Adventures...

... are fun and exciting and worth pursuing. But I've got a feeling they are even more fun and exciting when you are looking back on them.

I hitchhiked across the country in the 1983. 25 states, 2 months, 95 rides, $150. It was an adventure and I love remembering it and telling people I did it. It was exciting not knowing where I would sleep or what I would eat. My adreniline pumped everytime a car pulled over for me. Who would I meet? What was their story? Where were we going? I certainly don't regret doing it but I'm fully aware that the memories get better as the years pass.

What I usually leave out of my hitchhiking stories is the cold and the rain and the hunger and the fear and the wishing I was warm at home and that the adventure was just in my head. The same is true with the 14er's I climb. I recall the beauty and the accomplishment much easier than the sore knees and difficult breathing.

I suppose it's that selective memory that allows mankind to progress and discover. (or have more than one child!)

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes on the subject.

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. Life is either a grand adventure or nothing ....
Helen Keller

Remember the high board at the swimming pool? After days of looking up at it you finally climbed the wet steps to the platform. From there, it was higher than ever. There were only two ways down: the steps to defeat of the dive to victory. You stood on the edge, shivering in the hot sun, deathly afraid. At last you leaned too far forward, it was too late for retreat, and you dived. The high board was conquered, and you spent the rest of the day diving. Climbing a thousand high boards, we demolish fear, and turn into human beings.
Richard Bach A Gift of Wings

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain

Sail On!