RANDOM THINGS TO DO
Fly the Israeli airline! They used to be one of the safest airlines, but now, you get a chance to dodge or... well... not dodge missiles from the middle of an African jungle.

Organise a beauty contest in Nigeria and have a category titled ‘Miss Pope’s Choice’

Ever sat at a meeting, knowing you had x-rated lingerie under your business suit? Know what it does to you?

Gives you the secret rush that keeps your eyes bright, your colour high and everyone else guessing.

You want a headrush, try any of these 21 ideas. Free your mind. Tempt fate.

Snot up some adrenalin and get ready to live up 2003!

REAL LIFE THRILLS
* Wear sexy lingerie to work. Only you’d know about this, and it gives a dull Monday a sexy edge.

* Ride a leg of the Tour de France. If it were easy, we’d all be Lance Armstrong. Riding the toughest race course in the bicycling world isn’t for the faint of heart or soft of tush. It does, however, take riders through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Up and down the Alps. Up and down the Pyrenees. Up and down the... well, never mind. One leg of the tour slopes through the verdant fields and vineyards of the Languedoc Roussillon wine region, along the Cote d’Azur.

The tour takes place every July, but for those not planning on competing with a hundred speed-demon professional racers, a better bet might be a ride in April or September when the roads are clear, the weather is fair and the harvest is in. Instead of sweating through 300 km in a day, riders can cruise at a leisurely pace, and even stop for picnics of charcuterie and cheese and wash it down with a brave little vintage from just up the road.

A number of companies lead bicycle tours to this and other parts of France. Biking in the Loire Valley is particularly stunning. Often the tours allow riders to set their own pace and bikers rest each night at an inn or a chateau. Dinners offer the best of the local gastronomy. Best of all, every day works off the calories consumed the night before.

Do it at home: Take your ladybird to Leh. No less rough, and you get a chance to dodge terrorists, fight altitude sickness and give a lift to a Tibetan monk and learn about the greater truths.

* The 2001 NYC Marathon field consisted of a total of 30,000 runners (20,000 Americans and 10,000 international entrants). So go ahead, run the NYC marathon this year. Attack the streets of the ultimate urban jungle: New York City. Surviving not only the 42 km run, but also a weekend in the Big Apple must be one of the most adrenalin-pounding challenges in the world.

Do it at home: Round up the other bored-out-of-their-hair office mates and run a marathon through Crawford Market to Dadar TT, Mumbai, or Chandni Chowk to Connaught Place, Delhi. Wear a gas mask. Perhaps some body armour too... just in case a BEST or Blueline knocks you over.

* Visit a Nude beach: A midnight skinny-dip might actually seem prudish compared to the sensory overload of visiting a nude beach in broad daylight. As generations of travellers to the Mediterranean and Caribbean can attest, sunbathing au naturel for many is less taboo than it is liberating. Recently, government authorities in Italy and Queensland, Australia, recognised the popularity of nude sunbathing and decriminalised the act by stripping away antiquated laws. (But if you really want to go where it’s illegal, you could try the Iraqi coast).

The topless and nude beaches of France’s Cote D’Azur are by far the best known and most crowded, but may be overwhelming to first-timers. For an authentic nude sunbathing experience, complete with warm summer winds and a European-style joie de vivre, travellers should head to the Caribbean island of St Martin.

* Sky dive in a spectacular place. Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane might not seem like the most sane activity, but for the brave souls who dare, skydiving offers a chance to get about as close to flying as is humanly possible. And where better to fall 7,000 metres and drift gently to land than over the volcanic hills of Auckland, New Zealand.

Do it at home: Try skinny dipping with the ‘sadhus’ at the Kumbh mela this year. Or, there’s always Goa. Just strip and lie there. You might get propositioned by German tourists, but hey, aren’t we living dangerously! Do wear sunblock. All over.

* Doing anything in Bihar.

* Visit a Volcano. Costa Rica, Monteverde Cloud Forest. There aren’t many experiences more sensational than seeing an active volcano. Bubbling lava, paths of fire cutting through the trees — it’s a sight most people only witness on television or in books. A trip to Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica, however, gets visitors about as close as they’d ever want to be to a fiery mountain. Arenal Volcano is located in northwestern Costa Rica about three hours from downtown San Jose.

* Learn how to be a circus acrobat. Ever since the governors of ancient Rome introduced parading pachyderms, daring chariot races and humans performing death-defying acrobatic feats, the circus has been a crowd pleaser and a childhood dream. Of course, only a lucky few get the chance to cavort with clowns for a living. But, for those whose inner child refuses to let the dream die, running away to the circus may be as thrilling as eloping with a lover.

Do it at home: Gemini Circus are on the lookout for clowns and volunteers for the human canon trick. Give it a shot.

Dangerous Relationships