This life lesson relates to my previous blog #89 Go Zorbing.
Not many people know about “zorbing” outside of New Zealand. Most people have the same response when they see that item on my list.
“Zorbing? What’s zorbing?”
I usually say “Have you ever seen videos of people jumping inside of a giant beach ball and rolling down a hill?”
They always respond with “Ohhhhh yes of course, that looks so fun!”
People don’t know the term, but they know the activity.
Ever since I was a kid I have always kept an eye out for odd and crazy adventures, and zorbing is a prime example of that. The classic bucket list adventures like walking on the Great Wall of China and seeing the Pyramids of Giza are great but I find it is the odd ones that you remember the most.
Going zorbing and volcano boarding are a couple of odd adventures that I have on my list. Rotorua, New Zealand is home to zorbing and Leon, Nicaragua is home to volcano boarding.
Just outside of Leon, sits Cerro Negro (Black Hill), an active volcano that is covered in black scree. The scree is fine enough that you can ride down it on a board at 50 km/h, similar to what many places around the world do on sand dunes.
Except the consequence of falling off is higher when it is volcanic scree compared to fine sand. Regardless, it is one of the top items on my list, which I have wanted to do since I saw it on TV when I was young. Like zorbing, not many people know about volcano boarding in Nicaragua but when I tell them about it their eyes light up.
I’m only scratching the surface of odd adventures with these two examples but if you want to find some of your own, get out there and start googling. Here’s another one you may not have known about. Did you know you can go visit the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine? They lead tours around the site and you have to walk with a Geiger counter at all times.
Or did you know it’s okay for people to travel to North Korea? There are actually many companies that organise tours to the country.
One of their biggest tours is for people who want to run in the annual Pyongyang Marathon. There marathon brings in people from all over the world and over 50,000 Koreans pack the stadium to watch you cross the finish line. How’s that for an odd adventure?
Both of these adventures are on my list to complete. It’s not just about experiencing odd things, it’s about breaking down those misconceptions we have about where we can and cannot go or whether it is safe to do so. I encourage you to dare to explore and seek out odd adventures.
What is the oddest adventure you have done? Let me know in the comments below.
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Dave has been on a mission, since 2010, to cross off the 100 items on his bucket list. The stories of his adventures are complimented by life lessons learned along the way and his travel tips are unique to his experiences.
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