Why: I will say this simply. I am sure every single person who reads this will think 'staying awake all night that's not difficult I am surprised he hasn't done this yet'. This is a common reaction when people notice that this item is on my List. To be honest I have no idea why it was/still is so difficult for me to stay awake for 24 hours straight (my definition of an 'all nighter'). So, eager to defeat my enemy, number 52 was soon added.
Problems: Very low success rate in previous attempts, physical conditioning.
What Happened: Firstly I would like to say that I am writing this article late at night whilst very tired (coincidence? I think not) so please just bear with me if I have made any mistakes or if it is difficult to read. Thanks
Number 52 proved more difficult than anyone, even myself, had anticipated. I had one failed attempt before achieving this, and I'll tell you now it failed badly. After staying awake for 21 hours at my best friend, Kieran French's, house I gave and didn't wake up for 8 hours. We had tried everything to keep me awake from burning a bon-fire to reading random facts out of 2008's Guinness World Records book. However when all sources of entertainment and distraction were exhausted I realised I had no chance.
(First attempt= a fail at 21 hours)
I learnt from this and decided during my next attempt I would simply require an endless supply of activities to keep my body from realising how tired I was.
Fortunately for me I had been invited to my friend Ayrlie's going away party in QLD. A few weeks and a short flight later I was at her house and ready to go. Now keep in mind I hadn't planned to go the 24 hours without sleep at her party at all, it kind of just fell in place and happened. As all great things do.
After staying up for 22 hours straight I realised I was almost there, and I was dead excited. The problem now was that everyone else seemed to be retiring to bed, their alcohol consumption finally taking its toll. For someone like me, who had drunk no alcohol whatsoever, interaction with people was a key factor to staying awake and luckily for me one other person stayed awake with me and assisted in keeping me awake.
(23 hours 40 minutes without sleep, and you can't wipe the excitement from my face)
24 hours had passed and I was still awake! I was ecstatic but was having trouble demonstrating it past my exhaustion. After what seemed more like days then 24 hours I prepared myself to sleep only to be informed by my friend that “today was 7/11 day.” For those who do not know what 7/11 day is, basically its the 7th of November )7th of the 11th) and on this day if one was to walk into a 7/11 store and announce that it was 7/11 day they would receive a free 375ml slurpee. Sounds awesome right? Not when you haven't slept.
After stumbling around the house getting dressed, myself and 6 others made our way into the city of Brisbane. Here we would make our slurpee crawl. Spanning 14 7/11s and over 50 slurpees the slurpee crawl is a force to be reckoned with.
However the immense sugar levels did supply me with the energy to continue my streak of no sleep and before I knew it (8 slurpees later) 42 hours had passed. Oh and of course the crawl was over! (With us all feeling rather sick)
That night I was flying back home, exhausted but desperate to enjoy my final hours in QLD I urged my body to continue but on the car ride to Ayrlie's football practice I couldn't resist any longer. After 44 hours without sleep I gave myself to the sweet embrace of a deep sleep. I can only briefly recall the blurry images of being woken up and half walking-half stumbling to the side of the football field where I slept again. I cannot even remember leaving the football field yet somehow I ended up at the airport. Managing to resist the temptation to sleep once more whilst at the airport was more difficult than I had originally thought, this was due to my plane being 2 hours delayed! Thanks a lot Jetstar!
On the flight home I slept once more, probably talking in my sleep or snoring loudly which I can imagine would have pissed off the guy next to me. All in all however I felt extremely accomplished and ecstatic not only to have crossed another item off the list but also for having one of the most memorable weekends of my life!
What I Learnt: Sleep is necessary! Only once you stop yourself from sleeping do you realise just how crucial it is to your well-being so everyone reading this please, appreciate sleep. (I'm sure Seb will vouch for this after an immense 72 hours without sleep, compared to that effort I am aware my effort seems futile). Oh and of course I also learnt that a dozen free slurpees aren't as fun as they seem.
24 hours had passed and I was still awake! I was ecstatic but was having trouble demonstrating it past my exhaustion. After what seemed more like days then 24 hours I prepared myself to sleep only to be informed by my friend that “today was 7/11 day.” For those who do not know what 7/11 day is, basically its the 7th of November )7th of the 11th) and on this day if one was to walk into a 7/11 store and announce that it was 7/11 day they would receive a free 375ml slurpee. Sounds awesome right? Not when you haven't slept.
After stumbling around the house getting dressed, myself and 6 others made our way into the city of Brisbane. Here we would make our slurpee crawl. Spanning 14 7/11s and over 50 slurpees the slurpee crawl is a force to be reckoned with.
However the immense sugar levels did supply me with the energy to continue my streak of no sleep and before I knew it (8 slurpees later) 42 hours had passed. Oh and of course the crawl was over! (With us all feeling rather sick)
That night I was flying back home, exhausted but desperate to enjoy my final hours in QLD I urged my body to continue but on the car ride to Ayrlie's football practice I couldn't resist any longer. After 44 hours without sleep I gave myself to the sweet embrace of a deep sleep. I can only briefly recall the blurry images of being woken up and half walking-half stumbling to the side of the football field where I slept again. I cannot even remember leaving the football field yet somehow I ended up at the airport. Managing to resist the temptation to sleep once more whilst at the airport was more difficult than I had originally thought, this was due to my plane being 2 hours delayed! Thanks a lot Jetstar!
On the flight home I slept once more, probably talking in my sleep or snoring loudly which I can imagine would have pissed off the guy next to me. All in all however I felt extremely accomplished and ecstatic not only to have crossed another item off the list but also for having one of the most memorable weekends of my life!
What I Learnt: Sleep is necessary! Only once you stop yourself from sleeping do you realise just how crucial it is to your well-being so everyone reading this please, appreciate sleep. (I'm sure Seb will vouch for this after an immense 72 hours without sleep, compared to that effort I am aware my effort seems futile). Oh and of course I also learnt that a dozen free slurpees aren't as fun as they seem.
