Waiting in lines and name-calling

I’m good at waiting in lines. I have a lot of experience. During language training, I studied Spanish vocabulary while in line for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That’s a lot of vocabulary.

I stood in line at a hospital in Argentina once. I spent most of my time just being hungry.

And then there’s Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, with lines wrapping around entire buildings, spiraling upwards to the entrances of a variety of theme park rides. Thirty minutes into our wait, we stood in one such line only halfway to our destination on a tower above a waiting crowd.

In boredom, one member of our group leaned over the railing and shouted to someone he seemed to know in the crowd below whose name was Bill. In unison, everyone named Bill looked up curiously to see who it was that knew them so well so far ahead of them in line. Soon, we were calling out more names such as Bob, Mary, Jane, and Jim. Each time, they looked up when their name was called. Time passed much more swiftly after that.

Dale Carnegie once said, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” And while there are no lines, entry fees, or hecklers shouting out random names on Uncharted, you will likely find some pretty interesting nomenclature among the ranks of our growing band of explorers, now scattered around the world, each sharing their own set of adventures.

Take Yellowpaws for example. She’s from Marysville, Washington and has lived in New Jersey, Michigan, and Nebraska. Before she dies, she wants to go to Africa, Egypt, and dive with Great White sharks. You can see one of her most recent adventures, dogsledding in British Columbia, now featured on our home page. Yellowpaws writes of her adventure, “Our time for the sled ride finally came and I have to say - 45 minutes felt like 10 minutes. The beautiful day and surrounding scenery held your eye, while the rush of the wind and pull of the dogs kept your heart beating hard!”

Then there’s Arati, from Kathmandu, Nepal. She likes travel, books and photography. Arati shares a variety of scenic photos from her homeland. You can learn more about Arati on her own explorer page.

Of course, members of our Uncharted Staff, sometimes those who aren’t necessarily professional photographers and writers, are working hard to share with you their own adventures as well. They do this all on their spare time. This time is no exception as our communications/marketing director shares his family tradition of making maple syrup in Eastern Michigan.

So, you don’t have to be a professional to share and you don’t have to stop at just reading stories or viewing photos. If you’re a member of Uncharted, (it's free) you can post comments, link up with explorers and staff and message them through Uncharted email. And it’s just possible that one of your adventures will catch our eye and end up featured on the home page. That’s what Uncharted is all about. We’re a community of friends looking to bring the world to you and you to the world one journey at a time.

Alan Murray is Executive Director of Uncharted.
He likes sea horses and snowshoes and frequently
has the urge to leave the country. To contact Alan,
feel free to email him at alan@uncharted.net