I love adventure. It is the part of travel that makes the trip memorable, laughable and exciting. Well a few of my vacations would definitely fall into all three categories, if not downright scary (you can be the judge). To talk of them now I chuckle but then it was no laughing matter. In my earlier travel life everything that I did was on impulse. There wasn’t an itinerary plan I followed in particular. Thank God for his loving kindness, enduring mercy and protection without which I don’t know where I would be today. What if the predicaments I found myself in back then had turned out differently? Read of three different exciting or not so exciting accounts below.

In Israel I peregrinated to many holy sites to save money, to exercise and to sight-see at a slower pace.  One day on the Jesus trail near the Sea of Galilee I decided to take a short-cut.  Along the road I discovered trees filled with a familiar fruit called dunks.  I ate as many as I could occasionally wandering off the main road to pick the fruit.  Along the stretch of road, I came upon a path and thinking it was a short-cut to the next stop on the trail, I headed in that direction.  No one else was in view.  The road became grassier and narrower as I went further and further until it petered out into a field.  I could still see the main road in the distance.  In the field I climbed over a thick mound and before I knew what was happening the ground gave way beneath me.  I scrambled to hold on to anything as one leg dangled below me.  I don’t know how I managed to clamber out of the hole.  A few abrasions on my shins and hands were the only evidence of a close encounter with what could have been a near disappearance.  I don’t know how deep the hole was and didn’t stick around to find out.  What if I had fallen all the way in, couldn’t get out and nobody knew where to find me?

Another occasion, I was in Maui, Hawaii.  I was staying at a hostel and had befriended two women, one older and the other younger.  This hostel is hip, friendly and the happening place to be.  Reservations are made months in advance to get in.  I was in my room minding my own business when both women came by and invited me to a night outing.  They were going to make a bonfire.  Interested residents loaded up in several cars and headed out into the night.  First stop was at the supermarket where the leaders bought beer.  This should have been a clue that the night would be interesting.  Obviously, it was too late for me to turn back.  I was committed.  We drove, some screaming and shouting, until we pulled off to a side road and onto a sandy beach. The night was dark, but a few were prepared with flashlights.  We walked the beach stumbling over dunes until we found a secluded spot.  The bonfire was lit, and some spread mats and blankets to sit and talk, whilst others laid down to watch the stars.  Not before too long, besides the smell of firewood, a strong smell of a leafy kind was wafting on the cool night air.  Not a smoker, I was on edge and did not want to be there, thinking only of the possibilities if we were caught.  What if the police showed up just then wouldn’t I be in big trouble, guilty by association?

Yet on another occasion I spent the night on the street in Italy and Greece, respectively.  Both times I had misjudged the travel time schedule which did not allow for immediate alternate accommodation options accessibility.  I arrived in Italy too early for my check-in and had to walk the streets into the wee hours of the morning.  The front desk reception took my bags but refused to give me the room ahead of my arrival time.  In Greece, I traveled from an island to the mainland by ferry and arrived in Athens just after the last bus had left the terminal.  I spent the darkest hours hanging out near the terminal where I saw ladies-of-the-night and flashy cars coming and going.  It was not hard for me to figure out the alliance and know that I was in a red-light district.  Early dawn, I took the first public transport available to my resting place.  What if a patron mistook me for a lady-of-the-night?

Community Peeps, stay tuned to read of my vacation experiences in India, Turkey, Morocco, South Africa and many more places from time to time.  Reminiscing about what took place many years ago makes me wonder whether I was wild and crazy or brave.  I want to think the latter but would agree with you if you chose the former.  Of course, I wouldn’t dare do such foolhardy things now.  Or would I 😀😀?  What have you done on a holiday that at the time was not the least bit funny, but that you can laugh about now?  Please share.

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