GLOBETROTTERS WRITING PROMPT

Action — The Finale

From the cold and wet to the hot and dry

Action. Such a powerful word and yet such a vague meaning behind it. What is action? Is action subjective? Choosing the topic for this month led to some interesting discussions and a whole lot of adrenaline-filled or fearsome travel essays.

From diving with sharks deep down below to hiking up the highest mountains in the snow or for the first rays of sunshine and wild animal encounters over to raw kayaking experiences — you shared them all with us and it was such a joy reading through your fondest travel memories reminding you of action.

But before I'm giving away too much, listen to our list of favorites for this summer challenge.

Michele Maize

I am a pretty cautious person so I enjoyed living vicariously through your stories this month. Many of them I would never even attempt but I love to read about and check out photos of extreme action. Everyone is a winner in my book but these few stood out to me because they were extreme and contained gorgeous pictures along with a thrilling story.

Kerri Duncan went paragliding in New Zealand which looks like the perfect place to do this activity because of the beautiful scenery. Running and jumping off the side of a cliff sounds difficult with the gear attached to the back of you but she does it and soars through the air with a guide and tells a fantastic story about it.

I am always fascinated by mountain climbers and the courage that you need to complete such an intense task. Jimmy Toner will take you on a trip with his words and stunning photos on his trek up Kang Yatse II in the Himalayas. You have to be really brave to do this!

Norway is at the top of my list and Erika Burkhalter shares about her kayaking adventure here, which is something I would actually try. How could you not want to do this after looking at her photos?

Thank you to everyone that submitted their thrilling action stories this month. I really loved all of them and it was hard to pick my three favorites!

Jillian Amatt

Thanks to everybody who submitted a response to our July prompt, Action. We had fewer submissions than usual, but I blame the Northern Hemisphere’s summer for that. Hopefully, everyone is having a great season, wherever you may find yourself in the world.

You can imagine how surprised I was to read this article by Krutarth Trivedi who took us to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country. This is located just a valley over from where I am currently staying in Canmore, Canada. I couldn’t help but be intrigued by his bear encounter as just last week we took our friend from Hong Kong to the same location, in hopes that she too would see a bear. Sadly, she wasn’t as lucky as Krutarth was.

I also enjoyed reading Jit Yih’s story about her kayaking trip in Antarctica. I was really inspired by how she overcame her fears about the trip and did it anyways. She had a wonderful time and it sounds like the guides took great care of her. Plus, she did the polar bear plunge in near-freezing waters! Now that is brave:)

I can see a trend here with my choices. These stories all seem to be about experiencing the rugged outdoors and Tim Ward, Mature Flâneur’s was no exception. He takes us on a journey into a place where man doesn’t stand much of a chance if he is even the slightest bit unprepared. Thankfully Tim allowed himself to realize that it was necessary to turn back despite his desire to continue on. We can’t all be as successful as Frodo and Sam in our expeditions:)

I thought of Sam. I thought of Frodo. They did not turn back. They pushed on! But, they had a mission. They had a world to save. I was just a flâneur out for a ramble alone where perhaps he should not be.

My absolute favorite story, though, was by Katie Sea. Her recounting of a fish attaching to her oxygen tank for a ride was both exhilarating and terrifying. I’m not much of a diver and don’t like being in deep dark places. So I was already afraid enough while reading her article, and then the whole fish business had me nervously reading word for word. She came up with oxygen to spare after this adventure. I’m quite sure I wouldn’t have been so lucky.

Thanks again to everyone who sent us submissions this past month. As usual, it was a joy to read every single one!

JoAnn Ryan

This month’s challenge has been so fun! Reading about everyone’s actions and adventures while traveling was a true treat.

I loved the stories about sandboarding. I want to try this soon! Anne wrote about it here and so did Bell Dae:

Also loved reading about kayaking adventure stories, like Jit Yih in Antarctica and Erika Burkhalter in Norway as well as snorkeling adventures like Adrienne Beaumont 😇 in The Philippines.

We had stories of climbing in India from Jimmy Toner, hiking in Switzerland from Mayalmaiva, biking in Hawaii from Carol Labuzzetta and deep-sea diving in Honduras from Katie Sea. Oh yes, we had it all covered and it was all awesome to read about.

And even though I loved reading about all the adventures, I decided to pick this story by Richa Singh as my overall favorite. Loved reading about her explorations in Croatia:

“We held hands and walked through myriad alleys and pathways. It turned out to be the perfect romantic gesture I could offer my husband as we explored the city like little kids.”

Thanks for all the great stories… looking forward to more next month!

Adrienne Beaumont

I’m travelling home tomorrow from my wonderful week away with my family so I’ll make my choices now. Do I really have to? They are all such wonderful, different, engrossing stories. Thank you, Anne, for this inspiring prompt.

I loved Jit Yih’s story of jumping into the almost frozen waters of the Antarctic. I jumped vicariously with her because it is something I will never be able to do.

For basically the same reason, in the wilderness of North America where there’s any chance of a bear - grizzly or otherwise, I will never go hiking or even camping. I can sense Krutarth Trivedi’s s fear through his words.

Melissa Rach’s tale of hiking Montserrat sent shivers up my spine even though she almost suffered heat stroke. I’ve been atop Montserrat and no, I didn’t hike — I caught the funicular which was scary enough for me!

And my top pick is Jimmy Toner’s impromptu climb of a “really large hill”. I lived this one vicariously through his words although this is something I would never have attempted even when I was young and super-fit. It brings to mind this quote by Mark Twain I think. “Regret what you didn’t do, not what you did.” Jimmy will have no regrets about his decision to climb this really large hill. 😆

Anne Bonfert

I must admit I rarely have struggled as much as this month to select my favorites. I’ve opened them all up, chosen the best ones, closed the rest just to do it all over again and select different ones. The stories you submitted to the ‘action’ challenge were all so interesting. There were so many fascinating activities you described, many I haven’t done before and would love to do as well.

Thank you for your inspiration.

But as I can’t get around not naming my favorite and before I reconsider my choices again, these are the few that stood out to me.

While I never wanted to do it, eventually I did get my diving certificate but I am surely scared of encountering a shark down below. That isn’t exactly what happened to Katie Sea but she had a very unusual experience on her diving trip described.

Her essay kept me gripped from the first words on and didn’t let me go until the mystery was resolved. I won’t spoil the story but promise you are going to learn a thing or two from the read.

And while we are at the element of water, let’s switch from down below to above. Floating on the water is one of my favorite activities to do. I’ve been kayaking a few times but can only dream of doing in it the freezing but stunning waters of Norway.

Erika Burkhalter is currently traveling through Sweden but tells a story of a kayaking experience a few years back. Her narrative and photographs are as always outstanding.

After so much water, let’s move on to a story where that element was missing. I didn’t think it was coming but was overly excited to see Catherine Duchesne submitted a story on the beautiful country of Namibia where I had lived so many years.

And not only that, but she is telling a story on a hike I also embarked on where she had to make a harsh but wise decision. Read yourself.

And last but not least Jimmy Toner is taking us high above all the other stories’ locations. He describes an adventure of climbing a peak in snow and ice he didn’t overly enjoy but would have regretted more not doing it than successfully climbing it.

That is also some kind of life lesson, isn’t it?

His words are gripping and his narrative will transport you in the cold of the high alpine mountains.

Once again, we thank each and every writer who has contributed to this writing prompt. The stories were all interesting and inspiring. I loved getting taken along on your action-filled adventures.

If you missed the deadline and still want to share a travel story showcasing your travel adventures, you can do so. The article will just not be part of the challenge. We are always open to travel posts.

I also encourage you to stay tuned for our next writing prompt for the month of August. We will announce it here on Globetrotters on the 1st.

The team of editors also has contributed to the challenge with the following articles. These posts never join the contest.

JoAnn Ryan with “What Exactly Defines Action and Adventure While Traveling Can Mean Different Things to Different People”

Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages with “The ‘Actions’ That Form Our Travel Experiences Change Over Time”

Michele Maize with “White Water Rafting Made the Wet Hair on My Back Stand Straight Up”

Adrienne Beaumont with “Fish Eating My Feet or Swimming with Whale Sharks?”, “A Relaxing Beach Day or Island Hopping Snorkelling?”, “Let The Adventure Begin” and “Snorkelling a Wreck”

Anne Bonfert with “That Time, I Jumped Off a Bridge And Fell Into the River More Than Once”, “When I Faced My Fears and Did the One Thing I Never Wanted To Do” and “When a Snowboard in the Sand Changed the Path in Life I Was Taking”

And now, please give credit to all participating writers and read these awesome submissions if you haven’t checked them out yet:

Scott-Ryan Abt with “Boots, Hearts, Climbs and Summits: The Power of Active Travel in East Africa”

Marianne O with “Taking in All of Shanghai”

Claire Elizabeth Levesque with “Experiencing British Columbia From the Treetops”

Allison Burney with “The Day I Got Stopped by the Key West Coast Guard”

Kerri Duncan with “The First Time I Jumped Off a Cliff”

Tim Ward, Mature Flâneur with “Tim Versus Mount Doom (in New Zealand)”

Krutarth Trivedi with “My Wild Close Encounter With A Grizzly Bear”

Melissa Rach with “Hiking Montserrat”

Richa Singh with “How to Be Free in Croatia”

Jit Yih with “Into the Deep — Doing the Polar Plunge and Antarctic Kayaking”

Bell Dae with “That Time I Went Sandboarding in Western Australia”

Mayalmaiva with “Already Thought About Doing A Sunrise Hike?”

Carol Labuzzetta with “From Biking Down a Volcano to A First-Time Rock Scramble at Age 58, I Look Forward to Adventures When Traveling”

Catherine Duchesne with “Unfinished Business at the Namib Naukluft Park”

Katie Sea with “When a Fish Thought I Was a Whale (And I Thought It Was A Shark)”

Erika Burkhalter with “Kayaking above the Arctic Circle in Tromsø, Norway”

Jimmy Toner with “My Climb Up A Really Large Hill”

Your Globetrotters editing team (JoAnn, Adrienne, Jillian, Michele & Anne)