Everyday microadventures to inspire living with intention
“Adventure is a loose word that means different things to different people. It is a state of mind, a spirit of trying something new and leaving your comfort zone. Adventure is about enthusiasm, ambition, open-mindedness and curiosity.”
When I have something to look forward to I feel grounded, happier, and less moody. Just ask my husband. He knows that I need things in my calendar to release the suffocating and unproductive grip of wishing for the future. When there are scheduled things to look forward to, I am better able to be present and enjoy living in the moment.
I’ve discovered that this phenomenon works when I have a big trip planned, even if it’s months away. But it works even better when I have something planned for tomorrow or later in the week. It doesn’t have to be a big, splashy, expensive or exotic plan either. Just fun, perspective-shifting bursts of activity that take me out of my routine. These are microadventures and they help me practice living with intention because they fill my need for anticipation, challenge, learning, and awe.
What is a microadventure?
Microadventures, coined by British adventurer Alastair Humphreys, are short, local, cheap activities that deliver a fun, exciting, and rewarding experience. Humphreys has a book, blog and videos sharing ideas designed to “encourage ordinary people to get Out There and Do Stuff for themselves.” From ideas such as urban camping to beachcombing to foodie explorations, he has documented these mini-itineraries and challenges in his book titled Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes. I like how he acknowledges that people have barriers to many grandiose adventures. As the quote suggests, if travel were free, you’d never see me again. Money, time, and confidence simply gets in our way! So microadventures are an accessible option.
Fun and adventure
I also love Alastair’s enthusiasm for fun in the outdoors. I was first introduced to the concept of Type 1 and Type 2 fun on the Books and Travel Podcast (one of my favourites) as host Jo Frances Penn interviewed Humphreys. He describes (travel) fun as the following:
Type-1 fun is a good description for anything in life that you do that is simply fun, like eating cheese, or drinking gin, or whatever you enjoy.
Type-2 fun is doing stuff that is miserable, painful, uncomfortable, horrible, and people who’ve done, say, long-distance hiking challenges or marathons will be familiar with this. You’re doing something painful purely in the hope that at some unknown point in an unknowable future this will somehow, retrospectively, make you happy. That’s type-2 fun.
Alastair is a Type 2 fun addict. He challenges himself to adventures that push physical and mental limits and seeks situations where disaster is probable! His adventure list is long and includes cycling around the world, walking across India, and rowing the Atlantic.
I am admittedly on a very different place of the fun spectrum! My preference for fun is somewhere in the middle - a good balance of both Type 1 and Type 2 fun. Knowing this about myself helps make my plans for a microadventure or simply a fun twist to routine both memorable and positive. For example, I delight in trying a fancy cocktail recipe, star gazing, learning to fly fish, hiking in search of spring waterfalls or even trying out solo long distance walking not far from home! A particularly memorable microadventure was sourcing local seafood and craft beer and having a beach fire paella picnic with friends.
Here is a small selection of microadventure ideas to get you thinking:
Sleep under the stars in your backyard
Go for a night hike with headlamps
Have a wilderness picnic
Swim wild in a river, lake or ocean
Grab a map, close your eyes, point and go!
Climb a mountain
Sign up for something that requires you to train (walk/triathalon/cycle)
A type 1 idea from a recent Facebook Group I’m in suggested going out to dinner according to the alphabet! 26 outings dictated by a letter!
I have more ideas…keep reading.
Simple but not always easy
A good friend shared that doing things around her home community lacks variety. As travel lovers, we yearn for a change in culture, climate, architecture, food etc. While it’s not the in-your-face change like an international journey, we can satisfy some of these needs in small bursts.
At home, I need to (and work hard at) tapping into my traveller's sense of curiosity and motivation to explore my home base, my world, and my comfort zone. Home has all sorts of triggers and reminders that make it easy to choose normal, easy or passive activities. In addition, all the hustle and bustle of life lingers in our brains when we stay in the same environment. It’s hard to feel like we’ve escaped!
Let’s acknowledge that it isn’t easy to see, let alone experience, “home” in fresh ways. But it is entirely possible. I’d argue that it’s important too! Microadventures come with brain boosting benefits, just like travel. A source of novelty, they shake up your brain and thinking ruts.
Random inspiration
Sometimes it helps to have other people make a suggestion or set an adventure challenge. I have a card deck called the Anywhere Travel Guide. The cards each have a simple prompt printed on one side. The instructions are to pick at random to help discover the unexpected. The cards can be used on a trip or at home. There are a few gems and a few that would definitely push me outside my comfort zone. Here are three that I’ve pulled out and hope to try out soon.
Go to a cafe or a restaurant. Order the third and twelfth things on the menu. Enjoy.
Take a walk with a wish in your pocket. Then leave it somewhere in the city.
Find the highest point of this city accessible by walking. Go there. Enjoy the view.
Sounds fun!
“The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions”
Ellen Glasglow
How can you engage in a microadventure?
If you aren’t quite ready or able to dive into a microadventure from the list above, start smaller. Maybe we can call it a nano adventure! What I am suggesting is that some perspective shifting practice might be a great precursor to a microadventure. Once we practice seeing things differently, we can engage in our world in a more adventurous way. We can stop seeing home as lacking in variety or boring or dull and, instead, see it with fresh eyes.
Once we get out of our ruts and routines, the door opens to more creativity, freshness, and perhaps even a transformational perspective shift. When we invite adventure (even nano sized) into our everyday lives, we are on the path to living and travelling with intention.
What’s your next adventure?
Adventure is worthwhile in itself.
Amelia Earhart
