When I quit my full-time nonprofit job in 2018 to spend 2 months living in a rental car with my best friend driving around the United States, people called it an adventure. In fact, when I went to dinner shortly before my departure with my former boss and dear friend, they told me, “I firmly believe choosing adventure is never the wrong choice.”
But what if adventure doesn’t look like that?
When I went skydiving on a whim in 2014, people called me adventurous. The general consensus was that it was daring and bold and somehow very dependent on my youthful vigor.
But what if that’s not what adventurous means?
In recent years, I’ve been absent-mindedly studying how adventure shows up in our lives, both in monumental moments and in daily routines.
Adventure can certainly look like quitting your stable job for a wild travel opportunity. But it can also look like falling in love. Or starting a business. Or buying a house. Or adopting a child.
Adventurous can certainly be a bold act like jumping out of a plane. But it can also look like taking a different route home from work. Or ordering something different at your favorite restaurant. Or choosing a movie from a different genre than usual. Or changing the direction of your pillow in your bed.
Before you tell yourself you aren’t adventurous, consider how you’re defining the word.
There is no one right way to experience adventure. And chances are it will mold and shift many times throughout your life. So whatever adventure you are in now, embrace it. After all, it’s no one’s journey but yours.
Love always,
Liz
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