If you’re looking to do this on your own – you can rent the slingshot at this VRBO location
I’ve been on a bit of an adventure tear as of late, and I’ve been keeping most of my adventures to myself (and my instagram feed). However, I’ve gotten quite a few people asking what I’m up to, so I thought I’d share my latest adventure (and some actionable tips on how to make your own adventure in less than 7 days).
Here’s my latest adventure:
The Human Bungee Slingshot
I first came across the Human Bungee Slingshot via Devin Supertrap.
Human Bungee Slingshot
As I watched the videos, two thoughts ran through my head:
Thought #1) Wow! That looks terrifying.
Thought #2) I should totally do that.
So I decided to talk to a few friends, and see if we could make it happen.
I called a few friends, and jokingly asked if they were interested in going. A few of them actually were, and started scheming about how we could actually make it happen.
They looked up the place, got the info, pricing, and lots more, and less than a week or so later, we started talking about heading out to Utah for a few days. #boom
The Slingshot
The slingshot itself was ridiculous: two 60 foot telephone poles and 6 major bungees coming off the poles. The slingshotting guys strapped us into a rock climbing harness, pull us back with a quad ATV about 50 feet, and let us rip towards the mountain. Zero to 50 mph in about half a second.
It was awesome, but it’s probably easier to let the photos do the talking:
How To Create Your Own Adventure (In Less Than 7 Days)
Now, adventures can be awesome, and you can probably pull off your own one a lot easier than you think. Here are a few tips that might be helpful:
Be curious
It’s easy to look at a video on YouTube or in a blog post, and say, “I want to do that.” It’s another thing to actually make it happen.
Often, the only things keeping you from taking that next step are being curious, and asking the first questions:
- Where is it? (Utah)
- How much is it? (about a hundred bucks or so)
- When is it available? (anytime you want)
Once you figure those things out, the rest sort of follows along quite easily. But you have to be curious to figure it out.
→ Be curious. Ask the next question.
Always say yes
My friend Kesav was actually the one who suggested we go. A few years back, I made the decision to say yes a lot more. This tends to make for more good decisions.
So, when K asked me to go, I immediately said yes. And, as soon as I did, the ball started rolling.
→ Always say yes.
Figure it out
Making it out to Utah from Chicago for a couple days sounds tough, but it’s really not that hard. If I learned anything from Adventure Roulette, it’s that all you have to do is buy the ticket, and get on the plane. Most of the things you want to do and places you want to go aren’t more than a couple of flights away.
→ If you decide to figure it out, you usually can.
Show up
We had a couple people who committed to coming, but who weren’t able to show up for various reasons. That didn’t matter – we still had a solid group of people who were ready to strap on the harness, and go flying.
It wasn’t that they did anything special, or that they had an extra sense of adventure; they just followed through – they said they wanted to do it, and showed up.
→ Show up – the people who tend to show up have more fun than those who stay at home.
Be scared, but do it anyway
I’ve recently accepted that I might have something wrong with me. I’m a glutton for punishment. I like doing stuff that scares me. Just a couple years ago, I was scared of almost everything, and let that stop me from doing things. Over the past few years, I think something has snapped, and now, instead of letting things that scare me stop me, I use them as a signpost to keep going.
There are few things as cool as seeing someone scared out of their mind to take a risk – but deciding to jump anyways.
— Joel Runyon (@joelrunyon) September 17, 2013
It’s one thing for someone with a dulled sense of fear to do something crazy or stupid. It’s another thing to see someone face something that’s legitimately terrifying, and step up, and do it anyway.
→ Be scared out of your mind. It’s okay. But do it anyway. It’s better than living a life in draft.
Slingshotting was ridiculously fun.
If you’re interested in going human slingshotting, we’re going to be doing group adventures like this (similar to what we did with bungee jumping and skydiving). If you’d like to be a part of this, simply sign up here in order to get a personal invite from me for the next ridiculous Impossible Adventure.
Joel,
As always, great post!
I recently did my own version of ‘create your own adventure’ by deciding to live and work from Europe over the Summer. What’s crazy is that with today’s technology and tools, anything is possible because planning the whole trip took me less than a week once I committed.
Because I had the ‘Nothing is Impossible’ mindset you advocate, I had the unforgettable Summer of a lifetime with my girlfriend living in Paris and Barcelona for a month each.
So to add to your post, the key for me was committing. Once I knew I was in, the rest fell into place (often on the fly) and my life will never be the same because of it!
Nice work and keep on rockin’ it Brother!
I hope you weren’t drinking Mountain Dew while doing this like that guy in the video. Because that would end badly.
Wow! That looks like a blast.
This exemplifies one of my favorite quotes perfectly.
“Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming … WOW! What a ride!”
Also I’m in on the group adventures. Great idea.
Explore the Adventurous Llfe
Your friend,
Adventure Insider
that is so awesome! for a sec i thought you were going to say that you created your own adventure by making your own slingshot! 😛
Hey Joel,
I just saw that video on Youtube for the first time yesterday and I immediately thought that I need to do that. I hope there is such a slingshot in Europe, flying from Germany to Utah just for that slingshot would probably be a bit expensive 😉
Anyway, I totally agree that one needs to get out of the comfort zone and start doing things that scare the hell out of you. That was probably the first lesson I learned as I decided to build an internet business on the side while being employed. Now after 7 months and lots of failing and learning, I’m going to quit my job and work full-time for my dream!
I knew there is no way that I’ll ever be employed again 🙂
Thanks for sharing that story!
Best regards,
Jan
Great post! I had a big opportunity to say “yes” on a big adventure that would push me out of my comfort zone. A group of endurance sports junkies asked me to join them on a big hike through the Adirondaks. 24 miles, 11,000ft climbing. I knew that I had the fitness, but am scared to death of heights, and any sort of sketchy exposed climbing. Recognizing this as a great opportunity to push out of my envelope, I went along and had a great time. At one point on the trail, we were running low on water, and didn’t have any purification tools. I was about to bail out and head back on my own, but listened to the other guys, figured that no matter what, we’d sort it out and ended up doing just fine. I would have missed the BEST of the mountain summits, and would have felt dissapointed to have not complteted the full Great Range Traverse. Full write up here: http://gbassett.com/2013/10/15/great-range-traverse-2013-trip-report/
Well said man! I admire you. Doing stuff you’re scared of is the BEST feeling of the world. I feel sad when I’m not doing something scary. Last week I learned how to stand on my motorcycle without hands and I’ve been doing it every day since!
Thank you for the fun post!
There is also one of these at Pattaya Bungy Jump
http://youtu.be/qRoUsDRQuLQ
I want to install one in my backyard , and I have bungee cords , full body harness, carabiners , and two forty feet poles ..can somebody help me with some drawings of the installation details.
I also want to build one. Can you email me what kind of harness and bungee cords you bought and any other info you have on building one. Please. [email protected]. Thank you