I must have only been about seven or eight years old, but I still remember the first time I crossed the Mackinac Bridge between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. However, the image of the experience (the silvery-green metal of the cables, the expanses of water on either side, etc.) is still burned in my mind not because of its profoundness, but because I was so completely terrified that I will never be able to erase the memory from my subconscious.
No, it didn’t turn me into one of those people who has a panic attack every time they have to drive on an overpass, but I do prefer to experience the grandeur of mammoth bridges from the safety of solid ground. That’s why I’m so pleased to have found this video documenting the greatest bridges in the world — I can satisfy my wanderlust for places like Malaysia and Australia (where the video claims two of the five greatest bridges stand) while avoiding a painful childhood memory that could push me even closer to daily therapy.