In college, several friends and I started this silly, unofficial club called
Team eXtreme (name to be taken extremely seriously) and went bungee jumping, sky diving, white-water rafting, and laser-tagging (also to be taken seriously) together every couple of semesters.
A few weekends ago, we met up again for a
car rally. Six friends and I drove from 11:30PM until 6PM the next day to look for the checkpoints (abandoned oil refineries, old missile bases, beautiful chapels) the organizers had entrusted us to find. Once we arrived, we had to hike, hop fences, climb over
barbed wire, etc. to take a picture as proof. Along the way, there were vicious (but ultimately friendly) egg/condiment fights with other teams. And at the end, we met up with some friends from SF, who also had had their own checkpoints to complete. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun, and I probably won't do something so nonsensical again for a long time.
One of the things I most appreciated was the enthusiasm most of these participants had. There were more than 50 teams and many of them spent weeks preparing their costumes, decorating their cars, and matching their supplies with their themes (examples: Mario Kart team threw bananas, Ice Cream truck team left sundaes on everyone's cars). A couple of teams even
bought an old limo and bus to compete in.
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| Shandon Chapel (one of the checkpoints) via gather |
Although this wasn't the most dignified or intellectual event, the participants of the rally inspired me, and I could definitely learn something from them. Seeing these people in full costumes and ecstatically completing tasks even after several hours on the road, I felt as if this is the way life is meant to be lived. They signed up for something and committed 100% to it. Better yet, they stayed positive and cheerful the whole time.Whether my idea of a good time is eating my way through a seven-course meal, spending the night playing Taboo, signing up for a crazy car rally, or all of the above, this is how I want to live: fully, excitedly, and a little bit foolishly.
