Why Is Adventure Good For The Soul?

I know I might be preaching to the converted here, but maybe there is someone in your life who would benefit from an adventure, or maybe it’s been a while since your last adventure and you’ve forgotten that deep joy and life changing experience that adventure can bring? Or maybe you’ve been tempted, but haven’t made that first step out there into the adventurous unknown, and don’t know where start. 

Let’s be clear, adventures don’t need to be big, but they do need to happen. 

They don’t need to be multimillion pound excursions to the deep abyss, but just breaking out of the everyday routine is a massive step in the right direction. 

Adventure benefits us all on many levels. There is the obvious physical benefits of being more active, with the added bonus of better sleep. But it’s more than that.

Adventure bursts the bubble of the everyday routine. It allows us to be more than the person that sits behind the desk, more than the person who wears that uniform, more than the person who attends meetings – adventure allows us to be the person who climbed that mountain, canoed that river, hiked that trail or who lit that fire from scratch. Adventure allows us to be more, but not more in the materialistic sense. It allows us to be more content, more confident, more grounded, more well rounded – because we’ve expanded our horizons out into the real world, the natural world. 

Adventure also brings us back to the here and now. When you are concentrating on your next foot placement, your next hand hold, your next paddle stroke or looking for the perfect wild camping spot, you are right there in the moment. You are in the here and now – not clock watching, not making endless phone calls, not rushing to the next meeting or school pick up – you are in the moment, in nature, on your adventure. 

It’s good to leave it all behind for a while, even if your everyday life is a good one, a change is as good as a rest. And when the change is immersing yourself in nature and heading out on an adventure then you are pushing your boundaries and growing as a person. Adventure gives the opportunity to test your abilities, to push you out of your comfort zone, often making you braver and more confident in yourself – something many of us can benefit from.

Adventure benefits us all at all ages. When we are younger adventure can help us to grow mentally as we grow physically. It can show us what we are capable of, help us to grow in confidence and help us to find independence. Engaging in adventure when we are younger also helps us to connect with the natural world around us, something that will benefit us throughout our lives. And it’s important that we all connect with nature – because if we don’t all learn to love it, we won’t be as inclined to protect it. 

Adventure also offers an opportunity to meet new people, often helping you to find like minded people – helping you to find your tribe. Throughout all stages of our lives it is good to connect with new people, but in a more tech driven world, that to many has become more isolating, finding like minded people while you are doing something you love is an extra bonus. Isolation and loneliness is something that can effect us all at any stage of our lives, so heading out on adventures and meeting adventure buddies is not just a cool bonus to adventures, but can be life changing to many people. 

As we move through adulthood adventure always has a place. It helps us to maintain balance and equilibrium as we navigate different chapters of life, juggling new demands and challenges. Adventure can be pure escapism from the stresses of modern life, juggling family commitments around a busy work schedule. It gives the opportunity to press pause, to reset and recharge. It will make you a better person in your normal everyday life – more well rounded, grounded and confident. 

And as we hit our older years adventure keeps us active, helps to maintain our energy and enthusiasm for life as well as helping maintain a good connection with the world around us. Adventure gives us an opportunity to expand our horizons, literally, and to keep on learning. Many of our older clients say that age is just a number, and if you are physically able, then adventure should remain in your life through out your retirement years too. Help to squeeze every bit out of life by filling it with adventure. And though you might need to slow it down, change your approach and make things a bit more comfortable, it’s always good to keep adventure in your life. 

So what are you waiting for? It doesn’t have to be a big adventure, but it does have to happen. So make some plans, pack some kit and get those boots on. Enjoy!