So while our big adventure on Oahu was snorkeling, and biking down a volcano on Maui, our adventure on Kauai was definitely the most adventurous: ziplining, or "zipping." My brother was the one initially interested in doing it, but somehow we were all roped into doing it, and let me tell you, your first zip is pretty terrifying. It's a somewhat new thing; the other place where it's popular is Costa Rica. It's a simple activity, really, and consists of hooking yourself via a harness to a zipline that, in our case, ran across this lush valley. Our course consisted of about seven or eight ziplines, with a take-off and landing deck at the ends of each one. You would take hold of your harness standing on safe, sturdy wood, and then run or walk to the end of the plank and just...step off, and fly. Once you got used to it, it was exhilarating, and without a doubt one of the craziest experiences of my life. The scary part is not that you would fall out of your harness, because they tied you in pretty securely, but that you wouldn't be going fast enough across the zipline to reach the other side, and you would just be stuck in the middle, hundreds of feet up in the air. (The more you were able to tuck yourself into a ball as you flew, the faster you went.) But we all made it fine to the bottom of the valley, where we got to swim in a stream and eat sandwiches and cookies. Most of the activities we did in Hawaii required a pretty hefty fee, and this was probably the most expensive one, but in my opinion, it was worth it.

I took this picture while standing on one of the decks waiting for my turn, watching my brother go before me. He is that little orange speck near the landing deck, if you can make it out.