Dogs

It’s interesting to notice how some people don’t feel or experience fear. They can do almost any adventure sports in the world without fear. Just thinking about the stunt man performing in action movies. How come these guys seem not scared of anything? I’m sure that if you ask them to join you in any adventure sports and they would follow you right away. I am not a daring person. I don’t like fast speeds, heights or defying gravity. I need my feet to be firmly on the ground. Skiing is the only vaguely thrilling activity I have ever done and I just love it. Adventure sports are not really for me but I would surely like to get over my inhibitions and go for it. I am an armchair sportsman; content to watch others take extreme risks.

The thing I’d do first is skydiving if I was braver. That must be an incredible feeling, up so high and free as a bird. Some people free fall down into caves and their parachutes open just as it’s getting dark and you think they are doomed. Rock climbing also looks exhilarating, even though I wouldn’t like to climb those mountain peaks like Everest. Climbing a mountain in Force 10 winds and frostbite eating at your toes doesn’t really interest me. I’m also far too claustrophobic for pot holing and the thought of cave diving fills me with dread.

Beach resorts all over the world are geared up for every sort of water adventure sports. Lying there while everyone else is jet skiing, parasailing, wind surfing and otherwise whizzing around makes me feel lazy. The most activity I indulge in on a beach is a hearty game of volleyball. I may fling a Frisbee from time to time. I think about doing something but I always end up soaking up the sunshine and there’s all that food and drink to consume.

My fear of heights precludes me from hang gliding or a trip in a hot air balloon. Traveling in a wicker basket under a flammable, gas filled balloon is not my idea of a relaxing time. I’m sure it’s fun but I would be on constant lookout for electricity pylons, not to mention a quick drop in pressure to send me plunging back to earth. Adventure sports like that are made for plucky, optimistic well insured people.

I am waiting for the day when someone invents a hologram suite, you know, like the ones in the Star Trek movies. These are computerized virtual realities, in which you can ski down a mountainside at maximum speed and come to no harm. That’s because the mountain is not really there. Nothing is real but it looks just like reality. In other words, it’s all the thrills without the danger. I could do any adventure sports I wanted then and maybe even create a few new ones. Until that time, I will observe other sport lovers do their hot dog tricks and bungee jump from skyscrapers. These days, does driving into the city and back count as adventure sports?