Undiscovered Adventure
We were so far out in the desert that boundaries didn’t matter anymore. Were we in Tunisia? Libya? Algeria? It didn’t matter, our guide Massoud told us, pouring mint tea into my battered metal cup under a Saharan sky filled with stars. Didn’t matter?! Libya supported the bombing of airplanes, and Algerians were killing tourists.
Tropical Fruit
Where mealy apples and browned bananas once stood as grocery store staples, options today include a bright, colorful, and sometimes confusing assortment of far-flung fruits. Don’t be intimidated by spiky skin, unfamiliar flavors, and mysterious textures.
Become an Iron Woman
It’s spring. After running five miles per day and passing on red meat for months, you’re finally fulfilling every New Year’s goal and looking lean. Then it hits you: a creeping, almost unnoticeable fatigue. You rest for a few days, but it persists.
Parkour
I watch Ryan fly horizontally through the air, push his hands off the crest of the four-foot wall in front of him, tuck his legs between his arms, and land on the other side midstride. I stare in awe until I realize he wants us to try the very same thing.
The World is Your Playground
In a world that seems to grow its cities faster than its forests, what better way to find a silver lining than to wedge your fingers right in the cracks and hoist yourself over the very walls of this concrete jungle? Swing from its metal branches, crawl through its steel caves, and run all over its fields of stone.
Good Grief: Emotional Recovery
At the age of six, I discovered endurance sports, and they quickly became my umbilical cord to heaven and happiness. For 19 years I trained and trained hard, pushing my body through minor injuries and never experiencing any major ones. Then, six months ago, on a lovely, heartpounding Sunday run through the mountains, both my knees gave out.
Head Above Water
Less than a year removed from the streets of Baghdad and the April 2004 roadside explosion that took her left leg, Melissa Stockwell began chasing her Olympic dreams.
DEET Perfume and the Perfect First Date
Skip dinner and a movie. You’ll learn a lot more about a future paramour (and yourself) by navigating the wilderness together.
Bad Journalism
The polar bear alongside the boat makes a low chuffing sound. He dives to escape us. Each time he surfaces, he moves farther into open water, farther from land. A few passengers ask our guide, Wally, if we’re stressing the bear. I don’t hear his answer. I’m too busy kneeling low on the deck with my Canon.
Feeding Dreams
Deep in the places many of us go to find adventure—Tanzania, to climb Mount Kilimanjaro; Nepal, to trek the Himalayas; the Caribbean, to bask in the sun— there’s a hidden problem: Hunger.
