Right Now
Here are a few of our favorite mini adventures that can be busted out at a moments notice and will not take too long. Or will they?
“Adventure, the feeling you gain from an uncertain outcome.”
Talk to a Stranger
When someone compliments our dog in the park or they smile and say they like our shoes or haircut, it often leaves us with a warm fuzzy feeling that might even last most of the day. If they then use that quick interaction to establish a deeper connection it feels better still. The thing is we are not the only ones who benefit from the exchange. By taking a chance to say hi the stranger knows they might be shot down in flames and yet if we respond positively they will feel good about themselves. When ignoring our parents advice we are straying into the heart of adventure. By “going out on a limb” we are giving ourselves the chance of harvesting a good outcome because “that is where the fruit is.” Who knows what the outcome of this little interaction may be.
Find New places in your own locale
Take a bus for half an hour then walk home using a route you do not know. Or, download an app like Dérive on your phone and use their instructions to find things you never knew existed close to home. Or, team up with others and create scavenger hunts for each other. Anything that helps you to see somewhere you know in a new way. When I lived in Wales I used to regularly walk and climb on a local mountain called Snowdon. After a number of years I became complacent and almost found it boring to walk on its flanks. The first time I was flown over it in a helicopter I was blown away, seeing the same places from a new perspective gave me a renewed sense of appreciation of this incredibly beautiful place. You will find lots of neat things close to home when you open yourself to them, rather like seeing the world through a child’s eyes again.
Make your own Adventure Generator
This is an idea created by Sarah Shotts at Kindle Curiosity. An adventure generator is a flip book with three sections 1. action, 2. modifier, and, 3. destination. You create an adventure by combining one of each of the sections and following the instruction. You can either download hers here or glance at it and make your own. Try making one for family adventures and one that will get you off the couch and doing something a little different. The idea is to give up some of the control of a decision and create a random event. The uncertainty provided by the generator also leads to the feeling we seek when searching for adventure.