Category: Personal

Planning Your Adventure – Keep on Stepping

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We are nearing the final post in the Planning Your Adventure series! If you are just joining us, it would probably be best for you start at the beginning.

You have completed the first two steps that you have laid out. You have, haven’t you? (If not, go back and get those done! Then come back and we’ll go from there.)

All that you have left to do is to keep on following the stepping stones that you have written down. Follow the same pattern as before. Each day, complete one 5 minute task. If the next task will take more than 5 minutes, break it down into smaller tasks, listed in order. If you apply yourself, though, you might be surprised what you can accomplish in less than 5 minutes.

I was able to find out what paperwork I needed to get into Ireland in less than 5 minutes. A quick google search provided me with a list of what I needed. A few minutes later and I knew how to go about getting that paperwork. (It helped that I already had everything except my passport. Otherwise I would have created a new sub-list for each item I needed to get.)

That’s all you have to do. Break your big, “impossible” tasks down into small, easy-to-do tasks and then do them!

You’re almost there, are you excited about your adventure yet? Keep on stepping, follow that map you have drawn and reach your X!

A 5 Year Old Took Me on an Adventure

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My niece took me on a series of adventures this weekend. A simple camping pad from Wal-Mart became a roller-coaster ride and then transformed into the three pigs’ house. The big bad wolf came and “blew the house down” (over and over and over!) By spending a couple of hours following chasing her imagination we had some wonderful adventures.

Roller CoasterAs much of a stinker as she can sometimes be, my wife and I always look forward to spending time with our niece. Her delightful disposition and natural creativity, coupled with the simple playfulness that comes with her age makes our times together nearly continual playing and games.

Little Pig's HouseShe brought the camping pad out and asked me to roll her up in it. I did so, and then lifted the end of it, quickly unrolling her (roller coaster). She loves that! It works best if you keep their arms straight down to their sides. Eventually I got tired and we switched to building a house out of the pad. It is a simple matter to stand it up on end, wrap it around her as she sits down, and then cover her with a blanket. Then I get to play the part of the Big Bad Wolf who comes and Huffs, Puffs and Blows Her House DOWN!

Of course, the playing did not stop there. We migrated out to the garage, discovered a box large enough to play in and spent nearly an hour focused on the box. Later in the day we headed outside with the camera and took a number of photos. I am pretty sure that my niece is going to be a model, or a photographer. She absolutely loves being on either side of a camera, and is a natural. Pictures of her come out wonderfully, and she’s already better with a camera than I am.

It is very easy to come up with excuses to not play with my niece. “I’m too tired,” “I have a headache,” or “I have some work to finish.” No excuse is worth missing out on the irreplaceable time spent together. I don’t actually need a nap, rarely do I have more than a mild headache, and work can definitely wait.

Sometimes it is easier to avoid what you really want to do than to get started doing it. It takes a lot of energy for me to keep up with my niece, but it is always worth it. If you are blessed with time to spend with children, take full advantage of it. Time flies by, don’t let it slip through your fingers. Your adventures might be imaginary, and your guide might only be a couple feet tall, but the memories will last a lifetime.

The Packing Conondrum

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What do you get when you combine a budding ultra-light backpacker with a 4.5-month trip? A frantic series of repacking attempts. Over the last two weeks I have repacked my suitcase at least five times, and altered my packing list even more more.

My original goal was to take only luggage that could be taken as a carry-on. It’s not going to happen. I have ended up with a fairly small suitcase worth of stuff, spread out into a bit larger duffel bag (so that I have room to bring souvenirs back). In addition to my carry-on backpack, which will have my electronics, notebooks for school and entertainment for the flights.

Dividing my stuff into two bags offers a couple of different advantages. If my duffel bag gets lost, I can buy new clothes fairly easily. However, if my backpack is lost, I will lose a couple of electronics (laptop, GPSr, Palm and cell phone) that contain irreplaceable information. I do have backups of the information, but it will be a continent away, and thus inaccessible until I return. As my carry-on, my backpack will remain with me at all times, and thus will be easy to keep track of.

I was able to get down to a single suitcase fairly easily after realizing that I only wear a limited amount of clothes on a weekly basis anyway. In all reality, if I did laundry every night, I would only need two outfits. One to wear and one to wash. Since I won’t be doing laundry every night, I need to take enough clothes for a week (my normal laundry schedule). What a coincidence, I need a week’s worth of clothes and I normally wear the same clothes week to week. It’s perfect!

In order to get the most use of my wardrobe, I chose clothes that I can pair together in a number of different combinations. I can wear any of my t-shirts individually or as undershirts. My dress shirt can be layered under my sweater for warm dressiness, worn casually with jeans, or simply worn with my dress pants when needed. By packing clothes that can be layered I am actually able to pack less. My warm-weather clothes double as baselayers, so my meager suitcase-worth of clothes will function for any seasons that I might encounter while traveling.

Since I was able to limit myself to only the dufffel bag and backpack, I will have everything that I need, but will be compact enough to remain mobile. I should not have any problems carrying my luggage whether we travel by bus, plane or train. While the urges of the ultra-light backpacker have not been fully satisfied, an acceptable compromise has been reached. I should only have to re-pack another time or two before we leave. 😀

My First Blog!

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… and I’ll love it and I’ll hug it and I’ll squeeze it and I’ll feed it and I’ll water it forever and ever and ever… 😀

I have been browsing the internet since the mid 90’s. I have never had my own website during this time. For awhile now I have felt that it is past time I started a site of my own. I have contemplated a number of different topics, most of which were either already saturated or I was ill equipped to significantly contribute to. Finally it occurred to me that I could create a website dedicated to long held loves of mine: finding the adventures hidden within our everyday lives, excitement, wonderment & traveling.

I want my website to serve dual purposes. It can help you come up with ideas, improve your existing techniques, or guide you in the exploration of previously unknown areas. It will also help me to continue seeking out new adventures, encourage me to continue doing so, and push me to learn new skills.

I have spent far too much time gathering information. I read through vast amounts of information on www.ProBlogger.net, www.UpStartBlogger.com, and www.CopyBlogger.com. I have had the idea rolling around in my head for over a year now. Off and on I would browse through the archives of these blogs (and many others), reading and not feeling like I knew enough to begin. I finally decided to get off my duff and do something with the idea. I followed my own advice to quit planning and get to it! It took me about two days to put together the blog (which included about half a day of finding a theme that I liked), wrote some posts, outlined some future posts and generally got everything ready to go. I already had a host in mind so it didn’t take me long to get everything set up.

Here we go! I’m excited about this blog: I can’t wait to see how it affects others lives (and mine!)

The Adventure-Some New Year’s Resolution

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In my personal life, I plan to keep seeking out the adventure in my life. No resolution needed there, it’s something that I already do and will keep doing as long as I am able. (And when I am no longer able, please put me out of my misery!)

However, I do have a New Year’s Resolution for Adventure-Some. I want to help you find the adventure in your life. I want to point out opportunities for excitement, new things to try, locations to explore, activities to do, people to meet, new viewpoints for familiar items and more! Some will be specific, some will be broad and open to your interpretation, all will be parts of the map guiding you to a more exciting life.

Re-Defining Adventure

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According to good ole Webster, adventure can be a noun:

– an exciting or very unusual experience

or it can be a verb:

– to risk or hazard

That sounds pretty easy. Basically, an adventure is something that is exciting or new to you. That “to you” is the key phrase. Just because your friends do something routinely doesn’t mean that it is not an adventure for you who have never done it before.

This is the target. This is what we are aiming for.

“More adventure in your life today.”

Sound familiar? I don’t want us to forget that, so I was sure to include it on every page.

An adventure does not have to be a safari to Africa (although that can definitely count as an adventure!) You can have an adventure in your local park, or a restaurant you have never tried. Adventure-Some is here to help you see the daily adventures possible in your life. Together we will try new things, go new places, and see things in a different way.