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Facebook was kind enough to remind me today of a fun trip I took 7 years ago.



I had been deployed to Kyrgyzstan (my 2nd time), and towards the end of that rotation I got to take an MWR trip to a national park, and spend the day horseback riding through the mountains.



That's us starting out.







You can make out the village where we started, in the valley. We climbed up to about 7,000 feet, before heading back down.

It was an amazing day, though towards the end I was definitely quite sore. The Kyrgyz are not a very large people, and their saddles were definitely not designed for Americans.

The military has brought me to Romania this winter, and I'd love to get a tour of the Carpathians, visit Bran Castle, etc... but we decided to do a really expensive cruise after I got home, so no spare money for stuff like that this time around, unfortunately.

So what are some neat, unique, little adventures that you guys have gotten to do that you'll always remember?

Wargamers don't go outside, silly.

So what are some neat, unique, little adventures that you guys have gotten to do that you'll always remember?

Every day Sometimes night

I spend several months a year excavating in Israel and Iraq. As of June, I'll be working in Turkey, too. I don't take many photos aside from those for recording purposes, but the projects have lots of pictures here:

https://www.facebook.com/LautenschlagerAzekahExpedition/
https://www.facebook.com/Sirwan-Regional-Project-Khani-Masi-Excavations-1233478170029994/

Went horseback riding around a volcano in Iceland. Was hit by sleet for about 1/3 of the ride. Also went diving in-between the two tectonic plates there.

As a kid, went snorkeling in Palau and got to free dive down to a Japanese Zero which was in water maybe 20ft deep.

Went to South Africa, where I met my wife’s parents for the first time. Great country, the food is incredible, but man is there a lot of poverty to see!

Watched the recent solar eclipse from the air in the middle of the path of totality. After pushing my time margins to the limit dealing with a variety of problems and arriving over our watching point with less than 5 minutes to spare we got to see the shadow of the moon crossing the landscape, and the 360* sunset from the areas outside the shadow. And it just happened to be, by a solid margin, the longest flight I'd done up to that point, and only the second after getting my license current again (and thank dog all that worked out in time!). Words are inadequate to describe what an amazing experience it was.

Was working on a pipeline near Texarkana. One night, our crew decided to go bowling. At one point, I'm waiting by the bar because it's my turn to get a round. I overhear behind me the following conversation in the thickest Texan drawl possible:

"An' then mah brother shot mah other brother in the leg.
'E was showin' 'im this new gun an' it went righr orf!"
"You real brother or an Agrican-American brother?"
"Naw. Mah reel brother."
And I'm just,standing there going: No one is going to believe me when I tell them this.

Recently, I took a trip with one of my buddies backpacking in the Smokies for a week.

Pic from when we were wandering around just off the AP:



It was a pretty harsh workout, but man the mountains are beautiful.

Went on a Camel ride through the northern most end of the Sahara in Tunisia once.

Pfft, I live in Texas. I live in Fort Worth and work in Dallas. My daily commute is an exotic adventure in traffic accidents, road construction, and idiot drivers.

On a more serious note, our honeymoon was a trip to Vegas (and a second ceremony at the Graceland Wedding Chapel), and then a couple days at the Grand Canyon. Where I slipped and fell on my ass on the trail going down into the canyon, bruising my tailbone. And we checked out Meteor Crater on the way to Phoenix for our flight home.

I've been on group tours (seems like a great way to see a lot in a short period of time whilst having someone else take care of most of the logistics, I'd highly recommend them) to Luxor/Cairo and rural Japan (some villages around Kyoto).
Both were great experiences - you meet some great people and get quite immersed in other cultures. The Pyramids are so much more impressive up close. Both very, very different to Europe (which I visit fairly often).

I also spent a semester in a university in the US, but that was an adventure in terms of trying to live in America (rent an apartment, buy a car, insurance, utilities, etc all without a SSN is harder than it sounds), with the occasional day trip.

As well as a stint in the U.S. Army Infantry, I've backpacked across the Asian continent, walked a 200 mile trail around a mountain range in the Himalayas, and frequently go on back country camping trips. During my last trip a group of friends and I did a 30 mile canoe route through BWCA near the Canadian border, during which we had to medically evacuate one of our friends when he started going into a diabetic coma. That was a lot of work but we got him out safely and he's no worse for wear.

My only real adventure trips I've ever had were years ago when I was just a small child. When I was 6, my family went on a trip to Colorado. We saw Mesa Verde, Royal Gorge, and even went to the top of Pike's Peak. We also rode the Durango & Silverton scenic train ride. That part was the best for me, as I was really into trains at that age. I still remember that trip pretty well considering how young I was.

Only other thing that might count as a big adventure was going to Space Camp at age 14. That was a lot of fun, especially when we got to do a couple of simulated space shuttle missions.

Yesterday I got to explore the Old Town sector of Constanta, Romania.

I didn't get any good pictures, unfortunately. For some reason, about half of the pictures I took throughout the day, just dissapeared from my phone for some reason.

Started the day out with some McDonalds. Not that exotic I know, but in my travels I've learned that McD's in other countries is actually pretty solid. I've been in country for 3 months now, so I've explored the local cuisine quite a bit.

We were going to catch a dolphin show, but we missed it by about 10 minutes, so we decided to drive across town and check out the older part of the city. It's real interesting because you've got this old European city feel to the area, and right next to it is a massive port. We ended up parking near the Grand Casino.

It was a beautiful building, but sadly falling into complete disrepair. Almost all of the windows had been broken, and the pillars were showing some rough wear. I'm hoping that some real rich guy comes along sometime soon, buys the place up, and decides to repair it, for posterity's sake. From there we travelled along the coast line for a bit, seeing monuments to Romanian ships that the Soviet's sunk during World War 2, and an old light house that the Genoese had built long ago. We then swung by the Grand Constanta Mosque, that has since been turned into a museum. We didn't go in, but the building was impressive, to say the least. We did visit the "Museum of National History and Archaeology" which was amazing. The region has been settled for millennia, by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and on and on. There was so much history to explore. It only cost $3 to get in, and we spent several hours just wandering around looking at everything. The focus of the museum was definitely of the Constanta area though, it didn't touch on anything about the rest of Romania.

It was an awesome day. Dreary and rainy, so there wasn't a ton of people out and about, so even more thankful for that. Got to visit all this stuff without crowds of people interfering with the experience.

The year I finished school (a while ago now - 1996!) I went with the school adventure society to Morocco, and spent 3 weeks trekking in the High Atlas Mountains. Climbed Mount Toubkal (highest peak in north Africa) in the dark and watched the sun rise from the summit.

More recently (about 4 years ago) we went to South Africa for my brother's wedding. Ceremony was on a private game reserve - spent a few days there, then a few days at Sun City (awesome hotel and leisure complex like something out of Indiana Jones). Then we had a week in Cape Town, including a trip to Gansbaai for a cage dive with Great White sharks. Finished off with another week driving along the Garden Route along the south coast. Amazing trip...

Does Shikoku pilgrimage count? Japan isn't that exotic these days maybe but Shikoku is quite a rural one and number of foreigners doing the pilgrimage is smallish though keeps increasing steadily(this spring common phrase I heard "there sure are lots of foreigners this year!)). From like half a dozen foreigner per year to several hundred each year.

Had only 3 weeks or so to walk and had to stop bit ahead due to ankle time so only got ~1/3 of the ~1400km hike walked but hoping to get second 1/3 or so next year with last stint on 2019.

Nice experience seeing rural Japan quite different from big cities. From hiking mountains to walking through deserted highways for hours without seeing even car to walking past rice fields to walking alongside sea watching waves crashing(and hoping no tsunami comes along as I was walking several hours stretch with zero protection from any tsunami except for evacuation areas here and there. Better get headsup well ahead or I might not reach one on foot!). Plenty of different sides of Japan.

And being pilgrim on that island is like open invitation for locals to come to chat. As I can speak Japanese I was able to talk quite a lot but even if you don't I'm sure they will exhaust their english skills(and if not will at least wave you on and maybe give you a gift like orange). Again quite different from big cities as they are much more likely to just come along to talk.

Whether that's it being rural area or you being pilgrim(make sure to have enough pilgrim gear to be recognized) I'm not 100% sure but either way haven't had as easy time ever making contact with locals. There I didn't need to try to make contact. They came on their own rushing from houses having seen me approach or stopping car for quick chat. Lovely people.

Can't recommend that place enough and if you are studying Japanese I have come to conclusion that short of marrying Japanese or going to work there in Japanese company that's best way to practice the language!

Caribbean cruise with my wife and kids, including a brief stint in Nassau right next to the hotel where Casino Royale was filmed, and just up the beach from where Thunderball was filmed.

I went to Cyprus in 1997?

Came back with blisters on my shoulders. From the sun. And some horrific illness.

Why no, I've not been out the country since!

This June, my wife and I spent 2 weeks in France. 6 days in Paris, 4 days in Hyeres on the Mediterranean (it turns out all beaches in France are topless), and 4 days in Avignon.

Had gallons of wine, got to watch the sun set from the top of the Eiffel Tower, roamed the Paris Catacombs, did 2 separate guided wine tours, climbed to the top of the Notre Dame Cathedral and took pictures of the city and the gargoyles, had picnics and cigars along the way, and did a bunch of other stuff.

Earlier this year I go to go to Pattaya Thailand on business (First time anywhere in Asia).

- Best food I have eaten, ever.
- "Walking Street" is an insane place to be.
- Went out one evening with some Chinese businessmen: that was a level of partying back to my 20's.
- Got into an accident on a "taxi" scooter and I was lucky to not need a hospital visit.
- Got "shaken down" by the Royal Police for an "access fine" to a road, he waived it when he recognized me when I asked directions two days before... played pool with him the next evening, found out more stuff about Pattaya.
- LGBTQ community IS fully integrated into the community, best quote from my New Zealander hosts: "Look for the best looking woman around you, 95% chance she is a bloke."
- Made friends with owner and staff of a bar and got shown and told so much about the area it was almost scary.
- My hostess: fully transitioned transvestite, waiter: gay guy, props / makeup / costume person I hung out with was a "butch"... the funniest (and nicest) place I have ever been.