Similar in regards to heights - for me it's more of a weird vertigo/spatial thing. I look over the edge and feel off balance, as if the ground is about to come up and meet me. So not fear exactly so much as feeling off-balance. But my mother is terrified of heights and was able to wander through the Grand Canyon. Even hiked down it. And I was as well. No issues as a kid. (The spatial issue really came into play later anyhow for me - and with it my discomfort and fear of heights increased.)
Doing the zip-line and hanging bridges in Costa Rica was actually much worse. I will never do a zip line again. They had to ferry me across the lines - because the only sign of my fear was my hands couldn't stop shaking. Highly dangerous - I could have ripped my fingers off if I'd done it without them ferrying me across. Once was enough. The hanging bridges weren't that bad - except they were grated and you could see the forest floor below the clouds under your feet. And the bridges would swing whenever some annoying tourist jumped up and down on them or played with it - they were made with steel and wires, so sturdy, but moved.
So, hanging bridges - I can kind of do again. But there's no way I'd do the Death Plank Walk in Hunan China, not that I plan on going to China anytime soon. There's another one - in Sydney Australia - people walk at the top of the bridge - upper rails. Someone asked if I'd done that - and I said, no, outside of it not being available in the 1990s, I'd never have done it and Mother wouldn't have permitted it.
Would like to go to Canyon Lands National Park sometime, also see Monument Valley. G adventures has some interesting National Park Excursions - although I'm wary of how much time they appear to think it takes to drive and visit each one. They start in Palm Springs/Joshua Tree then to Death Valley, and Canyonlands (Grand Canyon), and Monument Park/ Vegas and to Segoia, then Yosemite, then San Fran. (I may have some of the order wrong but those are all the sites for a 10 -14 day visit. I thought, uh, you could spend a week in each of those spots.)
Re: What looks dangerous is relative
Doing the zip-line and hanging bridges in Costa Rica was actually much worse. I will never do a zip line again. They had to ferry me across the lines - because the only sign of my fear was my hands couldn't stop shaking. Highly dangerous - I could have ripped my fingers off if I'd done it without them ferrying me across. Once was enough. The hanging bridges weren't that bad - except they were grated and you could see the forest floor below the clouds under your feet. And the bridges would swing whenever some annoying tourist jumped up and down on them or played with it - they were made with steel and wires, so sturdy, but moved.
So, hanging bridges - I can kind of do again. But there's no way I'd do the Death Plank Walk in Hunan China, not that I plan on going to China anytime soon. There's another one - in Sydney Australia - people walk at the top of the bridge - upper rails. Someone asked if I'd done that - and I said, no, outside of it not being available in the 1990s, I'd never have done it and Mother wouldn't have permitted it.
Would like to go to Canyon Lands National Park sometime, also see Monument Valley. G adventures has some interesting National Park Excursions - although I'm wary of how much time they appear to think it takes to drive and visit each one. They start in Palm Springs/Joshua Tree then to Death Valley, and Canyonlands (Grand Canyon), and Monument Park/ Vegas and to Segoia, then Yosemite, then San Fran. (I may have some of the order wrong but those are all the sites for a 10 -14 day visit. I thought, uh, you could spend a week in each of those spots.)
It's a Canadian Company.