BOLD AND DETERMINED

Archive for the ‘Badventure’s’ Category

Well….you can sit at home wondering what’s out there or you can go pack some clothes, pack a cooler, get in your car and start driving. It doesn’t matter where you go, it’s the experience, not the destination that counts. Pick some place you’ve never been that you want to to go to and head that way. Be sure and stop anywhere along the way that grabs your attention. You could plan the trip but that would take all the energy and spontaneity out of the trip. Have only some brief guidelines to follow and you will have an adventure of a lifetime.

Several months ago I was leaving the gym, I had that euphoric feeling I always have after a brutal workout. I called up a buddy and said “Let’s take a road trip”. He said “When”. I said “Tomorrow early afternoon”. He said “Let’s do it”. He invited his brother along and we all left Dallas around 2 the next afternoon. We decided to go to Florida by way of Savannah, GA (to see the trees). The first night we ended up at a motel outside of New Orleans, LA. The next day we spent a bit of time in N’awleans and headed for Georgia. We hit Savannah late that night and rented a room. We spent the next morning checking out Savannah.

Later that day we headed down the Atlantic coast of Florida and ended up on Miami Beach. After endlessly searching for a hotel room on the beach we finally got one (and the bathroom door had a giant, and I mean GIANT, peephole into it!). We headed out to get some dinner and drinks (costing us around $250) and we went to some club right on the beach with a whole bunch of other travellers, many from abroad. After a couple drinks we went back to the hotel and jumped in the pool, realized the ocean was a mere few hundred feet away, and went in jumped in the ocean in the middle of the night.

We left the next day for Key West, our goal destination. We drove down through all the keys and I have to say it really is a breathtaking view. We get to Key West, the southernmost point of the continental US, found a nice place to rent, rented a golf cart for the rest of the stay and we had a fucking blast down there. We ended up doing all kinds of fun shit that never would have happened if we had stayed home.

We came home by way of the gulf coast of Florida, stopping to see some Alligators along the way. We spent a couple more nights on the Florida beach, spent a night in New Orleans, and finally hit home.

All in all it was a 9 day trip and it was a blast. It cost a bit of money but we all had a bit to spare. If money is an object I would suggest camping out. That sounds even better to me than staying in some posh resort.

For you, I have two questions…

1) Where have you always wanted to go?

2) When are you leaving?

When you make up your mind to do it, do it soon! You don’t want the excitement to die down. If it dies you may not go.

Decide to go and then go! Have an unplanned adventure of a lifetime!

There really is nothing like jumping off a 45 foot cliff into a body of water. You walk up to the ledge, unsure of yourself. You look down, you see it’s a long drop, you get scared, your heart starts beating faster. You’re determined to jump. Not because everyone else that has jumped before you, you’re going to jump precisely because it frightens you a little. You aren’t going to let that fear in. You are going to conquer that fear. You are going to conquer that ledge. And you are going to conquer that lake.

You jump. Your heart is pounding as you freefall. You hit the water, you plunge down and swim back up and take that first breath of air. The adrenaline is soaring through your body. Not only did you conquer the fear but the jump was fun. You can’t wait to climb up and do it again. Because now you’re alive. You’re more alive than you were yesterday when you sat in front of the boob tube watching stupid celebrities do stupid things.

The are only 2 rules when it comes to cliff-jumping:

1) Know how to swim. This should be obvious.

2) Jump the biggest cliff first. Face the tallest, baddest, meanest jump you can find and take the plunge. If you take the small ones first you will just amplify the fear of the big boy jump. Do it, get it over with, and have some fun. And it really will be fun.