What's the Wildest Adventure Vacation You Ever Took?

[Redlo Nosrep]

I married a city boy whose idea of camping is a Winnebago with an Internet connection. I like roughing it. So it was an expression of true love when hubby agreed to accompany me on a 13-day float trip (non-motorized) through the Grand Canyon 30 years ago. I think he started to rethink his choice when the river guides sat us all down before departure and had us sign pages of not-our-fault-if-you-get-injured-or-killed agreements. There were 25 people in our group, five rafts, and six guides.

If I could have had necessities airlifted in, I'd still be down there in the canyon -- and I don't even like desert vacations! That was the wildest, most incredible adventure vacation I've ever been on, and I can't recommend it enough. The scenery, the wildlife, riding the rapids, dining like kings (steak and strawberry shortcake for dinner the last night out), ambushing other rafts with water fights in the 100-degree heat, hiking the side canyons, swimming under waterfalls, soaking in the absolute silence and peace. The highlight of the trip was surviving the ride over Lava Falls, a Class 10 rapid (virtually unrunnable some times of the year) -- longest 27 screaming seconds of my life!

Hubby got to choose the next vacation so we went to Vegas and lost all our money. He did enjoy the creature comforts, though.

 

[jujube]

Probably Vegas. Before they put in the monorail, I actually....gasp!....walked from the MGM Grand down to the Sahara. I thought I was having dehydration hallucinations when I saw camels but they were just there for a show. AND I was ambushed by pirates, but that was just a show, too. Whew! What an adventure.

 

[Myquest55]

I have had two, rather epic experiences. When I was in high school (early 1970's) "all my friends" were going back packing through Europe. My parents just laughed to say they didn't have the $$ to spare for me (the eldest of 4) to go hoofing through Europe but I kept it in mind. During my senior year I worked part time at the local branch of the county Library and one evening, I worked with a woman who had lived in Switzerland. I told her about my dream to go to Europe and perhaps look up family roots in The Netherlands. Turns out her former neighbor's sister had a friend looking for an Au Pair (mother's helper) for the summer in The Hague. Correspondence and even a (gasp!) long distance phone call to The Netherlands, re-assured my parents and three days after graduation, I was on a plane! I paid my own airfare but they paid me weekly and I lived in the attic and took care of two little girls. The last week I was there I took the train to Switzerland, met a friend, who was an exchange student now back home, and spent some time there. I hooked up with my boyfriend in Geneva and we flew back to JFK together from there. Glorious fun and on to college!!

Then,

My first professional job out of college was in Manhattan (NYC) and was, for the most part, temporary. I didn't really want to stay in the city and was looking for a way out when the project came to an end and I went home, to Delaware, to camp out at the parent's. It was during the summer and I saw an ad in the back of "SAIL" magazine for "Female sailboat crew wanted." I had done some sailing in college and this sounded like fun. I sent a letter and the owner replied that he was going to be sailing up the east coast and would be nearby, if we wanted to meet. I drove down to the Chesapeake Bay area and spent the afternoon on the boat. We seemed to get along so I decided to join him. (I am sure my parents were appalled but they never said much, since I was over 21, I guess) A few weeks later I drove up to Cape Cod and met the boat. We sailed for about 2 months, cruising the New England Coast. I was still looking for permanent employment, and when we pulled in to Boston Harbor, I did some shopping at Filene's Basement for a dress, flew down to Georgia for an interview, then back again and off we went. A week or two later, I had a job offer so we turned around and I headed home.

A year later, THAT job was ending so I took my severance pay and met up with the same guy and the same 27' sailboat in West Palm Beach and we sailed overnight to the Bahamas. At that point, we were not as compatible so I jumped ship, booked a hotel room and stayed until my $$ ran out - about 10 days. Then I had a job to go to in Connecticut, met my now husband and the rest is history, as they say. DH and I have had our own adventures but living in Europe and on a sailboat were the coolest!

 

[Deucemoi]

I dont suppose military experiences count?

 

[Lon]

It wasn't a vacation as such since we were planning to live in New Zealand for six months of each year and the other six months in California.
It was my 65th birthday and to celebrate I first did a Head First (actually a dive} BUNGEE JUMP. The following day I White Water Rafted a Force 5 stream.

 

[Redlo Nosrep]

Jujube, you probably did hallucinate your Vegas trip and were actually somewhere in Florida at one of the many animal parks instead.

Myquest, what a story! You have more nerve than I do about spontaneous decisions. Isn't it funny how sometimes talking to strangers starts a chain of events that results in changing your life?

Deucemoi, I'm waiting for all the details, especially if you survived a firefight. Or would your adventure tale be more along the lines of surviving your drill instructor?

Lon, is that YOU in the picture??? You are THE MAN! To think of doing that at age 65 is a mind-bending idea! I was going to try tandem parachuting when I turned 65 but alas, I chickened out. Gorgeous color on that river water.

My other epic adventure was three weeks touring Africa, going on safari, sailing the Nile, and belly-dancing with local stars. (Our tour group was 25 belly dancers from the West Coast, anxious to add to our moves by going to the source of the art.)

Speaking of bellies, I'd guess for sheer adrenalin, nothing could beat our plane's belly landing in Denver when the gear collapsed and an engine caught fire. Had a couple of beers THAT evening!

 

[Deucemoi]

firefight? no way dont want one! was on a navy cargo ship carrying supplies in the mekong delta. 3/4 the time we had 200 to 300 tons of ammo on board, the rest of the time was general merchandise. as to a response to your vacation adventure I dont think this forum is appropiate. you had a good one, sounded like you had lots of fun.

 

[SeaBreeze]

Wildest adventure was many years ago when we were young before we got married, my husband and I drove through Canada and Alaska for a couple of months and did some serious tent camping in the wild backwoods, we had an aluminum boat with motor and pretty much lived off of the supplies we could take with us and off the land/fishing. Memorable time for sure, completely alone for long stretches and became one with nature.

 

[Sally]

The wildest is probably mountain gorilla trekking in Rwanda. I think it can also be done in Uganda and Congo. We lucked out in that our trek only happened to be about one and a half hours through a sometimes thick forest, pulling back bamboo chutes as we went along. It didn't rain that hard either. I had heard of previous treks that lasted around fours hours or more in heavy rain and mud, going higher up the mountain and know it would have been much harder. The gorilla group we saw was mild. We observed them for one hour while they rested. I've heard of other groups where the humans would have to get out of the way of the gorillas as they were leaving and be quick to avoid contact. They took groups of eight visitors at a time, and you have trackers and guides.

I've heard from friends that went trekking in Uganda there are nice lodges and some lodges where the gorillas sometimes come directly to camp. It's great scenery too being in the mountains and among the trees.