The Wonderfully Fantastic and Sometimes Curious Life of John Patrick Rausch

      I was chatting with my good friend Claire the other night and she suggested I write about my bucket list. There are some pretty crazy and odd things on it. Of course there are adventures and accomplishments, but supplementing it are just odd things I want to experience some day. So take a look, comment on what I should maybe add or subtract. Or tell me your top bucket list items. Thanks!  Hike the Camino Hike the whole AT Hike the whole PCT Visit all the National Parks Race in a Category 1 bike race Learn to sail a boat Go scuba diving Hug a woman that is taller than me (not weird, I've just already hugged guys taller than me) Meet someone with different colored eyes Go to the Vatican Explore the world Sing Irish music in an Irish bar Learn to play the Banjo Visit a monastery and hangout with some monks Write a book Learn to make Kombucha  Write and sing a song Skydiving (duh) Go on an extended floating trip (portaging or source to sea kinda dealio) Build a full on car campin

       I was getting coffee with my old buddy Jared this morning and as we are both about to graduate in a little over a month, we started to reminisce and share about our feelings of melancholy. This kind of interaction has been happening between other graduating seniors and myself for a little while now so I thought I would compose my thoughts on this and share a little bit about what it's like to be on the "precipice looking over the edge" between what we culturally consider the defining point of college student and full blown adult.  Freshman year, after getting in a debate with the Chief Engineer for Clif Bars at the Chancellors house for dinner      One of the topics we discussed over coffee this morning was the comparison of how time seems to work. Recalling freshman year, in hind sight, everything seemed new. A new place, new friends, new experiences, new lifestyles, new habits, new freedoms, etc. This in turn creates a place in our memory where things move slowly

       I thought I would take a quick second to write about something very near and dear to my heart: going on adventures. If you know me, then you know I've got a lot of crazy stories and odds are pretty decent that you'll never hear all of them. From absolutely ludicrous camping trips to epic feats of athleticism to well executed itineraries to 11 hour drives with no plan at all; I've had my fair share of adventures that went great...and not so great. Here is some advice I've picked up along the way. I hope that it can help you turn the TV off, get up, and get after it.  Sunrise on a trip last year 1. When it comes to planning, its optional.       When someone thinks about adventure and how cool it would be to do XYZ or go to XYZ they can sometimes get caught up in trying to plan every detail or fretting over packing each day with pre-planned activities. Now, I'm not trying to bash researching what you're doing ahead of time, its a great idea, but it's not