Why The Amazing Race is my Favorite Show and How I Learned to Snorkle

What do The Amazing Race and snorkling have to do with each other?

Phil Keoghan, of course!

OK, that's still not clear.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, it's a race around the world with teams of 2 (family, friends, whatever). They don't know where they will be going next or what they will have to do to earn their next clue and move forward. Phil Keoghan is the host.

Obviously, the reason I like to watch this show is the travel. Each race hits at least 4 continents and many countries. At each location, the teams have challenges, and most of these challenges are similar to activities practiced by the locals (games, daily chores, or just about anything).

Unlike Survivor, which takes place in exotic locales but isolates the contestants, the teams on the Race must interact with the locals. If they don't know where to go, they have to figure out how to ask directions or communicate with a cab driver. They take public buses and trains, or ox carts and tuk-tuks. They eat the local food and learn how to catch fish, herd cattle, make baskets, do laundry - it's a facinating window to other parts of the world.

Some of the challenges aren't quite so "native". There's a lot of bungee jumping and physical tasks. These tasks also take place in a beautiful natural setting or at a famous monument, but the activity itself may not relate to the local culture.

At any rate, a lot of these challenges are downright scary! I imagine myself running the race, and then they'll get to an extreme physical challenge, and I freeze up just watching it!

The point, of course, is to test yourself and push yourself beyond your usual limits. This is a theme for Phil Keoghan - I believe he has written a book and lectures on the subject.

Which is where snorkling comes in. OK, it's not exactly an extreme sport - but for me, it was incredibly scary.

I mean, I like water; I like being on a boat, and I like being in water - as long as my feet touch the bottom and my head is above the surface! Snorkling, however, breaks both those rules.

But I really wanted to try.

So, on a vacation in Mexico, I tried it.

I didn't do very well.

I have to say, if you don't swim, Mexico is a great place to snorkle. Mexico also requires everyone to wear a life vest when swimming in public waters. (including Xcaret and Xel-Ha). Since everyone has to wear a vest, I didn't feel like a dork wearing one myself. No one knew I couldn't swim, but I knew I was safe without touching the bottom!

Putting my face in the water was another matter. Getting water up my nose is really the crux of the problem - I'm terrified of that. Even with the snorkle mask, I didn't quite trust that I wouldn't inhale the water.

After much screaming and hyperventilating, I was able to do it! I put my face in the water and swam! And I loved it!

A couple of years later, I did it again in Hawaii. Hawaii doesn't require life vests, but I wore one anyway, of course. At this point, I don't care what people think - I'm going to enjoy myself!

I'm not going to say that I can now snorkle with no worries- I still spend about 10 minutes screaming and hyperventilating (ask my sister!). But I get past that and I DO it!

So - back to Phil Keoghan - and pushing yourself beyond your limits. OK, so my limits aren't exactly "on the edge" - but they're still my limits. I really didn't think I could ever engage in an activity that required swimming and putting my face in the water - but I did it and now I enjoy it (after the screaming, etc....).

You can do stuff like that, too. It doesn't have to be bungee jumping. It could be something as physically tame as painting a picture - but if you've never done it, it can be intimidating.

Do it anyway.

Amaze yourself!!

If you need some a push, click on the "Learn Something New" button - you'll find lots of ideas and resources to help you push yourself in a new direction.

Send me your stories and I'll print them here!

For more travel stories:

return to Great Women's Vacations by TripDiva Travel