Running with the bulls. Anyone? Anyone?

I certainly wouldn’t try this!! Perhaps the most daring thing I’ve done while travelling is hanging over Victoria Falls at the Devil’s Pool on the Zambia side (highly recommended).

Can you say "Darwin Award"?
Probably the biggest (unintentional) risk I've taken on a trip involved a slot canyon and an out-of-the-blue rainstorm.

Probably my biggest risk was getting into a Rome taxi in 2006 - LOL! It was early morning transportation for us to the airport & definitely an experience! We took another taxi a few years later, and we were almost disappointed that it was a normal, calm ride. ; )

Flying into the Grand Canyon with friends and realizing the pilot was drunk.

Jumping out of a raft on the American River and almost drowning.

At age 15 driving over Highway 17 ( from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz) one Summer while my mother was visiting her brother in Greece and dad was at work. Drove the 2 door Ford which had 3 on the tree. Neighbor across the street ratted me out. Instead of getting in trouble Dad was proud and took me to Magoos Pizza Palor for dinner.

In college survived a head on crash between my Kharman Ghia and an Oldsmobile. Wound up in the back seat of the Ghia. Karmen Ghia’s don’t have back seats. Recall crawling out, standing up, feeling blood on my face and in my mouth. Also standing there pulling out my front teeth.

Spent 3 days in the hospital concussed. Ghia was totaled. Dad bought me another. Kept it for years. Finally sold it and got a pretty penny ( at the time) for doing so.

Ah memories.

Edit: oh how could I forget nearly getting robbed at knifepoint in Paris. I screamed “ Rape “ and the idiot fled.

Not running with the bulls. When I was a young man, I visited my Grandfather in South Texas every year and for about a month would work on his ranch almost every day.

The one thing that he taught me on the ranch was "don't mess with the bull." It was OK to use those electric prods to move steers and cows, but NEVER use one on the bull.

As for driving on the left in the UK, I have done that 3 times, the last time for four weeks. I found British drivers to be very polite compared to other places in the World.
The key was to not speed and concentrate, especially when it came to turns and your instinct was to go into the right lane. Of course, my wife was there to remind me to "stay on the left."

Never rode a motorcycle. As a poor student thought that would be cheap transportation. My buddy and I went to a Dealer and bought a Honda CX500. He drove it to work. We worked at Tektronix on the late shift. At midnight we went out in the parking lot and he showed me, "this is the clutch, this is the gear shift pedal, this is the accelerator, etc". Rode it home, about 15 miles.

If that wasn't insane enough, rode it to work the next day. ON the freeway. IN rush hour traffic. IN a pouring rain.

That's when I found out motorcycle helmet face shields fog up in the rain => riding with one hand with the other shoved up in my face to wipe the condensation off so I could see the traffic around me.

Fun times.

“Jumping out of a raft on the American River and almost drowning.”

I lived a couple of blocks from the American River when I was in high school and it was practically a daily occurrence to go rafting or tubing with friends in the summer. No close calls for me but unfortunately I did witness an 11 year old boy drown when he was going under a walking bridge and his foot got wedged in some rebar under the water. My friends and I all jumped into the water to try to free him but we weren’t able to. There were no cell phones or 911 in those days. We were all traumatized by it. The bridge was torn down not that long afterwards.

A friend and I go on a birthday trip every 10 years. Lake Tahoe for being 40 (we had kids at home then and it’s only a 1.5 hour drive away), Florida for 50 and when we were 60 we went to the Big Island of Hawaii. We went zip lining near Hilo. I’m not crazy about heights and I decided I should face my fears and just do it. I had a blast. We’re going on an Alaskan cruise with our husbands in September and we are spending a few days in Vancouver beforehand. I was talking to her on the phone last night and she mentioned a suspension bridge there that we should check out. I was less than enthusiastic, but she reminded me about the zip lining so I will probably do it.

I'm a pretty good skier, but I learned that it probably isn't wise to try a trail with the word "Cliffs" in its name (Wild Irishman Cliffs at Keystone in Colorado). I made it, but it wasn't pretty.

Yeah, I suppose I am old enough and wise enough, and did not overindulge in Hemingway, to know that running with the bulls is not for me. Add to that, what was a serious local tradition, has now become a tourist nightmare, so I will respectfully stay away.

As for other foolish things I have done, the list is long, I have a few missing appendages, scars, and metal attached to my bones to evidence the acts, but they are my own rich memories.

I'm going with "youthful follies".

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Andrea, your friend is referring to the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. I have crossed it many times, usually as fast as I possibly can! There is also a newer Cliffwalk in the park, that is even scarier, in my opinion. Kind of a narrow walkway, jutting out from the side of the cliffs. I did it for my kids and I was very glad to get to the end! I imagine your friend will make you do that too. ;)

Sue, thanks for the heads up. Once the bridge is crossed is there another way to get back to the other side? And thanks for the warning about the other bridge. I will definitely decline going over that one. Last night I was showing my husband our cruise itinerary (7 nights on the ship and 7 on land) and reviewing our shore excursions I was reminded that a suspension bridge is involved on one of them. I must be a glutton for punishment. If I remember correctly I can opt out of that portion.

Spent 3 days in the hospital concussed. Ghia was totaled.

Sorry to hear about the Karmann Ghia, Claudia. A severely-endangered species. Mine got torched in the Camp Fire. Never felt like it was a particularly risky car to drive, but then I've been a VW owner of bugs, buses and Ghias since 1971, and while I've worried about some safety issues - like an engine fire or insufficient drum brakes - a head-on with an Olds hasn't really crossed my mind until now.

Of course I'm sorry about your concussion as well.

Risky travel activities? I hitchhiked for two weeks around France and Germany in the 70's with no language skills and no more than the equivalent of $20 in my pocket. That sounds crazy-reckless today, but it didn't then.

Andrea, there is also the Lynn Canyon suspension bridge, which is far quieter than the busy Capilaino. I believe you have to walk back the same way you went for both of them.

Andrea, as Lisa said, at Capilano, the only way back is the same way you came! That being said, the "other side" is very nice and you can even walk in the canopy from tree to tree on short swinging bridges that are up high but not scary. So, I think it is worth making the crossing. Just channel your zip-lining nerves and you should be good to go!

Enjoy Vancouver - it is a very beautiful city - as well as Alaska, of course!

Thanks Lisa and Sue. I’ll try to ignore my fears because I do like to be adventurous. I’m not getting any younger so I should do what I can when I can.

I've always wanted to do a gorilla safari. Those videos showing the silverback walking right past a group seems both exhilarating and terrifying. The odds of getting gored by a bull must be higher than being torn apart by a gorilla, right?

When footage of this year’s first day of Running With the Bulls was shown on the 10:00 news, they mentioned that runners from the U.S. made up the largest number of foreign participants.

As a girl, I’d always been afraid of birds. On an Ireland trip 11 years ago, I took a big risk (for me) at the Hawk Walk Experience at Ashford Castle, recommended in the Rick Steves guidebook. After a falconry session with a Harris Hawk and an Eagle Owl, I wasn’t scared of birds anymore! Sometimes you have to face your fears head (or wing) on.

Allan, at that biker bar in North Dakota, did you happen to walk in wearing a Kawasaki t-shirt, and yell out to the room, “Harley’s suck!” ???

That would seem to be risky to me, but the bar itself, maybe not. Did the hotel offer anything for breakfast? Now, eating THAT would’ve been iffy.

I do like to be adventurous. I’m not getting any younger so I should do what I can when I can.

Yeah, Andrea, and when I died of heart failure from my fear of heights, I wouldn’t be getting any older, either…..

I decided to walk up the glacier from the Ice Fields Parkway in Canada on the spur of the moment, not terribly well-prepared. Going up wasn’t horrible, but I seriously questioned both my present sanity and the potential for my future travel on the way back down.

That would seem to be risky to me, but the bar itself, maybe not. Did
the hotel offer anything for breakfast?

We didn't stick around to find out. We were just glad our car still had 4 tires and 4 doors in the morning...