Boom! We’re nearly into double figures on our Adventure Habits pod. We’ve just finished recording episode 9 and our experts pose one question above all others, What Makes a Journey an Adventure? Surely, it’s only when you’ve considered this that you can invite more adventure into your life? Here our Guinness world record holders, educators, guides and explorers summarise the habits that’ll make the best adventure for you.
‘Anything can be an Adventure’ says Steve Layt in Episode 7. With 50 years experience in guiding and assessing Duke of Edinburgh Award groups he should know. ‘Adventure can be as simple as heading out of your front door and going for a walk’. But as he’s learnt ‘packing a stove and hot chocolate in your ruck sack’ will make for a more memorable event and could be the first step toward a life properly balanced with adventure.
Dan Smith in Episode 5 chose saying ‘Yes’ to opportunities as his Number 1 Habit. It’s a sure-fire way to put you slightly outside your comfort zone. This needn’t be as grand as his Solo +500 mile paddle through the Yukon, but he certainly extols going Solo as a key habit. His 3rd habit? Surround yourself with like-minded adventurous souls.
Episode 4 was our USA special and where better to look for the true meaning of Adventure than the Boston Outdoor Expo? For Kelly Catale, US single speed MTB champion, she repeats the mantra ‘Make yourself proud’ as she prepares.
Andrea Bailey in the same episode talks of sensory integration and has a great method for finding your true meaning of Adventure. She suggests that, when Adventuring, stop, ‘take it all in– every sense’ the taste in the air, the ground’s feel beneath you and the sights around, then, ‘think how you might describe the whole sensation as if for an artist to interpret.’ That’s a great one for anyone who’s discovered journaling.
Matt and Reece from Episode 6, The Side Car Guys, have broken down in more countries than most of us would ever visit. In riding their contraption they confess you could meet as quirky & helpful people in Germany as you do in Sibera or Sudan. But the stories most likely told are going to be in the more extreme places which more easily sit outside the comfort zone in a reader’s mind’s eye. Check it out in their book ‘Our Ridiculous World Trip’ Says Matt, ‘inconvenience is completely key for us’ arguing that ‘going across the Andes at 4000m above sea level in a scooter and sidecar is a lot more interesting than using a Landrover.’ Somehow pushing a heap of parts up a mountain and feeling the dirt sliding beneath your feet in thin air is just going to make it more of a life experience.
A 17 year old Chris Howard (Episode 2), in a bid to escape the crumby town of his upbringing, bought a rucksack from an Army Surplus Store. This inspired him to his first big adventure – walking the length of SE Asia’s western coast. It shaped his life of adventure and he’s been raising money for causes that resonate with him ever since.
It was great to discuss how journeys can change your life if you’re prepared to drop technology and perhaps be the nutter on the train that actually talks to their fellow travellers. To engage more in life and make the most of each journey, Chris suggests it’s all about a state of mind. “Above everything, be kind and curious” he suggests.
Kirsty Gittins, Life coach and educator in Ep 3 honed down the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people to find what really makes an Adventure Traveller. She appeared to argue this is really a state of mind. The foundation, she argues -and her Habit 1 – is being ‘proactive’ and that needs a “focus on what you can control and acknowledgment of what you can’t”. This practice, in our dealings with others and even in our own self-talk, puts you in control of your responses to the random things that happen on your journey.
Matt Smith in Episode 1 perhaps covered this best as he described his ten year journey, as his exit from the military led him to re-examine childhood passions and embrace bushcraft. How a chance meeting with two veterans of Operation Gunnerside, the SOE’s WW2 subversion of Hitler’s nuclear programme, sparked the idea for leading commemorative adventures from WW2. Now SOE Expeditions is a global gathering of adventurers to stretch themselves and pay tribute to heroes who fought for our freedoms.
My take home from all these experts is that adventure is as individual as you are. It’s more about the feeling and the pride you may take for yourself afterwards that counts more than the record you broke or the personal best you beat. Choosing inconvenience, saying ‘yes’ more often and being proactive, kind and curious in all your interactions with your fellow travellers in life is going to expand your adventures. No doubt, this will improve your life.
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