1. GO DOGSLEDDING ABOVE THE ARCTIC CIRCLE
"Huskies are remarkably keen on their job. At the first sign that sled-pulling might be part of their short-term future, they become hysterical. The hounds stood on their hind legs, straining at their chains, frothing at the mouth."
That's Stanley Stewart, in a story he wrote for the Sunday Times, describing meeting his husky team in Longyearbyen in Norway's Svalbard Islands, one of the few places on Earth where you can go on a proper dog-sledding adventure.
There are various dog-sled operators here, offering trips lasting from a few hours to two days to Barentsburg.Since I am, despite my daydreaming, unlikely ever to win the 1,000km-long Iditarod dogsled race in Alaska, I will happily settle for the overnight "mini-expedition" to the Nordenskiöld National Park  (NOK 4,900, about R8,160) where mushers get to spend two days sledding into the wilderness and camping out under Arctic skies.
See svalbardhusky.no.2. GO TO SEA ON A WORKING SHIP
In 2015 I ran away to sea on a sailing ship. OK, so it was only from Cape Town to Luderitz but in that week aboard the three-masted barque Picton Castle, I had an immersion course in seafaring and the art of looking after a sailing ship on the heaving blue.
My only tiny regret (tiny, for this was no cruise with a book and a deckchair) is that I did not continue to St Helena - 1,378 nautical miles and two weeks from Luderitz - to earn my saltiness by going aloft to take in sail.
The ship begins her next world voyage in March 2018 and she is looking for volunteer crew who must only be older than 18 and willing to muck in with their shipmates - standing watch, working aloft, scrubbing decks, taking turns at the helm and otherwise getting involved in the countless tasks of taking a ship safely to sea.
The cost for the full two-year voyage is $48,000 or $15,000 for any one of the four legs.3. TAKE THE LONGEST TRAIN RIDE
The way to see Siberia is from the window of a slow-moving train as you ride from Moscow to Vladivostok aboard the Rossiya (Russia) on the Trans-Siberian Railway, built by the last of the Russian tsars.
It takes seven days - and eight time zones - to travel the 9,289km to the Pacific Ocean, riding in a roomy - and quite new - railway car, which will have a hot water samovar guarded by a fierce provodnitsa and a good supply of borscht from the dining car. Russian hospitality is guaranteed along with real vodka, should you need to "escape".
There are connections to Beijing and elsewhere in China on the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Manchurian expresses. From 18,629 rubles (about $640) in a two-berth kupé.
See seat61.com or, for a more pampered option, goldeneagleluxurytrains.com.3. SEE THE GREAT WILDEBEEST MIGRATION
Every June, at the end of the rainy season, as if a great unheard alarm clock goes off in their heads, the wildebeest and zebras on the Serengeti plains begin to move northwest through Tanzania and Kenya.
They travel in their hundreds of thousands, a great, sweating, snorting gathering of antelope, as they head for fresh grazing.
Although the drama of the river crossings, where the herds are thinned by waiting crocodiles, is an undeniable drawcard, the simple spectacle of the animals moving across Africa is cause for hope that not all is lost in the continent's remaining wild places and that nature may yet prevail.
Getting to see the Great Migration is not cheap. It is one of those times, however, when the piggy bank demands to be broken.
See andbeyond.com and wilderness-safaris.com.5. BE A REAL COWBOY/GIRL
I promised my girl - whom I met on horseback when we were 10 - that one day we would go and help the Heaton family move their cattle from their summer grazing grounds in Utah to their winter sanctuary on the edge of the Grand Canyon (see equitours.com). At $2,895 per person, I've yet to make good on that.
Instead, we're looking at pony trekking in Lesotho. The Basuto pony is one of the toughest horses on Earth and at Malealea they let you take these big-hearted animals out into the mountains for a week-long ride - at R800 per day.
Lesotho's views are as spectacular as Utah's and up here in the Maluti Mountains, there will be no rattlesnakes and no errant and grumpy cattle for us to round up.6. CYCLE THE LONG AND WINDING TRACK
Not everyone can take a few months off to ride the Spine of the Dragon, the informal, 58-day, 4,000km-long mountain-bike trail from Beit Bridge to Cape Town.
But that trail, inspired by the sweat and calves of riders such as David Bristow, Steve Thomas and Kevin Davie, has spawned other challenges such as the Freedom Challenge, a 26-day race from Pietermaritzburg to Wellington.
You are responsible for your own navigation and support - no back-up vehicles and Thai masseuses, please.
You could also do the trail at any time you like, without racing, and why not - South Africa's mountain-bike trails are one of the world's best-kept secrets. Shh, don't splab, or we'll be crowded out by Americans on e-bikes.7. RAFT - OR CANOE - A MIGHTY RIVER
Riding the Colorado River as it carves its furious path down the Grand Canyon has been called the granddaddy of rafting adventures. You will wait 10 years for a permit for a private trip - or you could go with a commercial operator tomorrow (expect to pay around $3,000-$5,000 for a 16-day adventure).
Better yet, you could head north to Victoria Falls for the most beautiful whitewater rafting trip in the world. The Batoka Gorge below the falls is one of Earth's great places - 60km of sinuous canyon, with the Zambezi roiling past in its depths, making the black basalt gleam in the sun.For some people, a daytrip is enough, but since the gorge is threatened by a proposed dam whose construction is imminent - go for a three-day trip in which you will raft by day and sleep holding hands with the river at night.
If that sounds too scary, the Nama Canyon section of the Orange River as it ambles through the Richtersveld is a spectacular canoe trail, available to adventurers who fancy a bit of splashing in a few easy Class 1 rapids and some fine camping on white-sand beaches with fish eagles calling from the riverbanks.
See safparrafting.com and felixunite.com...