Winter Wanderlust

1.17.2011
Reading travel blogs, writing scholarship application essays, sipping hot coco, watching documentaries, searching for cheap flights.
What's better than a day off school?

Flights to where you ask? Stay tuned, within the next month I will announce where and when my next adventure begins. For those of you who know please don't spoil the surprise!


Enjoy your day wherever in the world you may be. Carpe Diem

30 Seconds of Life

01.07.2011

Heart racing, palms sweating, a multi-colored nylon rope clutched between my hands. I inch closer to the edge of the wooden platform. My mind races and the thumping in my chest picks up tempo. "Here goes nothing" my mind says without thinking of the possible imminent danger ahead. Leaning forward in one swift movement, the harness pulls against my hips, only my toes remain attached to the platform. The carabiner locks and I am now staring straight down at the ground thirty feet below me. I slowly release the rope from my grip as I begin to walk down the wall, feeling more at ease with every step. My feet reach the red line and now I'm free to fly. Kicking off the wall, I sail into the air, knowing that my life is literally anchored between my fingers. The rope glides and I loosen my grip to nothing, catapulting into a free fall. Hearing nothing but the rush of air flow past me, tasting the minty gum that keeps my mouth from getting dangerously dry, seeing life on the ground fast approaching, smelling the chalk that coats my hands, feeling my sweaty palms grab the rope feet before I hit the ground. Did I just experience life in fast forward or slow motion?

--Lyons Township High School Period 1 Gym (Adventure Education)

(Just an example of Australian Rappelling [what this post was about])