As you know I do keynote motivational talks for corporations called "Dare to do it" and "Creativity in Marketing" (People tend to think doing a book signing at the top of Kilimanjaro and down by the wreck site of the Titanic is a bit out of the norm...nah! I like to think of it as a tad daring and creative.)

The point is I like to live what I teach... that nothing is impossible. Of course a nice side perk is that I have a blast doing it. (Okay, when I was at the top of Kilimanjaro freezing my butt off, I wasn't thrilled at the moment...but when I came down and looked back I was really happy.)

Speakers will often say, "You have to get to the top of the mountain in life." But I believe if I am going to teach that philosophy, I damn well better back it up by being a living example (hence I really climb the mountain!) Seems logical to me.

Then I love to write and relay the stories to audiences to inspire them to peak performance. (Yes, pun is intended here – come on it fits so nicely.)

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A few weeks ago my friend Ali left for the Cayman Islands to do an art exhibit. She asked if I would like to go to relax in the sun and maybe do some scuba diving. The thing with me and adventures though, is I like to constantly experience something new. After all, anyone who knows me, knows I’m not much of a lay down in the sand type of gal…I need to be moving. So since I had already been diving in the Cayman Islands I told her I’d go if I found a new adventure to do there.

Then I remembered that someone mentioned there was treetop ziplining in the Cayman Islands.

A quick look on Google, and I found many places that offered ziplining… like Costa Rica, Belize and Maui…but I couldn’t find any in the Caymans. So I passed on the trip.

Three days after Ali left, my college skydiving buddy, Shelly emails me. “Hey Frannie, my wife Susan and I are going to the Adventures in Travel Expo in Manhattan and we thought of you. Want to meet us there?” I hadn’t seen Shelly in about five years, so I was game.

I went online to check out the Expo. It looked interesting and the price was right, a whopping ten bucks admission. Then as I was perusing the site I saw it… “Zipline at the Adventure Expo.” Wow what were the odds? The Capo click factor set in (the moment when I know I’m going to do something without a doubt. Like me with climbing Kilimanjaro and going to the Titanic.)

I immediately bought a ticket for Spencer and myself. I also convinced my neighbor, Wanda to go and bring two of her kids.
I was really excited. I was willing to fly to the Cayman Islands just try this and now here was an opportunity practically in my own backyard. (Okay, a tad further than my backyard but whose counting miles when an adventure is at hand.)

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As I mentioned a few blogs ago, I am now Fast Talking Fran – the Adventure Girl on the John Basedow Reality TV Show, which starts to air the end of January. Yes, I am a member of the fitness celebrity’s on air posse.

I mainly do episodes with John that involve adventure…makes sense huh – thus my nickname. (Although I will be in an upcoming Fashion Episode, but if you ever see my lack of concern for fashion - that may be an adventure in itself.)

Anyway, since I don’t think anytime soon John and I will be climbing Kilimanjaro (okay maybe in an episode way down the line)…it’s my job to come up with places that are a short car ride away that we can experience a cool adventure at, and somehow tie fitness into.

With those elements in mind, I contacted my friend, Fran Hackett. She’s the PR lady at the New York Aquarium. The aquarium is always having these really unique programs...like the sleep with the fishes program (and no that is not an episode on the Sopranos – but an actual sleepover at the aquarium called “Bedtime with the Belugas”, where you get a complete behind the scenes look at what goes on - I wrote about that outing in my book, Adrenaline Adventures: Dream it, Read it, Do it!)

Anyway I figured if anyone could come up with a unique local adventure, Fran could. Sure enough we tossed around some ideas and came up with a winner. I told John and the date was set.

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Editor's Note: This blog entry is not for the squeamish. And don't read it while you're eating!

A few blogs ago I mentioned that my friend Ali and I had a high colonic, which ungraciously cleaned us out from the bottom up. While it cleaned the pipes and gave us an immediate weight loss of two pounds, it didn’t have the long lasting effect that we wanted –you know, weight loss without the work.

The reality is we did the colonic to avoid having to do the ten day master cleanse fast. I mean, the thought of not eating for one day, much less ten was going to put us both through a mental and physical challenge, and to top it off it was during holiday season…when food abounds.

But as with anything in life, if you want something with long lasting rewards whether it’s a fantastic relationship, career, family life, whatever…you gotta put the time and effort in, and if something is not working you gotta change what you’re doing so that it does work.

With that in mind, Ali and I decided to try something new, and this was it. We decided that on December 17th we’d start the Master Cleanse, and clean ourselves from the top down. Why that date? Well they suggest you start the diet on a Sunday, and it was also the time I was doing radio shows from my home and not traveling as much. Last thing I wanted was to be in the middle of an interview and need an unexpected bathroom run – that would be a little difficult to explain to the home audience.

We decided to approach it like a science experiment.

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