Many people have asked about my favorite experience from my year-long trip around the world. But adventures are like Lay’s potato chips — you can’t have just one — and I am a total glutton. I’ve had at least 100 incredible moments over the past year, and I’ve loved each one of them.
I figured some of my favorite moments might slip through my Swiss-cheese memory if I don’t write them down, so I finally put fingers to keyboard tonight.
Here’s the first installment of 100 Awesome Things From My Year Abroad, numbers 100 through 75. How many of these are on your bucket list too?
100. Took a boat down the Amazon River.
99. Hiked all night to watch the sun rise over Mount Sinai.
98. Drank sketchy, home-brewed liquor out of a gourd.
97. Attended the opera in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
96. Spent the night in Jordan’s Wadi Rum desert, just like Lawrence of Arabia.
95. Went sandboarding down the dunes in Huacachina, Peru.
94. Took an overnight train through India.
93. Survived a political revolution in Egypt.
92. Jumped off a traditional junk boat into Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.
91. Got freaked out on a farm full of Hare Krishnas in rural Argentina.
90. Took a gorilla trek through the volcanos of Rwanda. (Bonus: It was the same area where Dian Fossey researched “Gorillas in the Mist.”)
89. Saw coffee go from berry to mug.
88. Couchsurfed in Calcutta.
87. Ate my weight in tofu pho from street vendors in Vietnam.
86. Fell in love with Cambodia all over again.
85. Met a capybara in the Amazonian rainforest.
84. Suffered several near-death experiences on Indian scooters.
83. Walked around the pyramids of Giza.
82. Stayed the night with a family of strangers on an island in Lake Titicaca.
81. Went on a safari.
80. Had a tiger pass gas on my head.
79. Met a king in Uganda.
78. Rafted down the Nile River.
77. Penetrated North Korea. Successfully left North Korea.
76. Endured a horrific, four-day excursion through the Bolivian salt flats. For my efforts, I was rewarded with salt — and lots of it.
Stayed tuned for tomorrow’s installment of 100 Awesome Things From My Year Abroad!