I'm doing 42 things
I was on a scuba trip in Belize and ran into a local older gentleman (Darrel) just outside of the Radisson Hotel. I talked him into being my tour guide for the week. We made a trip out to the Belize Zoo and I found he knew all of the wild animals by name. They would come up to the fence to greet him. I guess making this trip 2 times a day for 10 years brought him to a personal relationship few get to experience. The zoo there is not like American zoos in that there are no guard rails or protective boundaries. It’s like, get up a close, even face to face. The fence around the panther was open enough to stick your leg through. We approached the fence and Darrel called the big black cat … it appeared out of the tree right in front of us. He spoke softly and it came up to the fence and rubbed its head against it. Darrel scratched its head and said if I moved slowly I could do it too. Ok, it’s a leap of faith to reach into the panther’s domain. WOW, it’s an experience I’ll never forget. http://www.belizezoo.org/
stanat1722york's Life List
-
1. connect with old friends
1 entry . 9 cheers16 people -
2. Ride my Harley
7 cheers5 people -
3. go to space
1 cheer365 people -
4. Work out more
1 cheer741 people -
5. See the aurora borealis
2 cheers1,474 people -
6. Witness a total solar eclipse.
2 cheers59 people -
7. To work for NASA
5 cheers4 people -
8. study abroad
2 cheers1,999 people -
9. Watch a space shuttle launch
3 cheers905 people -
10. Learn morse code
2 cheers194 people -
11. go to New Zealand
2 cheers520 people -
12. live in Montreal
2 cheers81 people -
13. Ride a tandem bike
3 cheers20 people -
14. take bagpipe lessons
3 cheers2 people -
15. move to the UK
3 cheers100 people -
16. see the northern lights
2 cheers14,284 people -
17. live by the ocean
2 cheers571 people -
18. live in Hawaii
3 cheers280 people -
19. Visit Japan
1 cheer4,834 people -
20. Take an Outward Bound course
3 cheers7 people -
21. create a 5 year plan
1 entry191 people -
22. own a hybrid car
2 cheers588 people -
23. Swim with dolphins
4 cheers6,150 people -
24. stay in an ice hotel
4 cheers66 people -
25. Buy a place by the beach.
2 people -
26. Bask in the Tuscan sun.
1 cheer3 people -
27. learn to play the harmonica
2 cheers668 people -
28. attend the burning man festival
1 cheer200 people -
29. Learn Japanese
8,343 people -
30. finish my tattoo
3 cheers143 people -
31. Swim in a bioluminescent bay
241 people -
32. open a bed and breakfast in the country
1 cheer2 people -
33. get my pilot's license
2 cheers633 people -
34. drive a semi-truck
20 people -
35. See the Tournament of Roses Parade in person
4 people -
36. run a marathon
3 cheers8,147 people -
37. backpack to see petroglyphs
1 cheer1 person -
38. Hike Bryce Canyon, Utah
2 cheers6 people -
39. find my way back into Heather's heart
2 entries . 3 cheers2 people -
40. On ne voit bien qu’avec le coeur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux
3 entries . 1 cheer1 person -
41. Fly in an original plane from the 2nd World War
1 entry . 1 cheer1 person -
42. Walk on the Great Wall of China
1 cheer205 people
Eurail is the way to get around. Beware most all rail trips need to be reserved ahead of time at the train stations (cash penalties when you pay for it once you’re on the train). Reservations don’t mean you’ll get on if the train is full. I know, I got bumped in Brig, Switzerland at 0130 on a very very cold night. Take and wear all of your worst tattered underwear and when it gets dirty, throw it away as you travel. It’s a great way to clean out your dresser drawers. No laundry to do every night. Remember PACK LIGHT. Travel just off season so you can get rooms anywhere and for less money. You’ll also avoid the crowds at big tourist locations. Nothing is worse than getting to a town and every room is booked. Take a digital camera and lots of memory cards. Film will cost a lot of money for prints and processing. DO NOT carry illegal items !! You ain’t gonna like their jail system !! The dogs will find anything you are carrying. That sandwich from breakfast in your pack will have you talking with an officer and her dog when you pass thru customs. Bottled water in your jacket pocket will get you stopped at the x-ray machine. After the officers stop you – prepare to rerouted thru the “I didnt know it was in there” line. Searches are very unpleasant in foreign countries. Watch the Weather Channel where you stay and be flexible in your travels .. if it’s bad weather go somewhere else. Do not do the things you would do if you were at home, like watching television unless it’s in a foreign language and stay away from our fast foods eat local foods. You are there for the grand adventure of your life. Get out and meet the locals and spend time talking to them about where they like to eat or shop, how their childhood was or where they grew up. Mention the differences in the dialects over just a few miles away from another town. Over all be interested and nice as this is a universal language and understood in any language.
These lessons are something youll advise others about when you return from your travels. Let them know Americans are good people and invite them to come to our part of the planet. The secrets are in FODORS travel books. Don’t get back and realize you missed something in the city you were in. I missed Bora Bora when I went to Tahiti. Now I will have to go back there. American money is not accepted in most all places … use a standard credit card. The card companies will figure the exchange rates for you. If you want to purchase something “just do it” it’ll drive you nuts trying to figure what it costs in US dollars. A Big Mac is a Big Mac and not something you have to calculate to see what it costs. Just buy it and move on. Time is precious on your trip. It’ll be time to come home sooner that you’re ready too. Take lots and I mean LOTS of photos of everything. You can relive this trip over and over after you get back. These photos will let you see things you missed that were right in front of you. Use the movie feature on your camera to get directions from a stranger. Just tell them you have bad memory . These will be a source of great comedy later. I love to interview anyone who’ll chat. They will tell you great stories about their part of the world. And some of them are really small … like an older gentleman who had never traveled more than 10 miles into town. If you have an adventurous nature, ask the really old folks about what childhood memories they can recall.
The differences there are amazing … the toilets don’t all flush like ours. The handling of money and food are really relaxed and they don’t even think about washing their hands. People will take their dog into a restraint and it’ll sit at the table with them and eat too. If you go to a movie remember it’s not gonna be in English. I saw Star Wars in French in Rouen France!!! It was like going to an Opera … you didn’t know the words but you could follow the story. Mayonnaise on the french-fries, powdered sugar on your popcorn at the movie, strange looking money, the Metro or Tube is a new experience too. Don’t even try to use the local telephone booth. You’ll understand the first time you look at inside one of them. If you’re staying very long rent a local cellphone. Most of our cell phones will be nice enough to let you know “No Signal”. Verify it with your provider before you go. Spend all of your foreign money in small countries that use local currency or you’ll end up coming home with lots of unusable foreign money. Looks pretty but not spendable. The exchange rates to convert it back to US or Euros will hurt you.
If you put this trip off now you’ll only be a year older when you decide to go there next year.
Going out to visit old Cowboy Bob, a 77 year old horse trainer, was such a great adventure. Might be mending barbed wire fences, throwing hay, bush hogging the back 40, chasing loose cows out of the neighbors corn field or just sitting on the big long wide porch and sipping fresh coffee. It really takes you back to nature being there. The geese from the big pond are the alarm system and when 6 quarter horses come blasting around the house kicking up their heels and farting … you just can’t help but smile and enjoy being there.
