Ultimate Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt:  a game, usually played outdoors, in which players are required to collect an assortment of items, often including pictures of tasks to complete, within a set period of time.

Ultimate Scavenger Hunt Directions:

1. Create a list of tasks to complete.
2. Make it a FUN list! (This is perhaps most important.)
3. Choose a date or time the scavenger hunt ends. This hunt ends on March 25, 2018 — my 40th birthday — woot!
4. Take a picture while completing each task.  Earn 5 points for each picture taken, 10 points if you are actually in the picture.
5. Reach 500 points by the end of the hunt, and win!  I’m not sure what the prize will be.  After doing all of this, do I really need a prize? Well, yes. Of course I need a prize. It is a contest, isn’t it? No worries. I’ve got time. Prize to be announced in the near future. In the meantime, do you want to participate in the USH? Hell yeah, you do. Write it up, post it and link it in the comments below. Let’s get this party started, peeps!

Below is the task list. I’ve divided it by continent to give myself some structure (you know how I like my structure) and created a separate section for items that can be done without attachment to a specific place. Seriously. Don’t you get chills just thinking about doing all this? I do.

North America:

• Go sailing through Caribbean waters
• Visit every state in the U.S.
• Take the great American road trip
• Swim in Havasu Falls
• Hike the Na Pali Coast in Kauai
• Sit in a cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park
• Swim in a cenote
• Sip lemonade on the porch of a lovely southern home
• Hike the grand canyon rim to rim
• Gaze at the Aurora Borealis
• Paddle down the Coal River in West Virginia
• See the Florida Everglades by moonlight
• Set foot in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

South America:

• Climb the highest point possible in Machu Picchu
• Kayak in water from the Amazon river
• Watch wild macaws fly
• Mountain bike down the world’s most dangerous road in Bolivia
• Take Latin dance lessons in Latin America
• Climb a tree in the Amazon Rainforest
• Trek to El Mirador

Europe:

• Rent a summer house in the countryside somewhere in Europe
• Get lost in the Louvre
• Swim in the Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Asia:

• Backpack through Southeast Asia (June 18 – August 8, 2011)
• Watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat
• Traverse 13.1 miles of the Great Wall of China (a half-marathon!)
• Stand in front of the treasury in Petra, Jordan
• Float in the Dead Sea

Australia:

• Dive the Great Barrier Reef
• Swing in a hammock in French Polynesia (not exactly in Australia, but it’s the closest continent)

Africa:

• Reach the peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro
• Tour the pyramids of Giza
• Watch gorillas in the wild
• Buy spices in Morocco
• Witness the migration in the Serengeti

Antarctica:

• TBD

Location Independent:

• Cliff jump
• Swim with wild dolphins
• Sleep under the stars
• Swim near a whale shark
• Eat empanadas from a street vendor
• Hold a wild monkey’s hand
• Go skinny dipping in a deserted waterfall
• Kayak any river
• Go white water rafting
• Go hang gliding from the top of a mountain and land on the beach
• Go rock climbing (May 8, 2010)
• Watch the world below from a hot air balloon
• Soak in a hot tub in the snow
• Take underwater pictures as a certified scuba diver
• Snowboard down a mountain without falling
• Have a conversation in French in a French-speaking country (not exactly location independent, but this fits more than one continent)
• Have a conversation in Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country (same as above)
• Take ballroom dance lessons (any type) in the country of origin
• Take a cooking class in the country where the style originates
• Host a going-away dinner party
• Live in another country (must stay at least two months in the same accommodation)
• Take a solo trip to another country
• Take a one-year career break to travel around the world
• Celebrate Christmas on a tropical beach
• Cycle through a country
• Write a travel memoir that at least one person (not in my family) reads and loves (without my coaxing)
• Go sandboarding
• Dance with a penguin
• Go dog sledding