Ride the Pipe Mountain Coaster in Revelstoke, B.C.

I wouldn't typically claim to be a so-called 'thrill seeker'. I have no aspirations of bungee jumping or leaping from an airplane. Heights freak me out, to be quite honest, although I can usually stomach them if I know I am perfectly safe. Even waterslides give me butterflies in my stomach, and I tend to stick to the ones where I am lined up with five-year-olds in the cue. So there isn't a lot of 'daredevil' travel stuff on my blog.

But this past weekend I rode a roller coaster down the side of a mountain. And that was pretty cool.

Ride the "Manhattan Express" Roller Coaster in Las Vegas

The only thing more fun than going on rides is going on rides with other people who hate going on rides. Call me twisted, but it delights me to hear their cries of fright and anguish - it makes me laugh and enjoy the ride all the more. (This must be genetic, because my mother is the exact same way, and... oh god, I’m turning into my mother!)

It’s not that I want others to be hurt or in pain... it’s just funny that they are scared and I am exhilarated. While I’m letting out little, “Woo!” sounds, they are either shrieking, swearing, or praying to their deity of choice. It is entertaining, to say the least.

Live Through the Rides at the Top of the Stratosphere Casino in Vegas

Life is full of ironies - unexpected contradictions and surprises. For example, I am such a chicken on my rollerblades that I roll to the nearest patch of grass and choose to walk whenever I encounter the slightest incline. I am terrified of going downhill on my rollerblades because I worry I won't be able to stop, and I'll either crash so hard I'll get hurt, or roll straight into a busy intersection and get flattened. (The former scenario I have actually done, and lost a front tooth in doing so, and the latter scenario I nearly did, but ran into a bush at the last minute, in front of a group of very attractive men at that...)