Don’t you just love the idea of adventure? The word itself makes everything seem more exciting! “Let’s take an adventure to the grocery store!” Or “Work was such an adventure today.” Just sticking that word into a sentence makes everything surrounding it more exciting. Does that mean we all need a little more adventure in our lives? I would guess yes, I know I need more adventure in my life.
What is adventure?
When I sat down to really think about this word, the first thing that came to mind was traveling. Taking off and seeing new lands and experiencing different cultures is most people’s idea of adventuring. I think we can probably thank Steven Spielberg and Indiana Jones for that. However, jet-setting around the world multiple times a year is not really practical for most people. I sat down and really considered my personal surroundings and what I could do with my family that I would consider an adventure, no matter how small.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” -Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
I think a lot of people have a long list of places they would like to travel to and experience, but sometimes when looking around your own backyard you can experience some pretty fantastic things that you didn’t even know were there. I’m fortunate to live in a state that is ripe with gorgeous hiking trails, spectacular rock formations and some pretty sweet festivals that I can check out during the majority of the calendar year. I’ve been wanting to explore them with my family, but various things keep coming up that have given me excuses to skip out on some great opportunities. Even though I have some non-local goals to get to, I do have several that are right here in my own state that I’d like to check off my list.
Adventure Goals
-Visit Carlsbad Caverns– I would prefer to do this when hundreds of bats fly out of the cavern at night to snack on some insects. This event apparently happens each night between April and October, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to swing it this year, but it is definitely on my list.
-Go to Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary– This is exactly what it sounds like, a sanctuary for wolves in the middle of New Mexico. The cool thing about this place (aside from the wolves) is that George R.R. Martin is a large donor and there is a pack named after the characters in Game of Thrones. I know! How cool is that? This one has been on my list to go to for years, but it’s about 2.5 hours away so that takes a bit more planning.
-Hike once a month on a local trail- I’m so blessed to be surrounded by beautiful trails that go right into the Sandia Foothills and I have just not taken advantage of it. Nature is such an amazing thing and having easy access means that I really have zero excuse to not get my rear end outside and go for a short walk up a new trial with my kids.
-Visit 15 National Parks- A lifetime goal which will definitely take some time to complete. I’m going to say that I’m not allowed to count any previous parks I have visited either, because that kind of feels like cheating. There are several here in my state that I can visit and so many more that I want to hike through and experience. It’s here on my list and I have to follow through!
-Go on an all-inclusive adventure- There are several companies out there who have all inclusive adventuring vacations where you can hike, kayak, cycle and raft with guides who will plan everything out for you and give you an amazing experience. One of my weak points is planning vacations so having someone do the work and tell me where to go and when to get there sounds pretty amazing. As I research these and plan this out, I’ll let you guys know what I find.
-Ride in a hot air balloon- This one I would like to do with my mom someday because she has always wanted to do this. Plus, since living in New Mexico I have become fond of hot air balloons myself. If you didn’t know, my current hometown hosts the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta every year and hundreds of balloons come from every corner of the Earth to fly in this two week event. Even if you aren’t into ballooning, the sight of seeing 500 balloons in the air at once is pretty flipping cool.
That’s six goals in this particular category which isn’t too shabby. This one might be tougher to knock out quickly, but that’s okay, planning and dreaming is part of the journey too. I need to keep reminding myself of that. I’m expecting to knock several of these off the list by this time next year and will have made a decent dent in at least a few. Traveling is fun, but it’s a lot of work and when you are the only one looking forward to it, it seems more of a burden at times. No worries though, I’m pretty persuasive when I’m going after what I really want! Lucky for me, I have a pretty awesome spouse who is willing to buck up and give into my flights of fancy.
Now I’d like to know what some of your ideas of adventure are- do you have a list of places you want to visit, new food you want to try or even some extreme sports you’d like to do? I’d love to hear from you in the comments or via email. Be sure to check out my previous posts to see other goals I’m going after!