1. Jumped out of a perfectly good airplane from 12,000 feet. Didn’t bounce.

2. Rode in an elevator with Dennis Hopper. He was a short, shifty-eyed little fucker.

3. Did aerobatics in an open-cockpit bi-wing Stearman. The passenger sits in the front seat, which meant that when we went into a nosedive to get up enough airspeed to do loops, etc., I was staring straight at the rapidly nearing ground. We buzzed a herd of cows while inverted.

4. Snowmobiled through Yellowstone on Christmas day. Outran a frisky, snow-covered herd of bison.

5. Rode in the Rosarita to Ensenada bike race with a sprained ankle. 50 miles, mostly uphill through the mountains. Drank a lot of tequila in Ensenada that night. Bribed a Mexican cop when we made an illegal turn. Did not end up in jail.

6. Sailed to Anguilla for lunch.

7. Stood on a sandbar in the Gulf of Mexico as a herd of thousands of stingrays swam around me, brushing my legs with their wingtips. Amazing.

8. Learned Swahili from my third grade teacher, who had just returned from the Peace Corps. Habari rafiki.