What’s the Scariest Thing You’ve Ever Done?

Scariest thing ever

Do you love Halloween, ghost trains and scary roller coasters? I did too until once, when I was old enough to know better, I asked my brother, who was visiting me in New Zealand if he’d do a reverse bungy jump with me.

In case you have no idea what I’m on about in this version of the reverse bungy you sit in a small cage, get buckled in and are then pinged a few hundred meters up into the air where you bounce around helplessly for far too long.

Well, I thought it was a good idea at the time. I thought it would be a good way to prove to the world, or at least myself, that although I now had a baby I was definitely not a boring mum.

Bad idea.

The pinging part was terrible but then me and my long-suffering bro ended up dangling upside down over Auckland for what seemed like hours. It was really most unpleasant.

Oh all right and I was scared senseless, scared in a way I hadn’t been before. This wasn’t like my naked in Greece episode when my deluded mind played tricks on me and scared me so much I ran outside in my birthday suit, this was real. Really scary and real fear.

Here is a short video so you can see what the bungy ride was like. Sorry, if you are reading in your email or by RSS feed you’ll have to visit the blog to see the video.

So there we hung, my brother and I.

Down below I could see the Mucho Man and our teeny new baby waiting for mummy to come back down and I knew then that I shouldn’t have done the reverse bungy.

With motherhood the time for reckless thrill-seeking was over. That part of my life was done. The girl who loved those cheap thrills lived on inside me but the new me had no need for such things.

I hadn’t become boring, I had become safety conscious but I was still determined never to play it safe.

While my time for enjoying the extreme thrills is over I still love the mild ones like white water rafting or ghost trains and at theme parks. Scary is good, terrifying is not.

Thank you for reading and Happy Halloweento all of you who celebrate it. If you like this post please share it using the handy buttons below or subscribe now for updates by email or by RSS feed.

What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done? Please share. 

Photo credit: Alyson M

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19 Comments

  1. Johanna at Zigazag October 29, 2012 at 10:39 am - Reply

    Made me giggle! Can just picture you doing this, and regretting it in mid air! Scariest thing I’ve ever done, probably canoeing on the Orange River in Namibia when I manaed to hit the biggest rapid side on (due to gung ho tactics) and was propelled backwards, with my daughter on board, until we hit a huge rock with a bang like gunfire and were catapaulted out of the canoe into the foaming rapids.

    • Annabel Candy October 29, 2012 at 11:09 am - Reply

      Hi Johanna,

      Oh, anything with your kids involved is 100% scarier than it would be if there were no kids in tow. Thank heavens you both popped up again – I’m sure it was a character building experience for all.

      I love white water rafting but haven’t canoed rapids – I will have to add that to my scary list of things to do!

  2. Bronnie October 29, 2012 at 12:10 pm - Reply

    Hmm, I’ve done a few scary things in my time … but the most recent scary thing I shared with my kids. We went snorkelling with the sharks and rays at Sea World. I didn’t actually think it would be scary, having snorkelled and dived at real reefs with real sharks before, but I was totally unprepared for so many sharks, so close up, swimming up to me so fast! And then there were the rays! It was an amazing experience, but I’m glad I didn’t have a shark bump across me like a few people did. I would have shot out of the water then!

    • Annabel Candy October 29, 2012 at 12:32 pm - Reply

      Hi Bronnie,

      Lol, thanks for sharing that story. It reminded me that getting scared together is soooo good for bonding:) I think that’s why I shared this story about my brother and me because I miss him and even though we both hated this experience it still bonded us more. I know you and Johanna both did a great thing by doing such adventurous things with your kids.

  3. Linda October 29, 2012 at 3:23 pm - Reply

    Good morning, Annabel.

    Scariest thing? I went to Blackpool – does that count?

    It was horrendous. Full of handkerchief-on-head men wearing ankle socks and sandals with sort of grey spikey things bulging out the bottom of what were suppose to pass as shorts. There were women in bikinis with their boobs hanging out and tattoos on bits that never ought to be allowed to see the light of day. And the kids!!
    Roadrunner had nothing on them and they were destined to become roadkill at a rapid rate of knots as they dodged between the trams.

    Or was that not the kind of scary you meant…

    Happy Monday.
    L

    • Annabel Candy October 29, 2012 at 10:21 pm - Reply

      Hi Linda,

      Whatever it takes. It’s definitely good to get out of your comfort zone anyway you can:)

  4. Kola October 29, 2012 at 11:38 pm - Reply

    definitely going through the haunted house tour at Niagara falls. it was completely dark with a trail of red dots as the only guide through the maze. that was enough to make my eyes bulge but then they just had to add random tufts of cobwebs, sudden shrieks, zombie hands suddenly falling from the ceiling, brrrrr

    hands down, no question, the most hair splitting experience *shivers*

  5. Boss' Assistant October 29, 2012 at 11:46 pm - Reply

    You are brave. I would never do this, before or after kids. :) How do they finally get you back up?

    • Annabel Candy October 30, 2012 at 8:35 am - Reply

      Hi Boss,

      Well, we were stuck up in the air. They lowered us back down again eventually!

  6. Molly Kelash October 30, 2012 at 12:27 am - Reply

    Scariest thing I ever did accidentally was have a car accident with my brand new baby. The car was totalled, and 8 -week-old Lilia had shattered glass all over her, but not a scratch on her. She even gave her first little giggle after it was over, like,”That was fun, Mommy, let’s do it again.” I still have bad dreams about that one, but Miss Lilia, now almost 16, isn’t really afraid of anything! :)

    • Annabel Candy October 30, 2012 at 8:36 am - Reply

      Hi Molly,

      Oh, that is scary in a bad way. So glad you were both okay. Kids can teach us a lot about overcoming fear.

  7. Teresa October 30, 2012 at 12:33 am - Reply

    haha loved this blog! I used to make myself do something terrifying every year…and every time I used to be 2 minutes before the event I used to think ‘Why? Why, am I doing this?’ The event for me isn’t really important it’s letting your body know you are alive, the extreme feelings you feel afterwards, for me, are what matter. I haven’t done anything for yonks now (well apart from mover country’s, have a baby by emergency caesarean, get pregnant again…which to me has been the scariest thing I have ever done!) I miss my extreme moments! Altho I am absolutely sure that if I did another one I would be standing there asking myself…’Why? Why, am I doing this?’ haha

    • Annabel Candy October 30, 2012 at 8:37 am - Reply

      Hi Teresa,

      You are a brave woman. Motherhood is the scariest undertaking of all.

  8. Teresa October 30, 2012 at 12:37 am - Reply

    leabnfdrko…..leandro’s first blog response
    zXz

    • Annabel Candy October 30, 2012 at 8:41 am - Reply

      Lol, oh, I can tell Leandro’s going to be a blogger – he has a way with words:)

  9. Kimberley Casey October 30, 2012 at 5:06 am - Reply

    I’ve always been petrified of bungee jumping!! Congratulations!! Scariest thing I’ve ever done, definitely white water rafting on the Zambizi river in Zimbabwe. I fell out and got stuck going round and round in a whirlpool underneath the boat! Somehow managed to pull myself out after what seemed like an eternity! Scary, absolutely, but I’d still rate it as one of the best travel experiences of my life to date. What’s life without a bit of adventure :o)

    • Annabel Candy October 30, 2012 at 8:43 am - Reply

      Hi Kimberley,

      Great to hear from you. That is such a scary experience but in the best way possible. I stayed there a week and did it three times but one of my friends pulled out after the first rapid!

      The whirlpool under the boat bit doesn’t sound good though but there is nothing like that experience and that river to make you feel alive and happy to be alive:)

  10. Seana Smith October 31, 2012 at 8:37 am - Reply

    I didn’t mean for the scariest thing to happen… but… I was on a night dive on the Barrier Reef and finning along a tight underwater chasm when… A SHARK CAME STRAIGHT AT ME VERY FAST AND HEADING STRAIGHT FOR MY JUGULAR!!!!

    Bloody hell. Luckily it went whoosh and swam right under me rather than ripping my throat out. And OK it was a reef shark but it was big and at that moment it looked like a maneater.

    Up on the Gold Coast I didn’t dare go on a few of the great huge swing things… too chicken…. sad!

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