Today I was reading National Geographic's Adventure Blog and happened across their Ultimate Adventure Bucket List 2012. If anyone could do an article like this justice it's National Geographic (I must admit, I'm biased, I've had a subscription since I was a 2nd grader and have wanted to be a NG photojournalist since I opened my first issue, so I think they are the best at just about everything). To make this list of 20 once in a lifetime adventures, National Geographic reached out to a few of their friends, 20 of the worlds top extreme athletes (being National Geographic, they have some crazy cool friends), to share their dream adventure. What they've pulled together is a so-crazy-it-makes-you-sick-just-thinking-about-it bucket list.
Here's a sneak peak at some of the adventures that people who go sea kayaking and ice climbing before they eat breakfast, get sweaty palms thinking about.
Snowboarder, Gretchen Bleiler cannot wait to shred the Himalayas.
Will Steger, wants to check a traverse across high arctic Canada off his bucket list.
Ben Stookesberry cannot wait to navigate one of the mightiest, hairiest, most remote prizes still left to kayak in full, the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet.
Alright. Yes. These folks have awesomely, terrifyingly, amazing bucket lists. Adventurers most of us (well, I'll speak for myself on this one, and just say I) could never imagine (free climbing 20,000ft peaks?!?). But, that doesn't mean that our lists are any less awesome. They can include anything from the seemingly mundane, but oh-so-important (learn to cook a proper curry) to the big, hairy, audacious goals (drive a Volkswagon Campervan to Patagonia). Remember our post on Candy Chang's "Before I Die" Project? Each one of the amazingly diverse dreams shared those walls were special and definitely bucket list worthy.
So, I'm feeling pretty darn inspired to get out a pen and paper and write down all of those goals and adventure day dreams and little things here and there that I'd like to learn and build myself a bucket list. How about you?