I could be a survivor!

I am an armchair adventurer. I love to watch survivor type shows and read books about survival/adventure stories. Last winter I was on a big Everest kick- it all started with Everest- Beyond the Limit which ran last fall on the Discovery Channel. Then I followed up by reading Left for Dead by Beck Weathers and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.

Currently I've also been watching the second season of Man Vs Wild hosted by Bear Grylls- also on the Discovery Channel. I like to think that it's strictly educational viewing. After all, who knows when I might need to know how to survive being stranded in the Alps with only my parachute and a knife?

So I was extra-excited when my monthly issue of National Geographic Adventure arrived this month. The cover of the August issue proclaims "How to Survive (Almost) Anything". As an added bonus, on page 51, there is a quiz inside titled Survival IQ "20 questions culled from the experts- to boost your wilderness know-how and test your survivability quotient." Of course the first thing I did was take the quiz. Here are the possible scoring options:

0-5 Points: Your safe zone extends to your lawn. Beyond that: crapshoot.
6-10 Points: You're a survivor (but only in a Jeff Probst sort of way)
11-15 Points: You're allowed to play outside, but use the buddy system
16-20 Points: Call yourself Rambo. Or the gender-appropriate Rambette

Out of the possible 20 points, I got 15. Not bad for a Silicon Valley "soccer mom". If I end up stranded in the Alps however, I just hope someone like Bear Grylls is my buddy...