Featured writer: Stephen Schreck –A Backpacker’s Tale
I don’t know if you’re like me, but I need list to get anything accomplished. Actually I have a nasty habit of losing things so if I don’t make a list on a computer it is MIA in about 2.5 seconds leaving me running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
Explore all 7 continents (Planet Earth)
When I was a kid, people often asked me what I wanted do when I grew up. I was clueless and would always answer something ridiculous like Raphael from the Ninja Turtles (which we were banned from watching after my mother came home one day to find my brother and I both with bloody noses and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles playing in the background…..oops). If someone were to ask me that same question now, I wouldn’t even have to think about it. An explorer! One of my biggest dreams is to explore all seven continents. So far I have been to three, but have saved enough to explore the other 4 starting in May.
Running of the Bulls (Pamplona, Spain)
Thru Hike the Appalachian Trail (Georgia, USA)
The Appalachian Trail is a 2,000 mile trail winding along the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Maine. To thru-hike (hike the whole thing at once) it takes 5 to 8 months. Parts of the trail have intimidating names like The Hundred Mile Wilderness and Bear Mountain and you can’t help but think that whoever did the naming, clearly intended to scare people off. The landscape is wild and varied and even accomplished hikers have a hard time at some points. The forest along the trail is home to a diverse amount of wildlife, such as bears (not again –groan), moose, bobcats, panthers, wild boar, and coyotes. There is also the possibility of getting lost in the wilderness, freezing to death, becoming snowed in, and about a thousand other slow and painful ways in which one could die. I try not to think about them. How am I going to do this you ask? Well I am going to prepare. These are some of my ideas to prepare. What do you think?
Tall Ship Sailing (Florida, USA)
Have you ever dreamt of being a pirate? Me too! While sadly, a true pirate’s life is not a good career choice, (In this part of the world) you can still get a job as a deck hand on any number of tall ships and experience what life was like on a ship in the eighteenth century. These babies sail around the world in a gigantic race every year. Yes, for those of you in shock, I did say racing around the world on a tall ship! The sense of adventure, freedom, and excitement far outweigh all the hard work and long hours. This has to be one of the most unusual ways to travel the world. So of course I must do it.
Corinth Canal/ Victoria Falls Bungee Jump (Corinth, Greece) (Zambia)
Full moon Party (Koh Phangan, Thailand)
Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, Africa)
Skydive
Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany)
I like beer. In fact I would go as far as to say that I love a rich flavorful beer, and because of my deep love and appreciation for beer, I feel it is my responsibility…. Nah, my duty, to experience Oktoberfest at least once in my life. Thousands of people come from all over the globe to celebrate life, beer, and hellaous hangovers simultaneously. Errr….Sign me up! If you love beer the way I do, then Oktoberfest is pretty much your Mecca, and next summer it is time to make my pilgrimage.
Brazilian Carnival (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Machu Picchu (Peru)
I have never met anyone that saw a picture of Machu Picchu and didn’t want to go there immediately. I remember as a little kid (who didn’t even care about traveling at the time), looking at a picture, and telling myself that one day I would climb to the top of that breathtaking mountain. This is another dream that is almost a reality.
Festival of lights (India)
Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef (Queensland, Australia)
The Galápagos Islands
You might find this book entertaining.
“A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson”
I love that book! I read it once a year. Bill Bryson’s one of the funniest author’s out there.
Great article with some great reminders. Having just come back from Peru, the INca Trail & Machu Picchu…it is phenomenal! If I had time & some extra cash then Galapagos would have been crossed off too. Oh well, another excuse to go back to Sth America. Never heard of Cornith in Greece. So thanks!