Recently I went to see the film, Get Him To The Greek, because I’m super cool and cultured… But anyway, there’s a scene in which Russell Brand says something about life being better through love and security rather than experiences, or something equally deep and meaningful. I don’t agree. As shallow as it sounds, at my lowest points I tend to be uplifted by the random experiences in life that I have had so far. Stand out moments like the night a friend released the birds from their enclosure in Clissold Park when we were fifteen or the time I smoked weed in the Sri Lankan jungle while a monkey made loud monkey noises.

Though I agree that events like these do not enrich your life in the traditional sense, when I have one of those days in which I think my life is shit and everyone else’s is amazing, I am able to look back on the time I drunkenly wandered home from a festival in France chanting “Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!” while reassuring people I knew the way (I didn’t). Or when I drank beer with a bunch of guys in Rio, only to be informed by the bar owner later that they were the ‘Brazilian mafia’ (they probably weren’t).

Now I’m no Hunter S. Thompson; I’ve never smoked crack in a tree house while gold plated midgets pander to my every whim, but I have witnessed some pretty unique events and these are the ones I turn to in my dark moments. While security is important, we’re all carving out our own paths in life and random moments reduce the likelihood of us ever sharing a route. Far too many people believe life is all about being wealthy, but I’d rather be rich in experience.

What’s the craziest experience you’ve had?