Don’s Adventures
It has always been my premise that there is no adventure unless there is uncertainty. Mostly, I have chosen to engage in adventures only because the uncertainty was there, but sometimes the adventure grows around you. This was the case when my pal and I decided to paddle around Punta Banda, in Mexico. What began as a simple paddle turned into a taxing and worrisome couple of hours on the water. It sure as hell was an adventure.
For another example, once, when we were in Italy, Kay and I got on a train that had changed tracks at the last minute. We had to race down the steps from the platform we were on into the tunnel below the tracks, then up to the next platform, where we arrived as the train pulled in. We jumped aboard. Kay asked, “Is this right train?” I replied, “I don’t know, but it’s going somewhere.” We mildly sweat it for half an hour until it arrived at the destination we had planned for. THERE was an adventure. We were in a foreign country, on a train going God knows where, and uncertainly permeated the air. It was an adventure, and unlike dozens of other train trips in Europe and elsewhere, it is a trip that we remember. You don’t get this when you are on a pre-paid tour.
“I hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in the quiet moment of reflection narrating for yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end we are our choices. As you go through life, build yourself a great story. You won’t get another chance.”
This is the slightly modified last paragraph of Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezo’s commencement address at Princeton University, May 30, 2010. The modifications are mine and are underlined.
The adventures that follow are essentially what Bezos has said above….
Follow these links for Don’s adventures:
The 30 foot Chinese Junk, Hai Jung (Sea Bear)