
How about you? Done anything wild and crazy? Do tell!
13 comments:
Oh, honey, I've done so many crazy things that I can't describe in public. You have no idea.
I'm one crazy mofo.
Not so much crazy stuff. But definitely going to China (mainland twice, ROC/Taiwan once) was adventuresome. Certainly renting bikes in Chengdu* and riding around town (including into places that we likely weren't expected to go), that was cool. Doing it as a teenager, in college, fabulous adventure.
I don't know that I've been terribly adventuresome in a lot of other ways, though. A few, I suppose. But mainly on adventures that landed in my lap (like the whole twins thing). I'm more likely to pick up a challenge than head off on an adventure, I guess.
* I'm unable to stop looking at the photos everywhere in the news of the earthquake victims - these are people I know, places I've been, families I rode with on the train, couples who sat next to me in the auditorium watching the local dance troupe, women from whose competent hands I took shao long bao to snack on while we shopped, the tailor we watched with awe as he marked out a pattern freehand on silk... I know their faces, and I can't stand seeing their pain, and I *have* to look. Not that I'll recognize anyone, because it's been more than two decades. But I still have to look.
I feel unadventurous. I have attempted to have several adventures (including a trip to Cuba) but so far none have quite panned out for various reasons.
This leaves "adventurous me" sort of out in the cold and leaving my list of dangerous, daring-do rather insipid--unless you count nature or adolescent stupidity involving alcohol.
I've experianced hurricanes, floods, water spouts, tornados, fires, earthquakes and Mt. St. Helens.
can i just say, there is no way in hell i would ever jump out of an unlanded plane. it is beyond my comprehension, beyond my fear factor. tis beyond my ability.
My biggest adventure is plane related though, twas the trip here to the Asian country I still abide in that started 5 years ago. Isn't so much the abiding that is adventurous. In fact with time, it has become rather common place. It was just that initial stepping onto the plane.
Closing the void between two countries. Two realities and two lifes. And soon I'll be doing it again to return to America. It is damn hard stepping on that plane no matter which direction you're going.
Perhaps harder this time, as I realize there's no "given reality."
Every definition of life I had previously taken for granted has changed.
Things that I thought were inalterable, like the concept of home, Christmas, love or family. All tangential. And it's all because of stepping on-- or was it stepping off, that goddamn "plane."
wow! compared to all of you? I've done nothing even remotely adventurous. Not.at.all. Not that I never wanted to do some of the things you and others have mentioned, just never really had the opportunities (well, save for the skydiving thing...but I'm so afraid of heights I'd either puke or poop on myself. No joke).
i tried to dye my hair blonde once, and it turned it orange. BRIGHT orange. it was short, so when it grew out, it looked real funny. oh and i worked on-site for various government agencies at the time. that's as wild and crazy as i get (over 10 years ago). yeah i'm boring.
Okay, I'm officially a lame loser. I've done nothing. I tried a trampoline once and then promptly wet myself and that's the extent of it.
I can think of a few which are a little adventurous. The top one was my trip to Quebec. It was crazy because I went to see a guy I met while in Ocean City one weekend. I had only known him for 36 hours and decided a few weekends later to take a train (16 hours) to Canada! Luckily for me, he was a nice guy! Looking back that was pretty stupid.
Another includes taking a long train ride to Iowa for a rave. Yes, a rave. It was supposed to rival Woodstock. NOT. Upside was that motel rooms in Iowa are really cheap. Downside, locals weren't really used to seeing a bunch of "city kids" dressed up in wide-legged pants, glitter and glowsticks. :) I kept picturing a bunch of us ending up at a Klan rally or something.
But I envy Caramama's adventures! I definitely want to encourage my kids to travel Europe or Australia or something prior to settling down. I wish my travels had been there instead of the corn fields of Iowa. (Apologies to anyone from Iowa ... but Italy probably beats anything there hands down!)
Taxman and I decided to get married after dating for 2 weeks.
Not officially engaged, mind you, but we had The Discussion and nothing changed our minds between that day and the day we did get engaged (not until he had met both sets of my parents, which took like 8 more weeks!)
Adventurous?? All my adventures have been travel related. My most memorable was back-packing from Athens across to Delhi, crossing Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India, back in '93. Iran was by far the most amazing, and the Iranians just such a friendly and kind race of people. We went into a tiny weeny restaurant that sold no food as it was mid-afternoon and it had all gone, we got 2 cokes and they didn't even charge us for them as we were 'their guests'. Had to dress like the local women and wore an old plastic parker which covered my butt and a scarf in green polyester and it was about 40degrees C (over 100 F) and was absolutley dying as well as looking down right ridiculous in plastic!!
Besides giving birth with no pain medication (definitely an adventure), I would say my biggest adventure was going to Peru for a wedding and climbing Machu Picchu. It's the most beautiful place I've ever been. That and using toilets in the nearest town, Cusco (think hole in the ground).
parenting a toddler is adventurous enough for me most days.
When I was in high school my parents went out of town and I took that opportunity to drive my mom's audi down to Tiajuana. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done.....but that's not so much "adventure" as it is "brain not fully developed".
The meet and greet sounds like so much fun - I wish we could have a Moxie meet-and-greet here in LA.
Ok, so it's sort of becoming a mommy, but the whole adoption adventure and going to Chile to get the kid was a different kind of adventure for a mom. Being a missionary in South America was a great adventure. Going to school in Quebec was an adventure too. Actually, going to court every day is an adventure. I love my job.
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