Monthly Archives: March 2023

Adventure

Extreme Skydiving – My Next Adventure

Extreme Skydiving

Ever since high school, my group of friends and I have tried to find ways to outdo each other in any way that we could think of. Every summer since we graduated, we make plans to meet up and take part in a new adventure, which we plan during the winter months. After our rock climbing expedition in 2008, we thought that we could never out do ourselves again, but that was not the case at all. When our pal Jason suggested that we do extreme skydiving, we knew it was just the right type of adventure for us to go on this year. We let Jason take care of the details as we just waited out the last of the winter remnants.

Before we knew it, it was May again. All of us had been pushed to save up extra money so that we could go party after we hit ground from the extreme skydiving drop. Maybe we were all getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. I mean, none of us really knew what we had in store for us other than the extremity of the sport we were venturing to do. Terry was the first one to inquire as to our obligation to perform some of the types of extreme skydiving trickery that we were seeing in these DVD’s that his cousin had lent him. By the time that everyone in our group had the chance to see the videos, we were all astounded at our prior commitment to take part in this sport. Obviously, these people were experts, and not just a group of high school and college fraternity friends looking for something to cure the boredom of their dreadful jobs and families.

Now, we had a lot of things to think about. Were we really going to try to do any of the things that we had just witnessed? I mean, there was even clips in the video that parodied what we were thinking of doing on a novice level. So either we all lost our lives in doing something that we clearly not trained to do, or we forfeit our yearly trip for the first time ever since high school. After taking a vote, we decided to just do the adventure anyways, because there was no way on Earth that we were going to break our pact that we made at the age of 17. We just will watch the videos and take notes as to how to do extreme skydiving for when we finally get there ourselves.

Trip

There Is More To A Fishing Trip Than The Fish

I have never really carried much for fishing myself. But, as I sit upstream watching an older gentleman and probably his grandson, I realize that there is more to a fishing trip than the fish they will bring home.

I watch almost mesmerized as the older man so patiently shows the young boy how to bait his hook and cast the line into the water. The young boy is hanging on every word and action.

And as they sit there waiting for a bite you can almost feel the grandfather hoping with all his heart that his grandson will at least catch one small fish today.

You can see the young boy asking questions and the grandfather encouraging patience.

Then the big moment comes. There is a tug on the young boy’s line and grandfather springs into action helping and teaching him how to get his prize out of the water. And in just moments, yes indeed he is placing his small fish into the fishing pail that they have brought along.

From the big smiles on their faces it is hard to tell who is happier with their success.

So we start the baiting process all over and this time the young boy is allowed to bait his own hook and cast it into the water. You can see the pride on his face as he accomplishes this task to his grandfather’s satisfaction and approval.

I watch for a while longer as they both bring in another catch or two to add to their pail. Then you notice that there is some serious talking happening between the two. I can’t really hear what they are saying from my distant location. But I know that intertwined in that conversation is some life’s lessons for the young boy and great satisfaction and pride for the grandfather as he teaches and passes on heritage to his grandson. Just the two of them alone on the bank; no cell phones, no traffic noise, no hurry; just life and love between the two of them.

And as you watch the day coming to a close and the two fishing buddies packing up their gear you realize that this has been a very special day of bonding for the two of them and that it will be remembered and talked about with fondness by both for years to come. There will be tales and taller tales about this day but underneath them all will be the unspoken bond that has bound them together and will see them through any rough times until the end.

And as I reflect upon this scene one realizes that it was not how many fish, or the size of them, that made this fishing trip special, but the human relationship between grandfather and grandson that will set the stage for the young man’s future for years to come. These are indeed the bonds that bind. I’m sure that as the grandfather’s twilight years approach the lessons of caring, love and kindness, learned on this day, will be put into practice by the young boy who will then be a young man.

Even after grandfather has gone on, this young man will have this memory to reflect upon and bring him pleasure for the rest of his life. And I’m certain that the lessons taught will be passed on for generations to come.

So the great lesson learned here is “There Is Indeed More to a Fishing Trip than Just the Fish”!

Travel

How To Write a Great Travel Article!

Do you like to travel as well as write? Why not consider combining the two? Writing about your travels could be a great way to start up an entirely new career. It doesn’t take a genius to write about travel but it can be a little bit tricky when it comes to trying to break into the business of travel writing. Below are a few guidelines that might help you with landing a position as a travel writer.

First off you need to decide what kind of an audience that you want your articles to reach. You need to figure out what kind of publication that you want to try to get published in. Will it be a travel magazine with serious travelers, something for college students or even an online travel website. If you are considering the adult travel magazines you will need to have a more mature voice in your articles than you would say for something that is geared towards the college student. So this is an important first step.

When you go somewhere, make sure that you are prepared. It’s important that you always have a notebook and pen with you at all times. You need to be able to take down important notes on what is going on around you. This is the best way in which you can remember anything of interest that you might run across. It’s important to record the prices of things, street names and other information that will help the reader go from one place to another. Make sure to note your mistakes, when you might have gotten lost or went to the wrong place or paid too much money for something. You want to keep your readers from making the same mistakes.

Make sure to always have a camera with you. You need to take plenty of pictures. This is not only important for your articles but very important for you. Not only are they something you want personally but they will also help your remember the trip better for your article.

You will need to make sure that your do a lot of research on the location you are visiting. Whenever you write a travel article you need to make sure that you combine your own personal experience with knowledge and information about the location you visited. It’s important to include facts and the history of the place. People love historical highlights so it’s is important that you include them.

Try to put something new into the article. Don’t allow your article to be just like all the other articles written about the same location. Try to talk to locals a lot and get their view of the place they live. Go to places at your location that very little tourists go to so you can bring something new to offer to the reader. Also make sure that you get involved in things, don’t just be someone on the outside looking in. The more you get involved the more personal the article will be.

Don’t be afraid to add humor to your article and be completely honest. Don’t white wash the experience, if you had a bad experience say so, if a great experience express how great. Make sure you let the reader know what it was really like. Travelers look at travel articles as guides for their next trip so you need to give them as much info as you can.

After you have all the facts and all of the important information about the location you are going to want to bring your article to life. You can do that by trying to use metaphors and very descriptive language to liven it up a bit. This is especially true if you are in a different country, make sure to add some local flavor, add some local phrases, local humor, etc. Make sure that the story is not just informative but alive and full of fun and excitement.

Once you are done, do your editing on it and make sure that it is free of all grammar errors and spelling errors. The last thing you want to do after all of this work is submit something that is mediocre.