Author of '100 Things to Do Before You Die' is killed in fall - and he only managed to achieve half his list

Fun-loving: Dave Freeman died after a fall at his beach home in California

The man who co-wrote the best-selling adventure travel guide 100 Things To Do Before You Die has died at the age of 47.

Dave Freeman had visited half the places mentioned in his book whose recommendations included a voodoo pilgrimage to Haiti and running with bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

He died after falling over at his home in Venice, California, and hitting his head.

The advertising agency executive wrote the 1999 book with his friend, Neil Teplica, after collecting odd locations on a travel website they ran.

The irreverent guide to the world's wackiest places suggested nude night surfing in Australia and taking part in the loudest yelling competition in North Carolina.

It was an instant bestseller and inspired a publishing industry all of its own with dozens of '100 Things' spin-offs.

Mr Freeman, who was single, liked to travel alone, believing he met more interesting people and went to stranger places that way.

He starts the book by explaining: 'This life is a short journey. How can you make sure you fill it with the most fun and that you visit all the coolest places on earth before you pack those bags for the very last time?'

His family said that while he had visited half the places, Mr Teplica had covered the rest.

One of Mr Freeman's favourites was the Las Fallas festival in Valencia, Spain, where firework-filled papier-mache statues of politicians and celebrities exploded at the stroke of midnight.

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He listed land diving in the South Pacific as one of his most exhilarating adventures. The centuries-old tradition - dubbed the 'original bungee jump' - involves leaping off tall towers with just a vine attached to the leg. The Queen witnessed one islander fall to his death during a 1974 ceremony.

Last night the circumstances surrounding Mr Freeman's death were still sketchy, but he appeared to have tripped over in the hall of his beach-side house and banged his head.

'It's very odd, very sad and very freaky,' Mr Teplica told the Daily Mail. 'There was no heart attack. He was physically very capable - not the sort of person to just fall over. His death is unfathomable.'

According to Mr Teplica, his friend's mantra was: 'You should live every day like it would be your last. There's not many people who do.'

Mr Teplica said: 'He didn't have enough days but he lived the life he wrote about.'

The guide, which was subtitled Travel Events You Just Can't Miss, started life as a regular website feature called The Coolest Place on Earth. As readers started sending in reports of wild and wonderful festivals around the globe, the two men vowed to try them all out.

Some - such as attending the Oscars or Royal Ascot - were rated 'grandma friendly', while others were described as 'down and dirty'.