What Does Adventure Mean to You?
I'm having an honest conversation with myself about what it means to be adventurous.
Over the last several days I’ve had the opportunity to explore a variety of travel writers and outdoor enthusiasts on Substack, and WOW, there are some inspiring people doing epic shit out there!
When I see the cool stuff
, Bel Jackson Prow, Teddy Dondaville, and are doing, it really makes me want to up my game.I’m beginning to think it’s time for me to grow a set of balls again, head out to Utah for some Fieldcraft Survival courses, and finally take our Chevy Silverado off-road into some desolate BLM land so we can hike the nether regions of Southwest Arizona to begin living some real adventures from the road.
Don’t get me wrong.
Our travel experience the past four years has been nothing short of amazing, but when I compare it to other people, our adventures sometimes feel a bit lackluster because we’re not daring enough.
Staying on the paved roads and basic trails feels easier.
Spending most of our time in hotels and resorts feels comfortable.
Avoiding the uncertainty and unknown feels safer.
Without a doubt, Donetta and I each have our limitations, and we have differing opinions on how much risk might be too much. Any decisions on what we do are based on this and rightly so. Besides, there’s a difference between calculated risks and just doing completely dumb shit.
Still my heart longs to be bold.
In my younger days, I threw real hand grenades, rappelled from cliffs, scaled tall bridges, played in rivers, rolled in the mud, and survived many questionable decisions that could’ve easily killed me.
In my older years, I dreamed of hiking the Appalachian Trail, backpacking across Europe, driving the Pan-American Highway, summiting Mount Everest, or jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
So when I see myself as an adventurer, it’s the guy hiking 100 miles into uncharted territory, surviving on what I carry in my backpack while being surrounded by wolves, not the guy taking a leisurely five mile beginners hike with some granola, from the trailhead by my resort which is overrun by chipmunks.
While I’m definitely not a bad ass like Rambo or John Ottway in The Grey, and would likely die in the first three hours of my survival trek, I’m not a wimp either and could hold my own in certain conditions.
Anyways …
There’s a raging conflict going on inside me because I wanna push myself to the limits like I did back then, but there’s the reality my current limitations and abilities may not allow for it now. Or maybe it’s just excuses.
As I head into 2025, my goal is to challenge myself to be bolder and take more risks.
What does this sense of adventure look like to me?
Completing airborne training and earning my jump wings.
Climbing the Stairway to Heaven in Manitou Springs, Colorado.
Hiking the Appalachian Trail in sections at a time.
Running with the Bulls in Spain. Or at least going cow tipping.
Taking our truck and RTT off road to new remote locations.
Learning to fly fish in Colorado or Maine.
Summiting any mountain peak over 14,000 feet with my own legs.
Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef.
Complete all four of the GORUCK events.
And then I’d like to go hunting.
It doesn’t matter if it’s for caribou, moose, elk, deer, wild pigs, or even a jackelope. I’ve never been hunting. Except for snipes. That sucked.
These are things I’d like to achieve before I die and all seem pretty reasonable, right??
I know the definition of adventure doesn’t necessarily require doing hazardous or difficult things, but then playing it safe doesn’t feel so epic either.
Just my random thoughts for the day.
What do you think?
I have built out my Rav4 for solo car camping. For someone in the last quarter of their life, I think it's pretty adventurous. In 2025, I have plans to visit and work on dude ranches in the West. If we don't set adventure goals, we will never reach them and know what we are capable of.
That's one hell of a list of adventures! I love it! I think adventure is about challenging ourselves, dancing back and forth across the line of our comfort zone. That is where we find growth, knowledge of ourselves, and gratitude for life. But, what that looks like is entirely different from person to person. We are all unique and so are the paths we walk. From what I've read here, it looks like you're already living a life of adventure!