How to Become an Everyday Adventurer

You read through this account of Jens’s infinite free time, and now you want the same? Or better?

What I found most important in becoming the type of adventurer I’m depicting in this book is mindset. You have to work on that first. The moment you hear about something new, you must stay open, you cannot discard it immediately. What you’ll discover then, if you work on this, is that you pick up far more new things than you think would be possible. You notice how a colleague says he tried water skiing during his vacation. You take note that you’ve never been in a submarine. And you find that knowing how to identify wild geese actually has a ring to it.

The second most important thing is organization. Of course, you may have an excellent memory. But chances are, especially if you’re just about to begin to become a bit more adventurous, you need some assistance. And that assistance is simple to get. Take a piece of paper and write down what you want to do, and mark what you did. (What I’m doing is a bit more green, in that I’m working with an online Google Docs document.) Writing activities and topics down will be both motivating and surprising. It will motivate you because you see all these things that you can do, and all these things you have done, and you’ll love it. And it will be surprising because you, say, start with 10 items, and then you do 10, but you see that you have another 14 left. Yes. That’s what happened to me: At the time of this writing, I have done 167 different things—but have another 72 waiting for me.

Now, how should you go about all of this? I’ve already mentioned one way: listen. But here’s a list of ideas to get you started.

(International readers, many of these sites should be available for your country and language, too. Also, have an eye out for local alternatives!)

A note for people on a budget: You realized that becoming an adventurer doesn’t necessarily mean jumping from burning planes into volcanoes on tiny islands you yourself have just discovered. So you noticed when going through this book that there are plenty of low budget options. Take note please of the options above, because especially the deal sites are an excellent way of finding low-cost options to do something new and fun.

Ultimately, it’s all about your mindset. If you’re closed off, your life will be closed off. If you’re open, you’re life will be more adventurous. And you’ll be surprised how much more open you can be.

Thanks for reading.

(And for sharing! Let’s be in touch and share what we’re learning in future adventures using the hashtag #onethingilearned. I’m @j9t on Twitter, though usually just listening.)

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