The EJDe of Reality

[ethanjdelano]

Top 10 Best Adrenaline Rushes

Following up on my last post about the Top 10 Extreme Sports for Amateur Athletes, I would like to explain how I ranked the Best Adrenaline Rush category. Bar none, the best way to raise your adrenaline is to GO FAST! The more you are aware of the sensation, the higher the adrenaline rush, and looking at my list, the top 6, except for ice climbing, are essentially ranked according to top speed achieved in each sport. Of course, there are other things that raise your adrenaline, such as real (or perceived) danger, and that's where ice climbing gets a boost.

For canyon swinging and bungee jumping, you are strapped into a system that essentially does the same thing over and over, day after day, and if you've seen someone use the contraption before you, except for your completely (ir)rational fear of falling, there's no reason to be afraid. Ice climbing requires quite a bit of physical exertion and the potential that your ropes, boots, and ice picks could become detached from the glacier or frozen waterfall at any time heightens your senses. Every time you climb, the course is different, and that adds quite a bit to the rush you get when you climb.  

The other sports on the list are not so extreme in the adrenaline rush department, though in short bursts in particular situations, can achieve a pretty big rush. For instance, if you are setting a new personal best depth in free-diving, the feeling for the last few feet before you reach your target can be insane: "There's no way I can make it back up!" you might think; but when you turn around and head back up, your lungs slowly expanding as the pressure decreases, you realize that you probably could have gone even further. White-water rafting and scuba-diving are also relatively low adrenaline sports, though rough rapids or running into a shark respectively could give you a fair jolt of adrenaline. Rock climbing is mostly an endurance sport, and if you do it properly, you'll never get an "adrenaline" rush; though falls can be pretty scary if you've got a lot of slack in the line or are climbing top-rope.  

What are your thoughts? Did I get it right? I've only ranked the sports I've done. What should I try so I can add it to the list?  

Let me know in the comments down below and be ready for my post next week which deals with the Top 10 Most Physically Challenging extreme sports.  

The List:

Top 10 Best Adrenaline Rushes

1. Solo Skydiving

2. Motorcycle Driving

3. Tandem Skydiving

4. Ice Climbing

5. Canyon Swinging

6. Bungee Jumping

7. Free-diving

8. White-water Rafting

9. Scuba-diving

10. Rock Climbing

    As I stated in the first article, all of these rankings are based on my subjective experience and should only be used as a guide when deciding whether to get into a particular sport. If you don’t do your homework and make an uneducated decision, any of these sports can kill you. However, with proper training and awareness of the potential danger, these sports can become some of the most amazing experiences of your life. I only rank sports I have personally done, and I agree that there are other sports that could fall somewhere on this list; I just haven't done them yet!

Thanks for reading.

Ethan J. DeLano "The EJDe"

[ethanjdelano]

REDBULL STRATOS PROJECT A GO AND FELIX BAUMGARTNER CHECKS OFF A TASK ON THE ULTIMATE IMPOSSIBLE LIST http://p.ost.im/p/dM3uWm

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ROBERTA MANCINO SKYDIVES WITH RECORD HOLDER JHONATHAN FLOREZ IN WWL AND YVES ROSSY ON TOP GEAR 

http://youtu.be/mv9CD5emfMs

[ethanjdelano]

Top 10 Extreme Sports for Amateur Athletes

Top 10 Extreme Sports for Amateur Athletes (and even non-Athletes) This is the first part in a series of posts for my quest to find the best extreme sport. Declaring something as "The Best" is always a subjective decision and ultimately depends on more than one factor. Acknowledging this, I have only ranked sports that I have actually done personally, limited my list to sports that anybody can do with less than a month of preparation, and ranked the same sports in each list. Each of the following categories will be written about in the upcoming weeks and will address any comments or questions you have. For example, next Monday, I will write a post that explains in detail how I ranked the "Best Adrenaline Rush" and the following week will discuss how I ranked "Most Physically Challenging" and so forth. Best Adrenaline Rush What would an extreme sport be without that adrenaline rush? 1. Solo Skydiving 2. Motorcycle Driving 3. Tandem Skydiving 4. Ice Climbing 5. Canyon Swinging 6. Bungee Jumping 7. Free-diving 8. White-water Rafting 9. Scuba-diving 10. Rock Climbing Most Physically Challenging Sometimes overcoming the burn is just as much of a rush as completing the objective. 1. Ice Climbing 2. Rock Climbing 3. Free-diving 4. White-water rafting 5. Motorcycle driving 6. Solo Skydiving 7. Scuba-diving 8. Bungee Jumping 9. Canyon Swinging 10. Tandem Skydiving   Biggest Mental Hurdle Of course, sometimes the biggest battle is just doing it. 1. Free-diving 2. Bungee Jumping 3. Canyon Swinging 4. Solo Skydiving 5. Motorcycle Driving 6. Ice Climbing 7. Tandem Skydiving 8. Scuba-diving 9. White-water rafting 10. Rock Climbing   Safest I ranked safest (in my opinion), as opposed to most dangerous, because under the right supervision, all of these sports are relatively safe (most are safer than driving your car!) 1. Tandem Skydiving 2. Scuba-diving 3. Canyon Swinging 4. Solo Skydiving 5. Rock Climbing 6. Free-diving 7. White-water Rafting 8. Bungee Jumping 9. Ice Climbing 10. Motorcycle Driving   Most Engaging Communities When you share a unique passion with someone, encouraging each other to take/keep up the sport can be a big part of the fun. 1. Scuba-divers 2. Tandem Skydivers 3. Solo Skydivers 4. Rock Climbers 5. Motorcyclists 6. Free-divers 7. Ice Climbers 8. White-water Rafting 9. Bungee Jumping 10. Canyon Swinging   Easiest to Get Certified You don't need to get certified for most of these sports, but those which you take some effort in planning and preparation in order to do right. 0. You don't need to get certified for Canyon Swinging, Tandem Skydiving, Bungee Jumping, White-water rafting (guided), or Ice Climbing (guided). 1. Rock Climbing 2. Motorcycle Driving 3. Scuba-diving 4. Solo Skydiving 5. Free-diving   Cost of Certification (Range Estimate) For sports that require certification, I have ranked the total cost of an entry level certification. 1. Rock Climbing (Free-$150) 2. Motorcycle Driving (Free-$185) 3. Free-diving ($400) 4. Scuba-diving ($300-500) 5. Solo Skydiving ($1000-2000)   Affordability Per Outing (Range Estimate) One of the most common questions I get asked is, once you get into a sport, get certified and buy all the gear, how expensive is it? 1. Rock Climbing (Free-$15 outdoors, $10-20 indoors) 2. Free-diving (Free-$30) 3. Ice Climbing (Free-unknown) 4. Scuba-diving ($5-$50) 5. Motorcycle Driving (Current price of gas - avg 50-60MPG) 6. Solo Skydiving ($15-30) 7. Tandem Skydiving, Bungee Jumping, Canyon Swinging, and White-water Rafting are not sports you can acquire gear for without running a full-on business of your own and are therefore not ranked.   Affordability With Rental Gear Per Outing (Range Estimate) Of course, before you buy your own gear, you have to try out rental gear to see what works for you. I've listed the price with certification (if applicable) with rental gear. 1. Rock Climbing ($20-40) 2. Free-diving ($30-40, though you usually buy your own gear) 3. Solo Skydiving ($35-50) 4. Canyon Swing ($80-160) 5. Tandem Skydiving ($100-200) 5. Scuba-diving ($100-200) 7. Bungee Jumping ($80-250) 8. Ice Climbing ($250-400) 9. White-water Rafting ($160-450 or more) 10. You don't rent motorcycles, you buy them   Affordability of Gear Purchase (Ranked Numerically) The cost of gear can be such a wide ranges that I'm not going to rank it hear with dollar amounts. There are too many variables that go into selecting the appropriate gear for all of these sports and it really depends on how intense you are into the sport.  On average, the least expensive gear starts with: 1. Rock Climbing 2. Free-diving 3. Scuba-diving 4. Ice Climbing 5. Solo Skydiving 6. Driving a Motorcycle Considering the way people participate in the sports mentioned above, you would only get a  Tandem Skydiving Rig, Canyon Swing, Bungee Jump, or White-water Raft in order to run a business, and therefore I do not considered those sports here.   As I stated above, all of these rankings are based on my subjective experience and should only be used as a guide when deciding whether to get into a particular sport. If you don't do your homework and make an uneducated decision, any of these sports can kill you. However, with proper training and awareness of the potential danger, these sports can become some of the most amazing experiences of your life. Please check back next week when I address any questions or comments you post below on the "Best Adrenaline Rush" category. Thanks for reading. Ethan

[ethanjdelano]

The Best Experience I've Ever Had

I wrote this post after leading an experience for Everest on August 26th, 2012.

Everst's Dream Series

Two weeks ago, I learned about Everest's awesome Dream Series for people "who believe in living life today, not someday." I'd like to think I fall into that category, living by my constantly evolving impossible list, and I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few doers in the last two weeks at different Everest events.

My part in the experience started when I met up with Matt Levene, a friend from my days at BU, to rock climb at Planet Granite in San Francisco. While climbing, our conversation turned to skydiving, something he had thought about doing for awhile, but had never gotten around to following through. "Let's go this weekend!" I said. He hesitated, and asked me a few questions about it, but ultimately said, "Alright, let's do it!"

Skydiving with Everest

The next thing I knew, Matt had found 9 other people from the Everest community, excited about the opportunity to jump out of an airplane and plummet 14,000 feet to the ground at over 120mph! You know it's a great group of go-getters when you can assemble 11 people to go skydiving in less than a week. This was easily the biggest group I've taken to the dropzone and I look forward to being a part of the Everest community now and in the future. I'm already taking at least two jumpers back this weekend to do it again!

Skydiving is an amazing experience that is difficult to describe to those who have not experienced it yet. If skydiving is something you've considered, but still are unsure about, I've listed some of the most common questions I get asked about skydiving below. Hopefully my answers encourage you to go out there and turn that bucket list of things that often fall by the wayside, into a lifestyle, influenced by an impossible list of far reaching, achieveable goals.

Why would you jump out of a perfectly good airplane?

That's probably the hardest question for me to answer. Skydiving is an experience like none other, and when I tell someone how much fun skydiving is, it is hard to convey in words just what the feeling is like without an experience to compare it. The closest comparison I have found is saying that skydiving is like standing on top of a car driving at over 120mph, but with the ability to move on all axes. It does not feel like falling, and is just a pure adrenaline rush from takeoff to touchdown.

When people who ask me this question say there is no way they would ever be able to do it, I tell them about my Mom. She was deathly afraid of going skydiving, so afraid in fact, she thought that if the jump didn't kill her, a heart attack during the jump would. It took six months of persistence and three trips to the dropzone with her, watching me take flight and land safe and sound every time, before I finally convinced her to give it a shot. What happened, you ask? She loved it so much, she jumped TWICE!! ON THE SAME DAY!

Okay, but how safe is skydiving really?

This is another great question and one I love to answer. A common skydiver idiom is, "You are more likely to die driving to the dropzone than you are skydiving from the plane." Is that really true? Well I did a research paper on skydiving safety in college to find out the fatality rates of skydiving, scuba-diving, and motorcycle riding. You can read the whole report if you don't believe me, but going for a tandem skydive is the safest of them all and you would have to go on over 100 tandem skydives EVERY YEAR, for it to be as dangerous as driving your car on the road in an average year.

Something most people don't know is that all skydives are done with two parachutes. The main parachute is re-packed for every jump under very strict packing guidelines. During this process that occurs hundreds of thousands of times a year, wear and tear or a packing mistake can occur. To prevent a potential mishap from being fatal, skydivers can cut-away their main parachute and deploy a back-up parachute. This reserve chute is repacked at least every six months, whether used or not, under even stricter guidlines to keep skydiving as safe as possible.

Great. Now you've convinced me that I won't die. What's so great about it anyways?

I've been skyidiving 28 times and the 28th jump was just as fun as the first. Of all the extreme sports I've taken part in, ice climbing, bungee jumping, motorcycle driving, white water rafting, and some even more obscure extreme activities, skydiving gives me the biggest rush by a long shot.

Given what I've just said, you might think I'm only into skydiving since I'm an adrenaline junkie looking for bigger and better rushes. That may be true, but of the 31 people I've taken tandem skydiving, all 31 have said in one way or another that it was one of the best experiences that they have ever had, if not THE best. Two jumpers have even started down the path of solo skydiving, and hopefully many more will join them in the future.

How much does it cost? And where is the best place to jump?

"And What should I wear? Pants? Shorts? Sunscreen?" Most skydiving dropzones charge anywhere from $200-$300 for a jump and pictures and/or video are usually extra, between $30-$70. There are dropzones all over the world, not to mention all over the United States, and a simple web search will get you the information for your local area. Beach jumps are usually the most expensive and the most breathtaking, so take that into consideration when you look at dropzones. Trust me, it's worth every penny!

For me, of the two countries and six states that I've jumped in, my favorite place to jump is The Parachute Centerin Northern California. This is also where I've taken 18 of the 31 tandem jumpers who went with me, including the Everest event last week. Not only is it just $100 for a tandem jump, their efficiency in getting you up in the air is unmatched. All 11 Everest skydivers were up in the air on Sunday less than 30 minutes after signing-up.

Jumping anywhere, you can wear whatever is comfortable for the appropriate weather, as long as you wear closed toe, non-sandal/high-heeled shoes. Otherwise, your tandem master will take care of all other preparations and you can focus on having fun!

- Blue skies

Ethan

[ethanjdelano]

JEB CORLISS LUCKIER THAN DANICA PATRICK TO SURVIVE 120MPH CRASH AND TALK ABOUT IT ON CONAN? http://p.ost.im/p/ddWnvX

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RED BULL STRATOS MORE PIONEERING THAN FIRST JETMAN IN HISTORY? http://p.ost.im/p/ddWhUY

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Summer Checklist - The Results

So I'd never made a checklist before this summer, or if I did, I never really paid much attention to it. Anyways, as you can see below, I was able to accomplish most of my summer checklist, and have decided to create one for the fall. The full article includes a little blurb about the tasks I put on my to-do list for the summer. Summer checklist: x = done get a motorcycle work 70 hours a week go skydiving learn how to cook learn how to front-flip travel to a different city every weekend get my six pack back revitalize blog

GET A MOTORYCLE Easily the most important task on my summer to-do list, getting a motorcycle (and the license) was the first thing I worked on accomplishing after I finished sophomore year. I've wanted a motorcycle ever since I was in high school, and this summer that dream became a reality. I went to the RMV in Watertown the first Monday after finals, waited two hours in line, and then passed my permit test. The following weekend, I went to a Motorcycle Safety Foundation class and made sure I wouldn't kill myself the first time I got on my own bike. After that, it took about two weeks of craigslist.com searching, but I finally found the perfect bike, and rest is history. WORK 60 HOURS A WEEK Not nearly as fun or exciting as the other tasks on my to-do list, but I needed a way to pay for all of my crazy adventures. I worked most of my hours at a market research consulting company, some hours for LocaModa, and the rest of my hours doing website stuff on my own time. It was good experience and I made a fair bit of dough. However, I also spent a fair bit of dough, so I still live life like the broke college student I am. GO SKYDIVING Something everybody says they are going to try once, joking or not, and I have finally done. Let me tell you, it was AMAZING! I'm hooked and can't go back. If you take a look at my checklist for the fall, you will see that I am working on getting a skydiving license before I ship off to travel the world in December. The ultimate goal is to get a flying squirrel suit and soar over places like New Zealand just like this guy. LEARN HOW TO COOK A skill that all men should have, even if it's something simple like pasta and bread, my goal was to able to survive on non-microwaved food for the summer as I had previously relied on if I wasn't eating dining hall food or eating out. I would say it was a success as I can now sustain myself for breakfast, cooking scrambled eggs, bacon, and then toasting bread or waffles. Hey, c'mon, at least it's a start. For lunch, I can get by making a sandwich, but other than that, I was not very successful. I ate most of my lunches at work during the week (which were paid for by the company, so there was no incentive to pack a lunch), and on the weekend, I wasn't home, so I wasn't making lunch then either. I did successfully cook ribs, pizza and several kinds of pasta and noodles for dinner, so at least I have some variety there. This will continue to be a work in progress, but it is safe to say now, that if I were in the Sims, my level of cooking skills would not catch the kitchen of fire. LEARN HOW TO FRONT-FLIP Sadly, I cannot claim to be able to front-flip at will. However, I did successfully complete a few front-flips on a trip home at the tail end of summer. Unfortunately, my front-flip requires ideal conditions, which in this case, is about a 50-foot strip of grass which are few and far between in Boston, and I have to be at full energy. When I started, the first thing most people asked was "How to do you practice that? Don't you die if you fail?" The truth is, no. It's not that hard to have a safe landing if you know what you are doing. And yes, I did know what I was doing. For all of the crazy activities I go out and do, as random as they sound, I do my homework first. In this case, I found plenty of videos that helped explain the finer points on front-flipping. Once I get that down, I'll move onto a wall front-flip, like I did from a backflip, to a wall back-flip. TRAVEL TO A DIFFERENT CITY EVERY WEEKEND I'm currently working on this post. But here is a summary of my trips with summary highlights. May 22nd-23rd: Dedham, MA - Motorcycle license class May 30th: Concord, MA - Walden Pond June 5th-6th: NY/NJ - Mike's b-day clubbing, Toy Story 3 in NJ June 10th-13th: San Ramon, CA - Cady' Grad / seeing high school friends twice June 19th-20th: Allston, MA - chill weekend in Allston June 26th-27th: Hyannis, MA - Trip down to Cape Cod July 2nd: Lady Gaga Performance July 3rd-5th: Quincy, MA bonfire/moving stuff to Boston July 6th-10th: Wisconsin - family reunion: 14 cousins, 3 siblings, 5 uncles, 1 aunt. July 16th-18th: Boston, MA - Inception, Catch Me If You Can July 22nd-25th: Boston, MA - Despicable Me, Varun's 21st b-day July 31st-Aug 1st: Hyannis, MA - Back to the Cape. Pirate adventures ensued. Aug 3rd: Black Eyed Peas Concert Aug 5th-7th: Kansas City, Kansas - Student Alumni Association Presentation and ASAP Conference Aug 14th-15th: NY/NJ - skydiving, Asian karaoke bar Aug 21-22nd: Norway, ME - visiting aunt, uncle, and two cousin's cabin in Maine Aug 27th-29th: San Ramon, CA - surprise visit home for Mom's bday Top Cities: Boston, MA - 3 San Ramon, CA - 2 Cape Cod, MA - 2 NY/NJ - 2 GET MY SIX PACK (BACK) What can I say about this one. Well, I didn't do anything special for this part. I think mostly the traveling on my motorcycle with a load on my back, intense dancing, and eating healthily by learning to cook, all contributed to this accomplishment. I built a solid core in high school for baseball, and as a male with a high metabolism, have been blessed with the ability to stay in shape by just being active. I hope to keep this up by staying active for the rest of my life. There will always be bigger and better challenges! (see fall checklist) REVITALIZE BLOG Since you are reading this (hopefully someone is reading this), you can tell that I have successfully started to blog. I created the site over a year ago, and have finally started updating it on a "regular" basis. I've been slacking on The Economist and WIRED magazine updates because I am still getting my mail box issues sorted out, but as soon as I start getting them again, I will make posts with a week of publication (once a week for The Economist, once a month for WIRED, and every other month for Technology Review) in addition to my other travel updates and random thoughts. I hope you like what you find. All the best, Ethan

[ethanjdelano]

The Economist: Weekly Perspective - July 3rd, 2010

I've had a subscription to The Economist ever since the beginning of my freshman year. In addition to my other sources of worldly information, The Economist offers a much higher-level perspective and insight than I have been able to find anywhere else. Maybe it's because I'm enthralled with real world economics that I regard it so highly; I loved Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, and can't wait to read their follow-ups. But while it delves deeply into some of the most important economic issues facing us today, your average high school graduate should be able to comprehend many of the articles that it addresses without any additional study of economics.  

On that note, I'd like to address several of the articles that I found most interesting in the July 3rd edition of The Economist. I plan to review the highlights every week and hope that some form of discussion will transpire. I will also include links to articles that are not restricted to subscribers on The Economist's website. Against Fairness (p17) I'll usually start these summaries with the featured article, but in this issue, another leader struck such a chord with me that I have to write about instead. The article addresses the blandness and intentionally misleading use of the word "fair" as a common theme in the British coalition government's campaigns and policy proposals, most recently in the "Tough but fair" budget approved on June 22nd that proposed higher taxes and sharp budget cuts. The advantage of the word fair is that it seems to be positive. Who would argue against something that was fair? The problem, is that different people define fair in exactly opposite ways. "To one lot of people, fairness means establishing the same rules for everybody, playing by them, and letting the best man win and the winner take all. To another, it means making sure that everybody gets and equal share. They represent a choice that has to be made between freedom and equality. (In politics) Fairness is fudge." To me, fair means just and is clearly embodied in the former definition. The only problem, is that not everyone sees it that way. So what are we to do? Require politicians to give definitions of any homographic words they intentionally use? Certainly not. The only solution I can think of is to use sharper words that have real meaning. But in order for that to happen, we'd have to assume that politicians we're as well intentioned as they claim to be. OF NOTE IN THE WORLD THIS WEEK: China and Taiwan signed an agreement to liberalize trade across the Taiwan strait. Russian spies were found in an investigation by the FBI, but whether they actually did anything harmful is debatable. A crackdown is coming on the financial industry with the passage of the Dodd-Frank bill in the House of Representatives. FEATURED ARTICLES: Cyberwar - The Threat from the Internet (p11-12) & Cyberwar - War in the fifth domain (p25-28) Since it's almost taken me a week to get this published, I didn't have time to summarize the featured articles before the July 10th issue summary that's coming soon. Fortunately, both featured articles from this edition are available without a subscription. As I get this site up and running, my magazine summaries will become more standard. For now, please learn to deal with the chaos and slightly inconsistent publication schedule. Thanks for reading. All the best, Ethan

[ethanjdelano]

The Impossible List: Inspired by Joel Runyon

I've always been one for making lists and recording the things I do. It does a couple things for me, such as keeping me focused on my goals and also letting me look back when I'm working really hard on something that may be challenging at the moment and saying, "Look at what you've done already; you've got this." I've made several lists in different places, like my summer checklist, the international goals I had while working abroad during my junior year, and even the worldly travels map I created on Google Maps, detailing my adventures. That's why when a friend showed me Joel Runyon's Impossible List, it inspired me to create one of my own. As he explains on his site, "an impossible list is NOT a bucket list" of things to check off before you die, but rather, a constantly expanding list that motivates you to live life to the fullest, accomplishing things over time that at one point or another, seemed impossible. My "Impossible List" now has it's own page on this blog and will be updated frequently including links to pictures, blog posts, and video when it is available. I challenge you to make an impossible list of your own; and to let me know what you think of mine!

[ethanjdelano]

Kawasaki Ninja 650R: It's Only the Beginning

Ever since I was in high school, I have fantasized about owning a motorcycle. The wind in your hair, the power at your fingertips, and all the 'cool points' that come with almost every thrill seeking endeavor. But most of all, the reason I wanted a motorcycle was the unrestricted freedom it gives you to go where you want, when you want, because you are the master of your own domain. Or so I thought as a young adolescent male.

The Dream

Many of those thoughts have remained the same, but as I grow older, different priorities and opportunities arise. I will always admit that the thrill of the ride is what ultimately compelled me buy a bike; but as I realized as soon as I got to the east coast, there are innumerable places to travel outside of California that are more than worth the trek that it takes to get there. Now that I have the bike, a sweet Kawasaki Ninja 650R, I can only hope that my expectations for this summer can be met. I plan to visit a new place and have a new experience every weekend that warrants a story worth telling to my grandkids (slightly edited, I'm sure ;) ). Anyways, here's to a summer of life-changing, life-making (hopefully not literally), and breath-taking experiences. All the best, Ethan

The Reality

[ethanjdelano]

Worldly Travels: New Zealand

What can I say about New Zealand other than: IT IS FREAKING AWESOME! I only spent 144 hours (6 days) in New Zealand, but I was able to make it around the entire south island and hit quite a few high points. I'll definitely have to go back, several times, to accomplish everything there is to do there, but I think I did alright for the short amount of time that I was there. Let's review.

April 2nd

I arrived in Christchurch on April 2nd without anything pre-booked. I had a rough idea of where I should go, but no idea what I was going to do when I got there. Renting a car was no different. I strolled up to the information counter and asked, "Where can I rent a car for cheap?" After being directed to an ad board with many local services listed and an airport phone, I put my passport, along with several others papers, down on the ledge and proceeded to I call several companies. Finding one that was reasonably priced and could pick me up at the airport, I went outside, got picked up, signed the papers, and proceeded south to Lake Tekapo.

About 20 minutes into my journey, I did a mental self-check, something I do quite often, probably as a minor case of OCD, and couldn't remember where I put my passport. I pulled off to the side of the road, just wanting to be secure that I knew where it was, and started looking through my backpack. After turning my backpack, luggage, and the rest of the car inside out, I called the car office, the airport, drove back and proceeded to freak out for about an hour. After leaving my number with the car agency and the airport (an Australian number, so it was international for them to call me, another important point in my journey), I went back to the car, noticed the GPS case on the seat, not knowing what it was, and brought it back into the car office thinking it must have been left there by the last person. When I went back in, the office lady was on the phone with the airport and told me, "Someone found your passport and turned it in!" I guess I got a little pseudo karma for the trying to turn in the GPS case. Anyways, I rushed over to the airport, picked up my passport, gave many thanks, and finally got on the road to begin my 3 hour journey to Lake Tekepo.

Lake Tekepo

Lake Tekepo is a beautiful place. A lake out in the middle of nowhere, it's one of those places that's so quiet that if you stopped rowing your kayak and glided to a stop, you wouldn't hear a thing. No airplanes, no cars, no wildlife even. Just sitting peacefully in the middle of the lake. I arrived about two hours before sunset at the Lake Tekepo YHA and with no plans, just like with the car, asked, "What is there to do here?" I was able to rent the kayak for those two hours of daylight and afterwards made a trek over to the hot springs where they have three pools ranging in temperature from 38-42 C (100-108 F). It was a fantastic way to end the day and the view of the lake from the pools was gorgeous. (Also of note: the night sky over lake Tekepo is in consideration for World Heritage status because you can see so many more stars without any light pollution for hundreds of miles.)

April 3rd

I went to bed early and woke up early the next morning because I had a lot to get accomplished. I knew I wanted to visit Mt. Cook, 1 hour away, and then move onto Queenstown, another 3 hours away. So at 7:30am, I rolled out of bed and began my journey.

Mt. Cook Valley

Mt. Cook Valley, one of the most famous mountain ranges in New Zealand, I knew I had to make a stop there. Like many of the places I visited, you could easily spend a week here and not do the same thing twice. As per my SOP, I found out about helicopter and plane tours throughout the valley when I got there. How awesome would that be!?!? Flying around the mountains and over glaciers! I immediately called three of the companies listed on the Mt. Cook YHA hostel message board and was told very unfortunate news: adverse weather conditions, including wind and rain, left both plane and helicopters grounded for the day. Major bummer. I salvaged the stop and hiked the supposedly 2 hour round trip Red Tarns track in an hour and took some pictures. This is a map of what you should see from the top of the Red Tarns mountain. As you can see, it was very cloudy off in the distance... Oh well, just another thing to do when I return.

Queenstown

After climbing in the Mt. Cook Valley, I made a very scenic drive to Queenstown. To be honest, the whole island has beautiful scenery, but this drive was my favorite. One of the things I decided on the drive: I have to come back here and rent a motorcycle. The roads are motorcycle heaven. Lots of curves with a healthy amount of straightaways and almost nobody to get in your way. Also, not a cop in sight.

The view anywhere in Queenstown is pretty amazing, but looking down over the lake with the mountains in the distance from the Skyline Restaurant & Bar is particularly stunning. This picture just doesn't do the colors justice.

Unlike the beginning of my trip, once I got to Queenstown, I already had an agenda. I had decided to book some extreme activities from Mt. Cook when I saw a pamphlet for the Canyon Swing. They offered a package deal including river-rafting, jet boating, and 4x4 off-roading. Well, that's basically what I did for the 24 hours that I was in Queesntown. First, was the Canyon Swing.

Canyon Swing

I was able to get in three jumps that day. Below is the river that I came river-rafting down the next day. We saw (and heard) somebody jump while we were on the river, which was pretty cool.

April 4th

I spent another night in a YHA and woke up early the next morning to begin the days adventure. It started with the 12 seater 4x4 drive through the canyon followed by a 50mph jet boat ride up the river, and ended with a river-raft ride through grade 4 rapids. All-in-all, a great way to spend the day. I held off on the 130m (430ft) Nevis bungee because I plan on jumping the 230m (760ft!) Macau Tower bungee jump in Hong Kong in July. Below are some selected photos from the day.

4x4 Drive

I swear the road was barely wider than the truck in most parts and it was a long way down off the edge of the cliff.

Jet Boating

Jetboating was a fun experience: driving 50mph through 1-2ft deep water doing 360s while nearly scraping the walls.

River Rafting

River-rafting was fun, though either we were too good, or the rapids "Grade 4" status needs to be re-evaluated. After the rafting I had dinner up at the Skyline Restaurant & Bar pictured above and then left for a YHA at the Franz Josef Glacier. It was a night drive, so unfortunately there wasn't any good scenery. It was pitch black except for my headlights. I made a gas stop in the middle of nowhere at a pump that was open, though nobody was there. It was very eerie and felt straight out of a Stephen King novel:

"After refueling, Ethan put the gas cap back on and hung up the pump. He walked around the back of the car to the right side where the steering wheel was, he was just getting used this after driving down under for three months, and put the key in the ignition. He checked his mirrors out of habit and realized he left the gas flap open. "Well done," he thought, "that'll just bug me for the rest of the trip," his OCD coming out. He took the key out of the ignition, absent-mindedly clicking the electronic door lock while he walked back around, and closed the flap. As he walked back and put the key in the door, he was startled by a shriek just to his right and simultaneously, out of nowhere came..."

April 5th

It was another early morning awakening at a YHA. If you haven't noticed already, I stayed in one every night while I was in New Zealand. I highly recommend them and you should get a membership if you're going to be traveling abroad. They're all over the world and every single one has a minimum standard of lodging (which is pretty high) in order to be considered YHA certified. They are also really inexpensive which is great if you are traveling on a budget.

The whole day consisted of a glacier hike and climbs. I climbed to the top of a 50ft+ wall 5 times. The glacier was absolutely beautiful, and if ice climbing isn't your thing, you should at least hike one sometime in your life.

Ice Climbing

Glacier Photos

Looking at a mounting through a tunnel in the glacier.

A mini-mountain of glacial ice.

The End

Sadly, this is where the bulk of the adventure ends. I spent the night at Franz Josef again (therefore, this was the longest I'd been in the same place) and drove up the west coast in the morning. It was another beautiful drive and I stopped in Nelson at yet another YHA. I flew from Nelson to Wellington on the north island the next day (much cheaper to fly back to Sydney) where I met a super cute Kiwi flight attendant that's making a trip to the U.S. in the fall who I may happen to meet up with :) (Btw, I think it's a pre-requisite to being a Kiwi that you must regularly partake in a minimum of 3 extreme sports. A rule which this girl is no exception ;))

Anyways, that's enough for this adventure. I hope you enjoyed it and as a result are seriously considering visiting New Zealand. I know I'm going back and if all goes according to plan, I may live part of my life and/or retire there in the future.

[ethanjdelano]

Worldly Travels: Australia - Brisbane and Cairns

Brisbane Trip:

So I only spent 4 days up near Brisbane, but considering what I was able to do, it seemed much longer (but went by way to fast). All told, I drove a rented Suzuki GSR-600 400 kms (240 miles) at a top speed of 240kmh (145mph), dove 3 times from 14,000 feet above sea level and 5 times down to 90 feet below sea level. Oh, and I accomplished one of my big goals in life: skydive, drive a motorcycle, and scuba dive within 24 hours. Now to do it all within 10 minutes of each other (i.e. drive a motorcycle out of a plane/off a cliff with modified scuba gear, deploy parachute, land in body of water and dive down).

Brisbane Map

The Brisbane trip started when I landed at the Gold Coast Coolangatta Airport (A). I was technically staying at the Gold Coast for the weekend (B), though I was really only there to sleep. I went up on a Thursday for an operational due diligence meeting with a tech start-up. The private equity company I was working for wanted to know more about them before moving forward with more intensive investment discussions and I made a four day weekend out of it. The founders of the company were pretty cool, gave me a lot of tips on where to visit around Brisbane and Carins, and I actually met up with them later that weekend. After the meeting, I went to get the bike and had it for the rest of the weekend.

GSR-600

My first stop was some skydiving out in Mutdapilly Queensland at the Brisbane branch of Sydney Skydivers. I finished my third, fourth and fifth stage jumps and the instructors there were way more fun than down in Sydney; Greg Bennie and Stephen Cowan are legit. They let me screw around on the second and third jumps of the day, doing some flips and barrel rolls, since I was doing well with all of the technical stuff.

Free-flying

After skydiving, I met up with the start-up guys in Brisbane (D) for some beers on a rooftop with a great view of downtown Brisbane, especially the cricket stadium across the way. After that, we played some ping-pong, grabbed a bite and then I met another friend at a backpacker bar I'd met down in Sydney a month prior. I held off on drinks after 8pm since I knew I'd have to drive back down to the Gold Coast around midnight, but I still ended up pulling off a back-flip at the pub. It was videotaped, and I'd post it below, but it's being held hostage by Nicole Kerr at the moment... (I hope you read this Nicole :p)

The next day, at 7am in the morning, I got up to drive down to Tweed Sea Sports (E) for the first day of my PADI course; thus completing the skydive/motorcycle/scuba trifecta. Five dives and 28 hours later, I'd earned my Advanced Openwater PADI certification. On one of the dives, I cut myself underwater on a rock, nothing major, but it was a deep dive and red is the first color you lose at depth. At first, I thought I'd cut myself on something poisonous since black stuff was coming out of my finger. Then I remembered about the whole loss of color thing and calmed down. It's a whole other world that far underwater. Here's a couple of the guys you'll find down there:

Look, It's Nemo

Cairns Trip:

About a month later, I was back in Queensland, but 15 hours further north (by car) in Cairns. Like usual, this journey started at the airport (A) where I got picked up by a shuttle and taken to the local YHA. I used YHA's all over New Zealand and highly recommend them. Read my New Zealand post to see why. The morning after I got there, I was up bright and early at 5am to get to the dive shop, get all my gear, and was ready to leave by 7am.

Cairns Map

We left from the dock (D) at 7:30am and spent three days at sea, diving The Great Barrier Reef, taking some amazing pictures. You can see the good ones here on Facebook. The two below do a good job of illustrating what I did for three days straight.

Taking a Picture of a Turtle

The Result

I was only in Cairns for 10 hours before diving and 20 hours after (minimum time recommended for plane flight after 11 dives in three days is 12-24 depending on depth), but I had a good night out with the friends I made on the trip. One of the guys, Inam Amanullah, is the coolest person I've ever met. He's an international commercial airline pilot, PADI scuba divemaster, krav maga black belt, motorcyclist, used to be a mechanic and race mustangs, and was basically pure awesome; and he's in his early 30's. I ended up at the same hotel as him (E) and after diving we went out with the crew of the dive-boat who lived in Cairns and showed us a good time (F-H on the Cairns Map). Similar to Brisbane I did a back-flip at P.J. O'Briens. Inam has the video to prove it, but I'm still tracking that down at the moment and will post it when I acquire it.

For those who like to scuba-dive, and I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't, I highly recommend making the trip to Cairns and diving the barrier reef. You will make memories that will last a lifetime and won't regret it.

The biggest take-away I got from these travels was to set goals and strive to achieve them. I've had an on-going travel checklist that has kept me focused on doing the things that I want to achieve. It keeps me from lazing around on the weekends or repeating the same night out habits. It also helps me reflect back on what I've accomplished and gives a sense of satisfaction when I do. I'll make a post on that when I finish my travels in Hong Kong in August. Until then, look out for my India update!

[ethanjdelano]

Worldly Travels: Australia - Sydney

Sydney, Australia, three times farther from home than I had ever been on the east coast in Boston, and boy did it get off to a rough start. Not only did my bags get lost between LAX and SYD (A on the map below), my phone didn't work internationally so I had no way of telling my uncle who was waiting for over an hour to pick me up that I was dealing with the Quantas baggage claim desk.

Lost Luggage...

On the bright side, once I dealt with Qantas and told them where to send my bags when they arrived, I blew through customs without any baggage to slow me down. On the other side, I was met by my uncle and two Aussie cousins who had waited patiently for me to arrive (I think my uncle had placated them with a box of donuts). They were in the middle of a summer vacation that starts in December and runs into February, so we went straight to the vacation home they were renting in Palm Beach (B) with friends and another one of my uncles and his family. (click on the map below to see it full size)

Sydney Map

We spent a week there fishing, sailing, and generally messing about. After that, I moved down to my uncle's place in St. Ives (C) and started to look for housing of my own. I spent a week searching and eventually happened upon a house in Bondi beach (D) where 26 other backpackers and travelers were effectively shacking up. Some people were living 5 and 6 to a room, but I lucked out and had my own room. Anyways, I lived with the crazy kids below for three months and had an absolute blast. (In this photo: 4 Frogs, 3 Swedes, 3 Germans, 2 Swiss, 1 Irish, 1 Pommy, 1 Canadian, 1 Brazilian, 1 South African, 1 Peruvian, and 1 Yank)

Housemates

For those unfamiliar with Bondi beach, it is like paradise.. well, a very crowded paradise. I lived about a five minute walk from the beach and had a fantastic time. The backpackers partied every night, but I had to pick and choose my days since I was working full time at a private equity shop in downtown Sydney. We had two full moon parties out on the point (circled below) and the view there at night, with the moon reflecting on the massive rolling waves as they crashed into the point as you look back at the amazing architecture around the beach, was just amazing. I tried several times to capture it in a picture, but night landscape shots don't do it justice (plus I'm working with a four year old point and shoot.. I really need to upgrade).

Living 5 minutes from Bondi Beach

Seeing as I spent about 45-50 hours a week there, I should point out where I worked (E). It was a great internship, I certainly learned a lot about private equity, and I met outstanding people who I plan to keep in touch with for a long time to come. The Sydney CBD (for my American friends, that means "Central Business District") was a pretty happening place. Circular Quay (pronounced "key") has some amazing sites, and of course the Sydney Opera House. I went there on my last day of work with my working mates and caught an outstanding view of a (double!) rainbow over the Opera House.

Sydney Opera House (Double!) Rainbow

Also, one of the popular places to go in the CBD, I went to The Ivy several times with work and Bondi mates. I would say you have to make a stop there at least once if you spend any time in Sydney.

The Ivy

The farthest west I went from Sydney was to the Blue Mountains (F). About a two hour drive from Bondi, the views were reminiscent of Yosemite, though not quite a 360 degree view like you can get from Half Dome. The most famous part of the Blue Mountains are the Three Sisters (pictured below). There is a jungle below the ridge and you take a 75 degree roller coaster/elevator to get down and see all of the mining equipment left over from the early 1900s. We covered the whole bottom area in an hour and a half and then took a gondola ride back to the top, capturing this view on the way back up.

The Three Sisters

Also about two hours out from Bondi is Sydney Skydivers in Picton, NSW. I spent many days there getting my skydiving license and completed just enough jumps on my last day to meet the license requirements to apply for one from the Australian Parachute Federation. In total, I got in 13 jumps while I was there, 10 in Sydney and 3 in Brisbane (discussed in my Brisbane Area Travels post). I can't wait to get back to the U.S. where I can start jumping again (there aren't any dropzones here in India.. though I'm not sure I would trust them if there were).

Hang Loose

"Blue Skies!"

My final highlight in the southwestern part of the great country that is Australia came when I went to a cricket match when Australia played England (H). It was just after the ashes, and was a one-dayer (50/50, 50 overs each) and went on for a solid 8 freaking hours. I went in knowing almost nothing about the game, and left with enough knowledge to hold intelligible conversation with mates at work, thanks to the two english blokes I went to the game with. Australia beat England on the last over, so my friends weren't to thrilled, but I enjoyed the match and the unending flow of half strength beer that was served.

Cricket

Sydney was good to me, and I hope to go back in the near future.

[ethanjdelano]

Confirmation Bias

There are a lot of debates that take place in the world: in politics, in science, and in our personal lives. While all of these discussions are composed of many different components that merit examination to come to a resolution, I believe that the first step to success is to remove any personal biases one might have. I make this statement realizing that you may now call me captain obvious, but you should also realize that while sound in principal, it is rarely followed through in practice. Think espoused vs. enacted values. This can be attributed to a tendency called confirmation bias. It was summarized very well by Leo Tolstoy in 1897:

"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if

he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot

be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he

knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."

What this means to me is that, no matter how well you may think you may know something, you should never stick to it just because you believe it to be true. You should always be open to discussion and willing to listen to an alternative point of view. The world would be a lot more progressive if everyone paid attention to people like Leo Tolstoy.

[ethanjdelano]

The Economist: July 10th-16th, 2010 Issue

"Can anything perk up Europe?" Re-phrased, can the European Union make the short-term changes necessary to survive in the long-run, let alone take back preeminence as a world entity? With the largest economy in the world, the EU has been put in a place to make tough political decision by the global recession of 2008-2009 if it wants to avoid collapse. In contrast, China has created an extremely successful banking system and under its current model, only one thing can "guarantee its demise: success". In both cases, government will need to make significant changes if they are to achieve long-term prosperity.  

FEATURED STORYLINE: (Germany and France have drastically different ideas about EU reform) Can anything perk up Europe? (p11-12), Staring into the abyss (p23-25), Lemon aid (p52), & The neighbors fall out (p55). _______ The European Union itself is a very liberally progressive entity. The trading bloc is without a doubt the freest market in the world in terms of trade of labor, capital, and goods and where 16 of the 27 member-nations use a single currency. This has enabled the EU to compete on a global scale with the likes of the U.S. and, more recently, China, whereas individual EU nations would have difficulty alone. Unfortunately, for Europe and the rest of the world, the recent economics meltdown has shown the flaws in political systems of the EU. Economic integration without political reformation has led to an unsustainable system that is destined for failure. _______ As highlighted by the recent economic downturn, there are difficulties in regulating a central monetary system when there are drastically different spending, saving and working habits that change the money supply, influenced both by law and culture. Culture is something that by and large can't be (an shouldn't be) changed; but in order for the EU to survive, political standardization of certain laws and policies must take place. _______ "Europe's Big Idea, that rival nation states can do better by pooling some sovereignty instead of going to war" is a good one. But it will have to overcome "Europe's Big Problem, that governments and social protection tend to grow until they choke the economies that pay for them." Success can be achieved "if EU leaders show a little courage" and as Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, put it so well in 2007: "We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it." While it may not be as obvious as Jean-Claude proclaims, it is apparent that "this crisis offers the best chance at since the 1980s." This can be seen in the recent Pew Research Centre survey released in June that asked citizens if they were better off in a free-market economy. "73% of Germans and 67% of French (the most influential EU players) said yes with 65% and 56% respectively the boom of 2007, and it rivals America, with 68%, and eclipses Britain, with 64%" (supporting politically integrated free markets). _______ "The problem is that the 'European social model' has become, too often, a synonym for a very expensive way of doing things. It has also become an end in itself, with some EU leaders calling for Europe to grow purely in order to maintain its social-welfare systems." It is apparent that the old way of doing things must come to an end. Many European countries became complacent with their position in the world and began instituting social-welfare systems that did not give its citizens an incentive to work hard or innovate. Things like retirement at 60 in France, an inconsistent international patent system between countries in the EU, "rigid labour laws , which make older workers almost unsackable" and has led to 40% youth unemployment, will have to drastically change if Europe does not want to implode on itself. _______ All is not lost, as some progress is being made. "On July 1st the European Commission announced plans to ram through an EU-wide patent valid in all 27 countries" and "governments in places like Britain or the Netherlands have been able to propose paying pensions at 67, or even 70, without angry protests." However, a lot of the reform is still speculative. Going back to Jean-Claude, it is true that both of these proposition must be put in place, but will the countries leaders have the balls to follow through? _______ Unquestionably, the two most important countries in the process of EU reformation are Germany and France. Germany has recently emerged as one of the leading exporters in the world, second only to China; and while France has recently fallen from it's pedestal as the political leader of the EU, their opinions and influence have not completely fallen out of favor. As such, it would make sense that these are the two sides leading the debate as to what sort of reform must take place for the EU to survive. _______ One the right side, you have Germany's proposition: "Germany wants a harsh system of rules, enshrined by treaty if need be, that would ban countries from spending too much they are sick of paying for all of Europe's new schemes." On the left, France wants "things like Europe-wide labour standards and some harmonisation of taxes. They want to oversee transfers of communal cash to the euro's weakest members." _______ While the German plan may be "unworkable", it seems a more practical solution than France's proposition. France's proposition seems to state that "the point of is to keep globalisation at bay, or at least curb its power Single nations are too small to maintain high-cost social welfare models in the face of global competition. But the EU, with its 500M people, is big enough to assert the supremacy of political will over market forces." In the end, this sort of reform is unsustainable. The EU can only grow so large until other countries pass it by, particularly China and India, and its political will becomes as insignificant as its individual nation states are now. _______ If the EU wants to keep up with the rest of the world and get out of the tailspin it was thrown into by the recent worldwide recession, it needs to change its state of mind. "The 'European social model'" needs to stop being "a synonym for a very expensive way of doing things." Europeans need to stop retiring early with the expectation that the pension they have coming will be sufficient to maintain their standard of living for the rest of their life. People are finally beginning to realize that the government can't support the current system and that reforms need to take place. It is now up to the leaders whether they bite the bullet and make the changes that may be unpopular, but ultimately necessary. LEADER: (China's banks are changing the international money market) Great Wall Street (p13) & Agricultural Revolution (China now has the biggest bank.. ever) (p69-71) _______ As the EU tries to avoid collapse, China has to figure out how to deal with success. It will be interesting to see how the government handles the throne as the world's leading exporter and soon as the world's largest financial center. OF NOTE IN THE WORLD THIS WEEK: The United States federal government does not like that Arizona created it's own law that enforces a federal law and is suing the state in retaliation. The Chinese government has continued to be a hindrance to international companies within its borders by prosecuting an American citizen for conducting normal business. The ever-nationalist Australian government wanted to crack down on companies it judged as stealing profits from Australian endowed resources, though the final law was less than anticipated.

[ethanjdelano]

LADY GAGA at the Boston Garden: July 2nd

It all began on a drive out to UMASS Lowell for a Student Alumni conference in early February of this year. Aaron Horvitz, our current SAA president, was driving six of us out to UMASS when he saw a billboard for the Lady Gaga concert coming to Boston in July. In a way that only he can proclaim in his forever-exuberant personality, he said, “We’re going to that.” Now If anyone knows Aaron, he’s not one to back down from a challenge. So when someone doubted that he could get tickets to the show, we heard his all too familiar retort, “Say I won’t.” What can I say; Aaron is a man of his word.

Here are the 13th row tickets he was able to snag for us before pre-sale (for free I might add), something that even the Massachusetts’s governor’s daughter wasn’t able to do. Well we had ourselves a great time. I’ll admit that I have listened to Gaga ever since her first single ‘Just Dance’ came out and was a little bit more fanatical about her than I should be comfortable with. I downloaded her first album from iTunes and learned all the words. Of course, then she got really popular (deservedly so), and I stepped back a bit, especially when tweenage girls (and effeminate men) started screaming about her. When I went to the concert, I still knew most of the song lyrics, but not for the some of the lesser known songs off her new album, The Fame Monster. Gaga is a great performer, I will give her that, but the concert did not quite live up to my expectations. Maybe it’s because my fanaticism is waning, or maybe I built it up in my head more than I should have. Either way, it was still a great performance, and I enjoyed literally being able to see the sweat on her body from where I was standing in the Garden. No really, look at these pictures. In the end, I would say that it was more of a performance than a concert, which I guess I should expect from a pop star. Overall, I would give it an 8 out of 10. If you have a chance to go, do it. Lady Gaga is a once in a lifetime performer and you won’t be sorry that you did. If you've ever seen Gaga in concert, what did you think of her? All the best, Ethan