}

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A is for Adventure

I’ve always loved change—thrived on it, even. Sure bad change, like an accident or illness can be, well, bad, but change that involves moving forward is for me always a good thing. I’ve always thought of life itself as an adventure, and have thought the same about some specific things I may have been doing.

But, are they really adventures?

Adventure is usually properly defined as some bold, exciting, unusual and probably risky activity. Life in general may fit that definition sometimes, but day-to-day life probably seldom does. And yet, some of life’s most seemingly mundane tasks can, in my opinion, still be part of a larger adventure.

For a couple years, we lived in Paeroa, a small faming service town in the Waikato. We bought an older house and did it up. The whole experience was, for us, an adventure as we lived in small-town New Zealand and took on building/renovation projects that neither of us had ever done before.

I think most of us have those kinds of adventures. We’re all probably more Huckleberry Finn than Odysseus (probably with a bit of Bill and Ted [watch the trailer] thrown in), which also goes to show that our adventures, even when not the stuff of epics, can still be interesting.

Some of us have adventures when we travel, and if you’re talking about adventure tourism, there’s probably no better place than New Zealand, a country bounding with all sorts of activities. For me, of course, moving to New Zealand was the start of an adventure, so there’s really no need for me to engage in specific activities.

And that’s kind of my point: Adventure is where we find it. Even if we don’t choose to take ten years to sail around trying to get home, what we do can still be an adventure if that’s how we look at it—and I think we should. I love the adventure in change.

What do you consider to be an adventure?


Footnote: I’ve never done an ABC Wednesday blog post before, but thought I’d try it because the discipline involved in participation kind of intrigues me. Still, I thought I’d better keep it simple for the first post, to kind of ease in slowly. We’ll see how it goes. Be sure to check out this week’s posts on other blogs.

The public domain illustration at the top of this post depicts Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" from Stand Magazine (1892).

9 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

Welcome to ABC Wednesday!

I now understand your previous question better. I usually post Tuesday, but will bump it back a day if I have a conflict - well, I had 3 so posted Sat. Still, you've figured out all the rules - specific reference to the theme, logo and or link, and, most important, something people have difficulty with, the link to the specific post in the linky thing: http://amerinz.blogspot.com/2012/01/is-for-adventure.html rather than http://amerinz.blogspot.com/ in this case.

Oh, if you get a chance, try to visit 3 to 10 other blogs. No one (except maybe me) visits all of them. There are at least 2 Kiwis; Ann is one, and I forget the other (it's early here).

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Roger Owen Green said...

As to your specific point, yes, adventure is definitely where you find it. I'd argue that sharing stories online is an adventure, too!

Arthur Schenck said...

Thanks Rog, yeah it was all pretty easy to figure out. I took another page from your book (instruction manual?) and actually researched and wrote this post a few days ago (though, of course, I couldn't resist tweaking it even as I was posting it).

I also modified the logo slightly (there was a HUGE amount of extra space at the bottom, which bumped the text below too far down). Then, I linked the badge back to the ABC Wednesday mainpage so anyone who clicks on the badge will go there.

I've checked out easily a half dozen other posts so far, and will no doubt check out more. I also left one comment so far—that's in the guidelines somewhere, too, isn't it?

AND, I know what I'm doing for B!

Roger Owen Green said...

Yes, I couldn't get rid of the white space, but someone else did, so, you'll notice, that the logo no longer has the white space below it.

J.Rylie.C said...

My most adventourous journey so far was when we climbed the Mt. Jiri in South Korea, I was only four years old then but I hiked quite a bit.

Angel's Marching, hope you can come by, thanks!

PS. I am now your blog's follower.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Adventure for me involves obstacles and challenges, I love those kind of tasks. Very nice to start your ABC. Now a follower of your blog.

Arthur Schenck said...

Ms. Burito My earliest advanture was when I was around 2 and my parents took me to Atlantic City. Naturally, I don't remember anything about it!

chubskulit Yeah, I think a challenge is necessary, too.

And to both of you, thanks for stopping by—I'm following back.

mrsnesbitt said...

Hi Arthur - Welcome Aboard ABC Wednesday Mayhem! Adventures? Hmmmm well when we travel to France on our motorbike it is indeed an adventure. Basically we travel via the ferry from here in UK over the North Sea to Ijmuiden, Netherlands then point the motorbike in the France direction and take off! After about 300 - 400 miles we stop, find accomodation and stay the night - then head off the following day. We have had some moments I can tell you.
Strangely enough - though obviously a clear indication that great minds work alike - I too have chosen Adventure for my A on Round 10 - but of a sewing nature, a tad undramatic you may be thinking - but then you haven't seen me in action! lol!
Great to have you aboard - I can see we are in for some fun.
Denise
ABC Team

Mel_Cole said...

and i love adventures! ;) My "A" for ABC Wednesday.