This is the third post in the 10 Cheap Adventures That Anyone Can Have series.

I’ve been attending the University of Kentucky for 3 years now, and I am still finding places and things that I didn’t know existed!

Take some time and head to your local campus. You’ll have to park your car and get out on foot (the best stuff is generally found on foot). Take a stroll around the grounds. When you see something interesting, or just new, go and check it out. Is there a building that you’ve never been in? Go inside, explore, see what it has to offer.

We have 13 libraries on campus, each different from the others. One of them has a stairway that ends in a wall. Another has a display case of mandolins made by a famous artist. A third has creaky wooden floors, wooden tables and chairs that have been there for nearly 100 years! Without taking a few minutes to explore, I would have never found any of these interesting places or things.

Don’t Forget to Look Out the Windows

Exploring parts of buildings that I never go to otherwise (like the upper 3 floors that are just used for storage) provided me with a unique view of the campus. I had a nice view down into the garden that I like to stroll through. I could see past the nursing building, where my walks normally end. The empty stairwell and dusty rooms of boxes were quite boring, but those views keep drawing me back.

Talk to the People

The mandolins in one of the libraries? I walked past them on a daily basis until I took a guided tour of that library. Now I know who made them and why they are so carefully displayed. Without talking to someone knowledgeable, I would have never learned. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, or for directions. You’ll never know what you might be missing out on if you don’t.

Read the Plaques

Why is there a roped-off tree stump in the middle of campus? What is the point of the 20′ section of rail-road? Is there something interesting about the collection of rusted quills in that case? I’ve learned the answers to these questions about places on UK’s campus, through reading the plaques and informational cards provided. Without them, I would have overlooked these interesting items, never knowing what I was walking past on a daily basis.

Go Exploring!

For the cost of parking, who knows what you might find. A cool little coffee shop, an interesting garden, a piece of history, a unique view, or a fabulous photo opportunity. Maybe you won’t find anything more than a quiet place to sit and enjoy a break. No matter what it is, I’m sure that you will find something to make your trip worth-while.

So go, explore your local campus!

This is the second post in the 10 Cheap Adventures That Anyone Can Have series.

Even if I weren’t a bibliophile, I would still love going to the library. They have so much more than books: movies, music, classes, computers, artwork, and more! So many resources that we’re already paying, so we might as well get our money’s worth.

Things to do at the library:

1. Books – Not surprisingly, you can find books on almost any subject at the library. Just looking for something to read? They’ve got it. Have a project that you want to work on? They have resources that will tell you how. Planning a trip? There are plenty of travel guides available. Need schoolbooks? They might not have all of them, but I’ve saved a good chunk of money by checking out necessary books, reading, and returning them.

   Even if they don’t have the book you’re looking for, they can probably get it via InterLibrary Loan. Put in your request, they’ll find a library within their network that has it, and it will be shipped to you.

   Want to buy books? You can do that too! Every library I’ve been in held book sales every so often. I’ve often seen prices of $0.10-0.15 for paperbacks and $0.25 for hardbacks. With prices like those, you just can’t go wrong!

2. Movies – You can check out movies just like books, though for shorter periods of time. Peruse their selection, check it out on your library card, and enjoy! Often they’re free, but some libraries are charging $1 or so for the newer releases.
3. Music – Just like movies and books, you can often check out CDs. It’s a perfect opportunity to try out an artist that you have never heard before, or to try an album without having to purchase it without knowing if you’ll like it.
4. Classes – Not only does our library offer computer classes, but they also have information sessions on a variety of subjects: taxes, saving money, resume services, beginning foreign language classes, and many other topics.
5. Computers – Most libraries have at least a couple of computers that you can use. They’re great for those times when yours isn’t working, you need to look something up and you’re not at home, you’re trying to save money and cancelled your internet access, or you just need to work on something in quiet. If you have a laptop, most libraries now have wireless access as well.
6. Artwork – Some libraries have galleries in them where you can see changing art, often from local artists. Even if the art does not change, make sure that you consciously look at what they have. It’s easy to overlook that statue in the corner, but you might be surprised who made it, or what it is depicting!
7. More – If the above items aren’t enough, you can also find reading clubs, craft organizations, children’s classes, reading times, board game nights, and more!

Your library have a lot to offer. If you have more than one branch, check them all out, because they will have different things to offer. While you’re there, be sure to strike up conversations with the librarians. Not only are they extremely helpful, but you never know where you might make a new friend!

Go check out your library!

This is the first post in the series of 10 Cheap Adventures That Anyone Can Have. I know I’ve talked about geocaching before, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth mentioning again:

According to www.Geocaching.com:

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

As of my writing this, there are 1,081,885 active geocaches in the world. Certainly with that many, there are some of these treasures near you.

Getting Started

This is one of the adventures that does cost a little bit of money, unless you already have a GPS receiver. You can use a good map, but a GPSr will be so much easier.

Once you have a GPSr, you just have to go to www.geocaching.com and register for a free account, search for caches in your area, load them into your GPSr, and go ‘caching!

Alone or With Friends

I started geocaching with my wife (then girlfriend) after receiving a GPSr for Christmas. The more caches we found, the more interested we became. It wasn’t long until we became curious about the names we were reading: Geo.Joe, B&TLand, theMusician, thePhotographer. We met with B&TLand and quickly discovered that we had new friends. They pointed us to a local group, the River Valley GeoCachers where we met others who shared our interests and with whom we enjoyed a number of outings.

The real treasure of this hobby is not the history that you will learn, the places that you will visit, or even the caches that you will find. It is the people that you will get to meet, and learn to call friends.

So get out there, and seek your treasure!

It’s common to overlook some of the easy-to-have adventures that are readily available to us. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to highlight a few of them. Some will require a little bit of money, though most are free.

1. Geocaching
2. Explore Your Library
3. Check Out University Campus
4. Discover Downtown
5. Search Out Local Art Galleries
6. Have a Picnic in the Park
7. Go Disc Golfing
8. Take a Hike
9. See What Your Nearby National Forest/State Park Offers
10. Go Camping

Starting Monday, I will expand on each of these cheap adventures in a separate post. You might want to bookmark this post, as I will link to each post from this one.

Would you like to be featured on Adventure-Some? Now’s your chance!

I want to write about more daily adventurers. Do you do something on a regular basis that people seem to be amazed by? Are you undertaking (or getting ready to) some grand adventure? I want to help you share what you do, in order to inspire others.

Perhaps you don’t feel particularly adventurous yourself, but you know someone else who fits that description. Let me know about them, and I’ll see about featuring them.

Ideally, I would like to make this a regular feature here on the blog. Once a month, once a week, feature a fellow adventurer. So I’m hoping for a good response to this post!

Shoot me an email and let me know what kind of daily adventure you have in your life. If you are chosen, we’ll conduct an interview and you will have your own post here on Adventure-Some!

Yesterday on the radio, the hosts gave the advice to try and “overwhelm someone with kindness.” This got me thinking, how would I even do such a thing? One listener called in and gave an example, as it happened to her.

My boss asked if I had been able to get my flat tire plugged yet. When he found out that I hadn’t, I had to wait until my paycheck later in the week, he took my car to the tire service on his lunch break. When I came out after work, I discovered that I had four new tires!

What an amazing story! I find that it is far harder to remember to look for opportunities to help someone than it is to actually do it.

While in Texas over Christmas break, my wife and I were in the store. We ended up in line behind a woman with a full cart, while we waited to purchase our single item. As she was finishing, the woman noticed that we had only one thing and said that we should have gone on ahead of her. We didn’t mind, and she had already begun loading the conveyor before we got in line. To make up for it, she insisted on paying for our purchase, adding it to her order. Despite our protests, she payed.

That small item cost her an extra $3 and 10 seconds, but it made us happy for two days as we recounted the story. I’m smiling as I type this, remembering it.

It’s easy to make someone’s day, especially in today’s society. You don’t even have to go out of your way, simply look for the opportunities that are already around you. How can you overwhelm someone today?