How to Explore More!

There are an endless amount of excuses for not getting out and exploring more while having a busy work life. These days most jobs don't just finish at 5 PM when you leave the office, and days off occasionally can be anything but that, especially if you have family commitments or a social life to keep up with. But since the start of this summer I have made it my goal to get out, explore more and enjoy a little bit of adventure at least once per month.

Time, money, and loved ones are the top-three things that hold us as individuals back from going on adventures we truly want to experience. For me, I rarely ever get two days off together, so to combat that lack of time I've worked a way of planning camping trips in the beautiful English Lake District, by finishing work at 5:30 PM, getting a 45 minute train to the lakes and then climbing a mountain at night, and setting up camp before a full day off of exploring the area. And it doesn't even have to be a mountain, last Saturday I simply found a relatively low lying field free of cattle and made a poncho shelter beneath a tree to shelter me from the torrential English summer rain! I woke up the next day, dry and ready to have a full day of exploring. The only money I spend on these trips is my train fare. I take food and drink with me (even a beer to celebrate getting to my sleeping destination on the night) and because I found doing this so mentally cleansing I simply asked my partner to sacrifice a day off with me so that I could have these little trips away which in turn make me happier at home.

Obviously I'm not saying that everyone needs to go camping on their next day off but what I am saying is that there is nothing stopping you from rejuvenating your life if you're currently feeling a bit bored, unfulfilled or lost. Find a passion, flirt with ideas of the person you want to be because once upon a time Bear Grylls had never drank his own urine to survive, David Beckham had never taken a free kick and the current cheese rolling champion only ever used to enjoy his cheese on crackers!

Come up with a list of things you want to try. My list consists of rock climbing, kayaking, yoga and reading a book per week at the moment. Come up with your list, what you want to try and see how that first experience goes but even if it doesn't go very well try it at least three times. Flirt with these passions like you would your Tinder matches, you're not going to go on a date with Mad Mike who loves the gym and protein shakes, and ask him to marry you straight away, so I don't expect you to go sleep in the woods for a month and spend thousands of pounds on the lightest equipment out there while you're at it. It'll take time, but identify who you want to be, what adventures you want to have and make time. No excuses!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and if I can recommend one thing to get that adventure out of you it is a book, Microadventures by a guy called Alistair Humphreys. This book inspired me to leave what was a dream life, living in a van in Australia to come home and get adventure back in to my life while holding down a 'regular job.'