I follow Alastair Humphrey’s blog and he is setting out on a trip across Spain with no money. No cash. No credit cards. Just a violin.
Everyday he will busk in town for his money and depend upon the kindness of strangers for a place to stay. But he just began to learn to play a violin a few weeks before he left.
And then there’s Dave Cornthwaite who has been taking on 1000-mile journeys that usually take one to three months. He has a goal of completing twenty-five different human-powered, 1000-mile journeys. And he has already completed seventeen.
I love those adventures, but they are not for me. There are things you have to give up to go on adventures that long. And those things I would have to give up are things I like. Like being with my family. And maintaining my friendships. And keeping my day job.
It's like the poem, The Double Life by Don Blanding, about the two battling desires, for adventure and for home. Those two battle within me constantly.
I have a family that I have to be with. They draw me back out into humanity when I get too deep into writing and work. And they force me not to become a total hermit.
They can handle me leaving for about eight days max. I can only handle being away from them for about the same amount of time.
I like to sit at home and do nothing. I love to sleep in my own bed. We recently bought a real top of the line bed, first real adult purchase for our home that we have ever made. And I miss it when I travel.
Ultimately you have to decide what your ideal level of adventure is, and then strive to get there. For me, it would be three trips a year, each for eight to ten days each in different locales. I am averaging one to two a year now, but am working hard to make that perfect number a reality.
Your adventure level may not be 1000-mile adventures. It may not even be 100-mile adventures. It may just be an overnight trip once every few years. Or training for a 5k.
Or even working towards doing something that you have always been afraid of like walking to the end of a pier or singing in public.
But whatever your level of adventure, we all need to push ourselves a little to bring more of it into our lives.
So what is your ideal level of adventure?
Leave it in the comments below. Or on my Facebook or Instagram pages or tweet me @erinspineto.