It  goes without saying that  in the present day shipping scenario every man at sea has endless checklists to fill, follow and comply, but  in this rat race of  sign on- sign-offs,   limitless courses  and the never ending exams one scarcely gets the time to fulfill one for himself. A checklist of thing to do; a bucket list for life- after all, you live only once, so it must be to the fullest, right?

I feel one should make it a point to have a sorted out  bucket list with a timeline of  things to do because twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. I am sure when you are old and grey you will not regret looking back at the time you trekked over the Himalayas or dived the Great Barrier Reef or when you dined with that  pretty French girl in  Paris or the Pina Colada  you sipped on while basking  in the white sand Hawaiian beaches.

‘We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek   them with our eyes open.’ Jawaharlal Nehru.

Well everyone is different and we all have different choices and priorities, here’s what I ticked off my list and there is a lot more to go. I am not saying its mandatory to do these but you don’t want to die wondering what if you did! So pick up and pen and paper and make one for yourself. After all,  we live not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.

The part about all these adventure sports is they pretty much require no formal training, to begin with, so there are pretty much walk in activities. The difference is that as kids most of the sports we played –cricket, basketball, soccer, tennis etc required one ball, here you need 2! 😉

A Bucket list for your adventure journey!

Skydive

A treat to watch and a trip to take– as you look up  at every skydiver taking his leap of faith, a black dot falls off the wing of a steel bird 14,000 thousand feet above our heads. After free falling for almost a minute, a white streak behind him flowers out into the delicate, wavering muslin of a parachute and suspended below it, with invisible threads, a human life, a man, who by stitches, cloth and the cord has made himself a god of the sky for those immortal moments. And that’s when I told myself, ‘If the good Lord had wanted people to stay on the ground, he would have given us roots.

Suggested trail zones (closest to India) – Dubai , Thailand  and now even India

Scuba Diving 

The sea is everything. It covers seven-tenths of the globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. There is supreme tranquillity. On its surface iniquitous rights can still be exercised, MARPOL and 100 other regulations can be made, men can fight there, devour each other there, and create terrestrial horrors there. But at 20 feet below its surface, their power ceases, their influence dies out, their strength disappears. It’s all total bliss it’s like moving into another dimension. Not just backwards and forwards, but up and down and around. It’s you, your Air supply tank and the roar of your bubbles. You don’t need alcohol here, deep down it’s high within itself.

Recommended dive sites (closer home)- Andaman islands,  Koh Tao –Thailand, and now even Chennai and Goa

Bungee Jumping

You might have come into this world because of a broken rubber, but you shouldn’t   go back because of one. Thus bungee jumping was never on the list. But I gave it a shot anyway. No doubt it’s terrifying, but it’s the addiction to the adrenaline rush of fear that seizes your brain when you stand on that 243-metrehigh bridge looking down at a valley before you take the leap of faith. After you accomplish it you get a great sense of satisfaction and the feeling is overwhelming.

Recommended jumping sites: Katmandu, Nepal; Rishikesh and Lonavala, India

Surfing

One of the greatest things about the sport of surfing is that you need only three things: your body, a surfboard, and a wave. Surfing is one of the few sports where you look ahead to see what’s behind. The joy of surfing is so many things combined, from the physical exertion of it to the challenge of it, to the mental side of the sport. And the funny part of this sport is that you’re taking on nature with a little stick and saying, ‘I’m gonna ride you!’ And a lot of times nature says, ‘No you’re not!’ and crashes you to the bottom.

Surf Schools in India— East coast–Surf n turf – Covelong- Chennai and West coast—Soul n Surd- Varkala-Kerala  

All the way up to the World’s highest road

18380 feet – Khardungala pass, Ladakh, A test of not really your riding skills. At least not *just* your riding skills. A test of mental strength. As you enter Leh covering one of the routes, the happiness that engulfs you is majestic. You start smiling without any reason. During a season, the sound of all the Bullets revving around in the streets of Leh will surely give you the feeling of being in the Mecca of bikers. And the moment when you reach atop Khardungla, that would be the moment when everything else in your life seems irrelevant.

How to get there- Well if it’s your first time, don’t venture out by yourself, all you need to have two things –1. Driving License and 2. Balls; the rest will happen on its own!

There are loads of well-organized operators that do all-inclusive trips from Manali and they take care of all the logistics ,all you need to do is contact them and carry the 2 mentioned things.

Don’t wait too long, you might have your whole life, but time doesn’t wait for us!