8 Things I Learned from Being a Reality TV Kid

In case you're new around these parts and missed my first post on this topic (or you're new in my life and I haven't had that awkward "so, there's this thing I did..." talk with you yet), I was on a Survivor-like reality TV show when I was 15. It was called Endurance, and today marks the eighth anniversary of our first day of filming.

EIGHT. YEARS. I still can't really wrap my head around it.

And on this day eight years ago, JD Roth (the host) told us that from that point forward, our lives would forever be broken into "before Endurance" and "after Endurance." Obviously, in that moment, I was like, "OF COURSE it will!!!!! This is the coolest thing ever!!!!! My life will never be the same!!!!!!!!!!"

Now that I've gotten a little perspective, I think JD was right, just not exactly in the way I expected. Does Endurance play into my everyday life? No. Do I think about it often? No. I do, however, think that my experience on the show helped shape who I am as a person. (I know, we're getting real deep about reality TV here.)

So in honor of my Endurance anniversary being old enough to start third grade, I compiled a list of things I learned from my week in a treehouse in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

1. Other people don't have your best interests at heart. Ha, this was not a fun lesson to learn, but it's certainly one that smacked me upside the face. I assumed that, because I would never think of doing the backstabbing thing, that it would never be done to me. LOL. How wrong I was! It was a hard and fast lesson: just because someone's your friend doesn't mean they're looking out for you. I'm like 99% sure I have some trust issues because of Endurance. Nowadays, my trust is hard earned.

2. ...But that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad people. The people that broke my trust (read: everyone) didn't do it because they were evil or malicious. People just operate on different standards. That doesn't mean they're, well, mean. I was still able to get along with all of them perfectly well. I couldn't trust 'em anymore, but hugs were still plentiful. I'm still occasionally in contact with some of them. They're all completely nice human beings!

3. Reality TV is incredibly real. I'm not talking about whether or not it's scripted -- I can't vouch for other shows, but I can tell you that Endurance was 100% unscripted. But I mean that, when you're in that bubble, the show is your entire life. We didn't have any technology or contact with the outside world. All we had was our reality of getting mic'ed up every morning, regular interviews with the story producers, and daily challenges. And, of course, all the teen drama and angst you get when you keep 20 young teenagers in close quarters for an extended period of time. You're not thinking about your friends from home, or your MySpace (hey hey, 2006!), or school, or anything other than the game. So if you're ever watching a reality competition show and wonder why the contestants get so freaking worked up about everything... that's why. It becomes your life. However...

4. Adults aren't always more mature than teenagers. Have you ever watched The Biggest Loser? It's produced by the same company that produced Endurance, and will sometimes use the same challenges and similar twists. When handed a bad twist on Endurance, us children might've cried a little bit, but we'd toughen up and try to make the best of the situation. On The Biggest Loser? Hoooo boy. Those grown-ups will throw tantrums, they'll rage, they'll walk off the show in protest. It's equal parts infuriating and, quite frankly, embarrassing. If you're signing up for a reality show, prepare to have the rug pulled from under your feet, stop acting like a privileged princess and get over yourself. (I'll stop here before this post turns into an enraged rant, because honestly.)

Fans of the show made these edits, way back in the day. So of course I saved them, because when the hell else in my life am I going to have fans?!

5. Sometimes things don't work out the way you wanted them to. And that's okay. In my years of Endurance fandom, whenever I dreamed of getting on the show, those dreams involved me being on the strongest team, being in a great alliance, and winning the grand prize. HAHAHA, absolutely none of this happened to me. Quite the opposite, actually. And you know what? There's no gaping hole in my life. I don't constantly wish things could've happened differently. Would I have liked that trip to Hawaii? Well, sure, but I'm perfectly happy with my experience and everything I took away from it. Life's a journey, people.

6. You will never regret doing the right thing. When filming began, I wasn't thinking of the people I'd be meeting five, six, seven years down the line who would find out about my reality TV past and immediately hit up YouTube and watch every episode. In the moment, I did what felt right and stuck to my morals. I didn't regret it then and I don't regret it now, especially because I don't have to be embarrassed by people watching the questionable decisions I made! Instead, I have friends getting completely indignantly angry on my behalf. When I studied abroad in London I met up with one of my fellow cast mates who also happened to be there, and Amanda threatened that she'd beat him up. (Have I ever told anyone that story? If not, whoops! True story, sorry Connor!) Also, I feel like I can't make this list and not mention karma. It's a bitch. Just be nice.

7. Attitude is everything. E V E R Y T H I N G. One day, as my elimination was looming, one of the show's producers arrived at the treehouses after spending some time with the parents. Since we were all minors, we each had a parent/guardian staying in a town nearby, and every day they were briefed on what was happening. Things were pretty bleak for me at this point, so my mom told this producer to make sure I was okay. So he called up to me, "Your mom wants to know if you're okay." And I shrugged and said -- honestly, I'll never forget this -- "I'm okay because I have to be." Well, ain't that the truth! Sure, I may've wanted to climb into bed and cry and spend my days sulking by myself, but that would've just made things worse. So I slapped a smile on my face, pretended I wasn't miserable, and flat-out forced myself to have fun. And it worked! I may not've been happy-go-lucky, but I was able to enjoy my last few days out there even when everyone wanted my head on a platter (so to speak). I'm still pretty proud of myself for that.

8. Give your off-the-wall, out-of-the-box, slightly crazy, impossible dreams a chance. Because you never know! They might not be all that impossible after all. ;)

The Best of the Wurst

Credit for that punny title goes to Amanda. ;)

Anyway! Eurotrip 2012 continues today, as our intrepid threesome left Lausanne on a Munich-bound train at yet another horrendously early hour. Munich was an entirely unknown quantity for me. Amanda had been adamant about adding it to the itinerary, and I didn't really know all that much about the city. What I did know is that I'd get to visit an Olympic stadium and a concentration camp, so I happily went along.

By this point in the trip, we'd been traveling for almost two weeks, and Munich was when I reached my mental burnout stage. I was exhausted, and kind of cranky, and sometimes it was a little bit of a struggle.

However, I absolutely adored Munich. Bavarian culture and food is just amazing, and the city itself is so authentic and beautiful, and the street musicians there are out of this world. (Amanda even bought a CD from one of the groups we saw repeatedly! They were amazing!) The Pinakothek museum was one of my favorite museum experiences ever -- we were seriously in there for hours -- and what can I even say about Hofbrauhaus that hasn't already been said? So. much. fun. We went back a second time, it was that great.

We visited the Munich 1972 Olympic Park and the Dachau concentration camp on the same day and, to be honest, this may've been my favorite day of the entire trip. I've always been fascinated by the Holocaust and World War II in general, and getting to walk around at a concentration camp was so incredibly powerful. As a Jew, there are no words for the experience of walking into the gas chamber and being alive to walk out the other side. Being able to see where all those horrors actually occurred was eye-opening and sobering and just quite the experience.

And THEN we went to Olympic park! I don't think I quite grasped how awesome this place was when I looked at photos online before we went, because as soon as all that architecture came into view... holy cow. I swooned. It was love at first sight. That stadium is GORGEOUS. The whole complex is gorgeous. You can pay a few Euros to get into the stadium, and the aquatic center is now a public pool, and let me tell you, Munich is a flawless example of Olympic legacy done right. I would apologize for the number of pictures I'm about to include from inside the stadium, but I discovered here that stadium photoshoots are basically what I live for. (And Jen decided to split off and go to the BMW museum instead of the stadium, which is why she's not included. She's a mechanical engineer, so we forgave her.)

Munich was our low point in terms of our "regular" photos. I didn't throw up the U, Amanda did not sweep me off my feet, and I jumped alone. You'd think I'd be sad, but...

...yeah, not so sad. I had Otl Aicher's beautiful pictograms to keep me company! ;)

Basically, Germany is the greatest. Next week I'll be chatting about Berlin, including another injury and another Olympic stadium, and our threesome becomes a... seven-some?

For my original post about Munich, see here!

Miracle Monday: Bill Baker

Ah yes, my new favorite day of the week. ;) Hope nobody is sick of reading about defensemen just yet, because we've got one more today before we move on to some forwards. And everyone needs to pay attention right here, 'cause this guy is a Big Deal. Just ask Al Michaels! (But now I'm getting ahead of myself. Hold that thought.)

FUN FACTS:

+ Bill Baker is the guy you'd hate if he wasn't so damn likable. Intelligent, modest, charismatic, reliable, talented. He looked like a "Viking god" (these are not my own words, but I fully stand by them), was a de facto team leader, and everybody wanted to be his friend. On top of all of that, he had the golden touch, and winning teams basically followed him around. In high school, he was a standout player in baseball and football in addition to hockey. He won the Minnesota state championship in 1975, the NCAA championship with the University of Minnesota in 1976 and 1979, and Olympic gold in 1980. But his friends say he's so humble that you'd never know any of this about him.

+ This will probably not come as a shock, but Bill was frequently the defensive pillar of his teams. In his senior season of 1979, he not only earned the Big Ten Medal of Honor (because why shouldn't the golden athlete also be incredibly smart?!), but he was the captain of the national championship-winning team. He also happened to be a mentor to a certain freshman defender named Mike Ramsey, and took him under his wing and showed him the ropes. :) However, Herb refused to guarantee Bill a spot on the Olympic team (like he did for Ken Morrow), and he had to fight to make the roster.

+ Bill only scored one point in the Olympic tournament, but wow, what a point it was! It was in the first game of the tournament, against Sweden, and Bill scored the tying goal with 27 seconds left in the game. There are people that think this was the most important goal of the tournament for this team, and there's a good chance they're right! The tie meant the U.S. earned a point (rather than the zero they'd get for a loss) and advancing to the medal round was now possible. That goal gave the team a huge amount of excitement and momentum going into the next game, against Czechoslovakia (which the U.S. won 7-3, despite Czechoslovakia being the second best team in the world). Basically, this goal was EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. And get this: in one post-game interview, the six subsequent games and the medal ceremony, the commentators referred to Bill's goal 16 times. In 10 of those times, they referred to him as a hero. (Yes, I counted.)

+ Bill had been drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1976, and signed with them right after the Olympics. He played in the NHL for three years for several teams, and hung up his skates for good in 1984.

+ After he retired from hockey, Bill went back to school. Dental school, to be specific. And after four years of that, he spent four more years in oral and maxillofacial school. And Bill Baker is now a successful oral surgeon. I guess it's fitting for a former hockey player to be fixing people's teeth! And I guess it's even more fitting that Bill never stopped being an over-achiever!

And now, friends, take a look at The Goal. This baby right here made the Miracle on Ice possible. #hero

The Manitou Cliff Dwellings, Or Why My Car Probably Hates Me

I initially wasn't planning on blogging about this particular adventure. But it was somewhere around the time I was hugging my car's steering wheel after we made it home that I figured it might be worth telling this tale. And hey, I can write travel blog-esque posts about nearby attractions, can I not? Backyard blogging is totally a thing, and it turns out that there are some cool things around Colorado Springs!

(Also, in case you were unaware, my car's name is Buzz. I speak about him as if he's a person. Just go with it.)

I ventured out to the DMV on Wednesday to renew Buzz's plates, and I figured I'd make an afternoon of it. I mean, no sense in making myself presentable just to go to the DMV, right? Might as well do something fun! So after I ensured that Buzz, if not myself, is going to be a registered Coloradan until July of 2015, I pointed my GPS in the direction of my chosen destination; the Manitou Cliff Dwellings in Manitou Springs. I only discovered the existence of this place recently, and I was instantly intrigued. It's a group of old Native American dwellings (duh) built right into the mountainside (duh), and visitors can go explore in them! My favorite museums are always ones that are interactive like that, where you can physically walk around where something actually happened or someone lived, so I was pretty excited about this.

The cliff dwellings in Manitou are less than half an hour from where I live in Colorado Springs, and it was an easy enough drive... at first. I should've been tipped off about the impending issues when I tried putting the address -- 10 Cliff Drive, according to the website -- into my GPS and it told me that there is no 10 Cliff Drive, and the nearest house number to the one I put in is 100. Um. Okay. So I put in 100 Cliff Drive and went on my merry way.

Well, I turned off the highway where my GPS told me to and immediately took the wrong fork in the road. Whoops. So Buzz huffed and puffed up an exceedingly steep hill into this little mountain community of houses on little winding roads that I have trouble believing could handle two cars attempting to go in opposite directions. Luckily, however, there were no cars coming in the opposite direction, so we wound our way down and out of there easily enough. My palms were a little bit sweaty and I felt bad about making Buzz tackle that hill, but it was fine. We were fine. I hate mountain roads.

I got back onto the road we were supposed to be on and within a minute or so, my GPS was saying "turn left" onto Cliff Drive... but I did NOT see a road. I saw what looked like a driveway. So I pulled a U-turn and, on my way back, I did indeed see a street sign. Feeling exceedingly uneasy, I turned onto the "street."

Why "street" and not street? Because it was very steep, very narrow, very questionably paved, and very definitely was not much more than a driveway. There were two houses along the left side, and it ended at nothing. All I could see in front of me and to the right was vegetation.

Not even sure what my next course of action was going to be, I began the process of turning Buzz around so we could get out of there, when I saw a lady exit one of the houses and jog up to my window. I rolled it down.

"Are you looking for the cliff dwellings?"

"Yes. I am so sorry."

"No, don't worry about it!" she said brightly. "This road used to cut up there across the highway, but it doesn't anymore, and that hasn't been updated in GPS systems yet."

Oh? Well. That would've been a good thing to know.

She continued talking. "You're going to want to back out of here, and then go this way," she indicated the way I'd originally come from, "And the first right you can make takes you back to the highway. The cliff dwellings are right across the highway!"

Across the highway? What does that even mean?!

I thanked her and she returned to her house, and I set about trying to back out of this godforsaken street/driveway. I had to straighten Buzz out again (because I had been attempting to turn around), which was awful, and then I had to back down this janky, rocky, steep-as-all-hell road. Real talk: I hate driving in reverse for any extended period of time. Especially on a road I don't know. There were a number of times where I was definitely not aligned correctly and went off the crumbly pavement, almost into the bushes, and all I could think about were the pipes that hang rather low underneath Buzz. And the transmission that's been acting up since December. And all the rust doing on down there. I was 100% positive that I was not going to make it off this street with Buzz's guts still intact.

But we made it! As I reached normal pavement again, I didn't see any rusty car parts on the hill in front of me, and Buzz seemed to still be functioning properly, so I hightailed it out of there dripping in sweat, my limbs shaking in a combination of terror, adrenaline and sheer relief. (Thank god Buzz the car is as resilient and awesome as Buzz the person!)

I made it back to the highway just fine, but had no idea what to do from there. What does "across the highway" mean?! I was about to give up and just head home, when I looked straight ahead -- literally, directly across the highway -- and saw a road and a nice big sign that said CLIFF DWELLINGS --->. Thanks, guys. What the actual hell.

So, after another agonizing minute or two of waiting for the four lanes of two-way traffic to clear, I drove straight across the highway (yikes) and FINALLY REACHED MY DESTINATION! I could've cried. Crisis averted!

Visitors are immediately greeted with some beautiful views of the mountains, which certainly helped get my head screwed on correctly again.

Right by the entrance to the complex there's a little pueblo-style building that houses a little museum and the gift shop.

I spent very little time in the museum and hardly read anything -- I just wanted to get into the dwellings! And they did not disappoint!

What you see in the pictures is all there is, so I was easily able to walk through and see everything in about an hour. You're allowed to touch every surface and climb through any entrances that are accessible and that you can fit through (finally, being 5'2" and size zero comes in handy!). There are several signs at various points that say "no climbing," but those are obviously to keep people from killing themselves on crumbling walls and sharp rocks. Otherwise, you've got complete free reign. It's really, really cool.

If you're in the Colorado Springs area, I'd highly recommend stopping by! But just make sure to update your GPS system beforehand, and only turn off the highway when you see the very large sign!

Otherwise you'll be like me, hugging your car's steering wheel when you make it safely home.