Posts Tagged ‘United States’

Canyoning: For the More Adventorous

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Variegated Squirrel at Montezuma, Nicoya Penin...
Image via Wikipedia

Traditionally, hiking is a fairly relaxed enterprise wherein the hiker has time to enjoy nature, wildlife, and scenery all while burning calories and connecting with the non-urbanized world. Of course, some people aren’t content to merely walk and dabble on light trails with small ascents and short, closed circuits. Sometimes you will be hiking and happen upon a creek, a boulder collection, or a tough root system, and then what do you do? The fledgling hiker might turn around, but the more adventurous among us will welcome the difficulty with open arms.

The hikers who found this challenge invigorating sought out new terrain to conquer, and soon enough, ‘Canyoning’ was born. Also called canyoneering, this form of hiking is a more down-tuned version of mountaineering, though often times it can involve just as much skill and tenacity as even the most demanding of hiking or mountain sports. Often times in canyoning, the same sort of equipment employed in mountaineering will be used, and sometimes, even technical jumping, swimming, and climbing will be involved.

The whole reason anyone might go canyoning is for the adventure. There is a feeling of exhilaration the hiker experiences when he or she conquers a tough hill, serious climb, or technical descent. Canyoning amplifies the challenge and therefore amplifies the exhilaration. When you steep rock faces, waterfalls, unpredictable terrain, and awesome interactions with nature, you get canyoning.

Some of the best places to canyon are in Australia, Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the United States. Of course, different canyons offer different challenges, but the experience is the same. Dangerous and thrilling. Different skills can be utilized too, depending on the canyon. Of course, the canyoneer will have to keep an eye out for the occasional falling rocks, flash floods, and roosting snake, scorpion, or lizard, but sport provides awesome photo opportunities and a way to experience nature outside the pages of a book.

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Cruises are a Neat Opportunity

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Have you ever played the game called “Lies?” Simply put, Lies is a game in which you go to a place where you have never been (and will probably never be again), and pretend that you are someone entirely different from who you actually are. This can be a very fun way to experiment with different ways to handle similar social situations — and if you really want to be strange, you can always try out those ridiculous pick up lines you found online. Or you could just walk around as if you were the king or queen of the world, confidence and power oozing from your every pore, and tell people the stories of your (made up) life to see how they react.

While most of the time this is a bad game to play, there is a time and a place for it. That time and place is on board a cruise ship. If you have ever taken a cruise, you know that it can be an amazing time to essentially be somebody else, if only for a few days. It can be really awesome to see how “the other half” lives. And the other half in question does not have to be the opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum, either. They can just be “the popular people” or “the lusty people.” Simply take whatever you would generally classify yourself as, and be the polar opposite of that.

This can be an incredible opportunity to learn. And not just about your typical assumptions about life, either. You can try out things socially that you would not dare if there were people you know around. And you can also learn more by watching people interact. So when you shop around for cruise offers, think about what kind of person you might want to be in a far off place.

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