Im wondering if anyone has any serious plans to do something amazing?

How are you going to achieve it?
What are the challenges involved?
What have you done so far?

I want to do something amazing with my life. I have some ideas of my own, however it costs to much to climb everest or K2 and I dont know enough to cure cancer. So what are your plans?

Top of my to do list in a few years is take part (and finish) the Red Bull Romaniacs - One of the hardest extreme enduro events in the world but I still got a long way to go at the moment as I havent managed to replace my dirtbike after last one was stolen nevermind getting fitness & skills up to scratch

Would love to do a desert race like the Dakar as well but costs are insane unless sponsored.

Nothing great planned here beyond doing a PHD on carnivorous plants, and actually perhaps finding Mrs Right. Something nearly off my list is to get a paper published in a scientific journal, and subject to some minor changes that should be going ahead soon

PHD wise I spent 30 mins discussing it with a colleague at uni yesters, and theres potential, but Im currently kicking myself as last year I pretty much had an offer to do one in Oz on CPs, but in an area Im not as interested in (but is actually more important & novel), also I wasnt really ready, wasnt till the last month or two that Ive decided to go for it, mostly as I dont think I can keep doing these short term researcher contracts, I need long-term stability! Its also a challenge in that I dont have a masters, but I think this is part of why I want to do it, on the grounds of if I can get this thing funded and completed without a masters, in my eyes it adds weight to how much the topic and myself are valued - current plans and aims is to try to pinpoint some suitably sized colonies in the UK and then identify potential funders which is a BIG challenge. Quite likely Irish Government...

Minor things are to just travel some more. Id like to head back to the lakes April next year and do some more peaks, but this is subject to finding someone to go with as its a bit lame going on your own.

Oh I guess you could add bog snorkelling to the list as something different. At some point Id like to take part in the annual competition, just for a laugh/charity.

Quote from: DoomsTop of my to do list in a few years is take part (and finish) the Red Bull Romaniacs - One of the hardest extreme enduro events in the world but I still got a long way to go at the moment as I havent managed to replace my dirtbike after last one was stolen nevermind getting fitness & skills up to scratch

Would love to do a desert race like the Dakar as well but costs are insane unless sponsored.

That RBR looks amazing! Dooms has the right idea!

I want to finish the Munros. 178 so far, not many last few years  :whoops:

Nothing specifically amazing, but off to the arctic circle at new years to see the northern lights.

I want to have a mortgage by the time Im 30.

In the short term, I want a day off work - 34 days and counting . . .

Quote from: mr_rollThat RBR looks amazing! Dooms has the right idea!

800 Euros for the 5 day event to enter so alot more realistic than some of the other events. I think I would need at least 2 more years playing on my dirt bike before I would feel comfortable entering it but I would also need to find myself 1-2 people to team with as wouldnt be good enough to go in the Pro or Expert Single classes.

After watching the full DVD of the RBR I sort of went from Hmmm looks hard to pretty doable to OMG?! WHAT THE HELL!?! which is a bit nuts. If you havent seen already you can get the videos for each day Here

So plan at the moment is a loose one of:
1) Get new bike
2) Start doing lots of local runs in hills/forests to get technical riding improved
3) Enter some Scramble Hare races to get the feel for racing & endurance
4) Eventually enter some of the smaller enduro runs for more training etc

The main problem is that of course I wont be doing anything full time as would have to work so it will take a couple years to get round to doing anything when only having weekends/holidays free... but its nice to have something you want to do in the near future

Oh another thing I want to do ASAP is get out of England again, either for a year in Canada or back to Australia... Will see about that after Ive found myself a bit of spare cash

Persuade the Mrs that we are not going to move to Hamsterley, and instead build a new house a few miles from here.

Following that, try and get another R32 skyline after the last one turned out to be a dog.

Retire at 40. Somehow.

Ive been looking at the northern lights myself, well looking at trips to go and see them. I think thatd be amazing myself.

Liking everyones input.

Some of those moves on the bikes Doms look scary as fook! Ive only been motor crossing once and even though it was fun it was hard, hard work and fun/scary when you came off and landed over the dirt bank on a corner of the track I was on.

Quote from: zpyderPHD wise I spent 30 mins discussing it with a colleague at uni yesters, and theres potential, but Im currently kicking myself as last year I pretty much had an offer to do one in Oz on CPs, but in an area Im not as interested in (but is actually more important & novel), also I wasnt really ready,

dont kick yourself, you made the right decision. You have to be genuinely facinated by your subject.

I made the mistake of taking a place at Cambridge for a subject I was less than totally interested in because its a prestigious place to study. I stuck it for a year before I had to get out. Now Im at Cranfield doing something much more Physics/Imaging centred (my pet subject) and loving every minute.

Dont do yourself down either, the main reason most places want a Masters to start a PhD is research experience. You have that in droves from what youve been doing the last couple of years so you should be pretty well set up, probably better than most masters students TBH.


PS my main goal at the moment is to get my PhD finished, like Zpyder I should hopefully get to tick off "get published in a peer reviewed journal" before too long, fingers crossed!

Heh cheers for the info.

Id agree about the masters being used in terms of experience, but it does seem its like job applications etc, where theres just so many applicants that they adhere to the "no masters no interview" rule quite closely. Even my colleagues/lecturers/friends have said that when sorting out applications for PHDs theyve been doing, the uni has told them to exclude all non-masters students. Seems the easiest route will be to do an MPhil and then continue it on to a full PHD I think! Fingers crossed (For both of us!)

good luck! Im guessing it varies somewhat between unis, departments and subjects. Around here we have quite a few people who dont have Masters level qualifications, but as you say it can be an easy way to sort CVs if youve got too many to read them all.

Quote from: zpyderHeh cheers for the info.

Id agree about the masters being used in terms of experience, but it does seem its like job applications etc, where theres just so many applicants that they adhere to the "no masters no interview" rule quite closely. Even my colleagues/lecturers/friends have said that when sorting out applications for PHDs theyve been doing, the uni has told them to exclude all non-masters students. Seems the easiest route will be to do an MPhil and then continue it on to a full PHD I think! Fingers crossed (For both of us!)

In this scenario, chase by phone, tell them how f**king "A" you are, then calmly explain why you havent got a masters but do have a significant body of research experience...

Thats weird because here most PHD programs can be combined with a masters first - you just apply to both at same time.

Thats what Im in the process of doing now. You should take a look at a couple of US unis.