I’m a klutz. I don’t need anyone to tell me this. I am well aware. I’ve tried very hard to reduce the number of injuries I sustain from being a klutz in day to day life but my inherent adventurous nature is in complete opposition to all my efforts.  I want to go and see and do everything. Therefore… accidents. So far I’ve been lucky enough that I haven’t killed myself. But tomorrow is always a new day 😉 Just kidding. I’ll continue to work on not getting myself killed.

Scrapes and bruises are the norms for kids growing up. My mum would kiss my ouchies and they would go away. I’m a bit old for that now and typically my ouchies are a little bit bigger. You know “the bigger they are the harder they fall” saying really is true.

I think my first “big” adventure accident (aside from falling off bikes as a kid) occurred when my family and I were racing each other down the hill at the Texas state capital. My right knee gave out and I did a weird split. It should be noted I couldn’t do the splits willingly at this point in time. My right leg would continue to cause issues going forward.

When I was 16 at my friend’s lake house I tried to ride an old pseudo motorcycle from the 1970s, over revved in first and the bike fell on me and my right leg fell on the pipe. A nice amount of skin stayed with it. That was a fun day.

To keep this brief, the rest will be a list. However, I regret none of this because without these incidents I wouldn’t have my permanent reminders of the fun I had!

In no particular order

• 3 fresh scars on my knees and three on my hands from jumping from one rock to another to get to a waterfall (TLC, I may have heard your song a million times but I will always chase waterfalls).
• Attempting to teach myself how to ride a bike with no hands- an excellent bruise on the back of my leg
• The billion times I’ve tripped going up and/or down the very beautiful yet very deadly old stone staircases in places like the Duomo or Arc de Triomphe- my shins and hands appreciate it when these trips leave some skin intact
• Climbing up and falling out of trees that may or may not have had thorn-like things on them.
• Reef rash from wiping out on a wave
• Being repeatedly bitten by fish while doing my dive test (and it was a perch!)
• I’m not sure if sunburn counts but in my case, it should. Ghosts should not be adventurous….
• Mild hypothermia from forcing myself to stay in the water the whole dive with the manta rays.
• Zipping my skin up in wet suits
• Tripping on and falling over while hiking (take it from me, flip flops are not an adventurers friend)
• Burning my ass on the hot stones that make up Pompeii (the stray dogs took all the shaded spots)
• Being 100% convinced I either broke my ass or was paralyzed when the snowboard went in one direction and I, in the other.
• Being 100% convinced I was a quadriplegic when I failed epically at skateboarding
• That time I did a flip but my knee came to my eye socket bone and busted the skin….

This list could go on for centuries. But that isn’t that point. I did all of these things and more, realizing if it went badly there would be consequences. When you take a risk you accept the possibilities of the amazing with the bad. I’ve had way more amazing than bad, and even the bad have turned into funny stories.