Abel Ann - You only live once: a lifetime of experiences for the explorer in all of us

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Because you only live
once...

You only live once; but if you do it right, once is enough.

Mae West

In which we spend a couple of
hours taking care of the little
things a shave, a shower,
perhaps a cocktail or something
to eat before tackling the big
stuff: sporting events, extreme
feats, life-and-death spectacles,
celestial phenomena and the
ever-thought-provoking rituals
of dawn and sunset.

In which we lose ourselves at
festivals and carnivals, dine
like kings, party all night in
cities and fall asleep in some
extraordinary settings. Then
we spend a day or two in the
outdoors, watching wildlife,
walking by moonlight and
seeking out the most silent
places in the world. Finally,
we face our greatest fears and
watch the sun set.

In which we take a week or
two to drive the worlds most
exciting roads, spot the Big
Five on safari, hail a helicopter,
spend an adventure-packed
week on an island and swap
houses with someone. Closer
to home, a week is time enough
to discover delights on your
doorstep and learn some dance
steps to impress.

In which, over a month or
more, we venture to the
Amazon, travel from
one end of a country to the
other, train for a marathon
and celebrate the seasons.
On the water we learn to surf
and paddle. We also find time
to volunteer and participate in
a tradition. And to escape it all,
we travel solo and build a log
cabin in the wilds.

In which we quit the desk job,
take flying lessons, ski sweet
powder for twelve months,
uncover your familys roots, and
resolve to learn a new language.
Then, consider a sabbatical in
the Caribbean or the south of
France, or even a round-the
world journey with the perfect
travel companion.

INTRODUCTION

L ifes not a dress rehearsal. Carpe Diem. Be happy while youre living for youre a long time dead. Yes, there are a lot of motivational proverbs about living life to the max out there, including the title of this book. But thats probably because its a big deal.

The average person has a lifespan of threescore years and ten, give or take. And theres a lot to pack in. Some people are born with a knack for sucking the marrow from the bones of life.

Sir Richard Burton, the Victorian explorer, soldier, spy, linguist, writer, ethnologist... we could go on, travelled to India with the British Army at the age of 20, where he learned more than half a dozen local languages, studied Hindu culture and kept a menagerie of monkeys. Later he explored Africa and the Middle East and translated The Arabian Nights .

A more contemporary example might be Keith Richards, Rolling Stones guitarist, writer of immortal riffs, and aspiring librarian. As both demonstrate, you can pack a lot into threescore years and ten if you try.

And thats what this book sets out to help you do. Its not just another bucketlist of big-ticket trips Weve all heard about Venice and, yes, it is probably worth going to Italy to see its waterways. Instead, hopefully youll take away something more from this book: a resolve to live life to the fullest, to add a dash of joie de vivre to every day.

That doesnt just mean splashing out on exotic holidays but also seeking out and indulging in little pleasures a new pair of handmade shoes, that simple dish of perfectly dressed pasta. And, while we feature a number of serious challenges the Appalachian Trail,

its worth noting, doesnt get any easier the older you grow there are just as many experiences that you can enjoy on your doorstep with a little lateral thinking.

Start by embracing spontaneity; experiences like sleeping under the stars, once in a while, remind you what an amazing privilege it is to be alive, to think and to enjoy the world around us.

And weve tried to suggest opportunities to learn and slake a little of that thirst for knowledge among these pages, with illustrations of how to mix cocktails, identify autumn leaves and train for a marathon with a difference. For hedonists and adventure-lovers weve also mapped once-in-a-lifetime experiences in cities and on islands.

Essentially, You Only Live Once is about experiences not places though we travel to every corner of the planet. It is about those experiences that you will replay in your minds eye years later; they may not feature the most spectacular destinations, they may even in fact have cost nothing, but they will be the travel experiences that changed you, the ones that still bring a smile to your face.

So, how does this book work? There are five chapters for an Hour, Day, Week, Month and Year and in each we suggest experiences that may take about that amount of time. Naturally, these definitions are as elastic as you want them to be. You might wish to spend one hour or several kitesurfing in Greece, you can stretch a day into a weekend, a week into a fortnight. You can spend one month or six working your passage abroad, take a year or more to travel around the world.

But what all these ideas have in common is that theyre starting points. They will reignite long-forgotten desires to learn an instrument or a language or spark new and unexpected ambitions: why shouldnt you move to Provence for a year?

When you know whats stopping you, you can start working on a solution. Perhaps this book will be as useful in helping you identify obstacles as will be for refining your months or your years travel experiences. Then its time to turn to Lonely Planets extensive travel resources and begin planning the rest of your life.