Q is for Quest (er)

This photo makes me so happy.  Mostly because I can remember the exact moment it was taken with such great clarity it makes my heart swim.  In that instant, not a soul (that I knew) had any idea where I was (a small island in Indonesia).  I coulda disappeared just like that...or just simply never returned home. 

I was on a break from a volunteering stint and had hightailed it on the back of a moped with my new friend, Royal, to this super hidden waterfall in the middle of absolutely nowhere.  We were the only two people there and all we did was scamper up rocks, practically drown underneath the waterfall, smear sulphur all over our entire bodies and laugh hysterically. 

Just a little moment in time that was totally full of pure joy.  I guess they are rare.  At least for me.  So much time is spent coming up with new QUESTS that it makes me wonder how I get a single thing done.  Just outlandish shit...I mean, I saw a photo the other day of someone climbing the wall of a bone dry waterfall and immediately I thought...well, great....that is what I need to do...travel to the most off-grid places in the world and track down all the DRY waterfalls.  Then climb them.  I got obsessed for about an hour, did loads of plotting and then, slowly realized that there are trillions of them in the world and I simply don't have the time.  I'm much too busy drumming up other BS in my silly little head.  But, I was happy as a clam for that one hour, diving into something totally new, researching the hell out of it  and eventually eliminating it all together.  Even though it had just been added to my MST list, it felt awesome to strike something off.  Bloody christ...

Anyway, the point of that rant is this:  Quests are good.  In fact, they are brilliant.  No matter how ridiculous they seem, they always leave me craving more, striving for more and in the end, just a little bit smarter.  I have a list a mile long...some will get done (drive to the Darien Gap, start an NGO)...some will never see the light of day (can't tell you those*) and some get struck off the minute I dream them up.  But, man...what would one do without such nonsensical baloney filtering thru the mind? 

I mean...hunt down and scale dried up waterfalls in remote hideaways around the globe.  Who thinks this madness up?  Well, I guess it sounds like a ball...haha!  And, just like that the thing is back on the list (or not)~~