365 True Things: 347/Adventure

Last May, I was yearning for an adventure. Today, I am again.

Last May, I didn't know exactly what I meant by that. Today, I'm little wiser.

But I do know that I don't want to just sit at home and read. Even if that's a lot of what I've been doing lately. It's been fun. But . . . it's time to get back out into the world.

David has signed up to go with his chorus to Spain and Portugal in June, and for a brief instant I flirted with the idea of going over before him, visiting Lisbon, and then meeting him in Barcelona. But our money is a bit tight now, plus: what would we do with the cats?

So now I'm thinking: October! And maybe add Rome in and make it a trio of southern European cities.

Or something. Some overseas adventure—perhaps not on my own but with a group—sounds pretty good right about now. 

(For a short while I considered going to Israel this spring, but the stabbings lately have made me think otherwise, at least as a solo trip. I found a Sierra Club tour that looks right up my alley, combining nature and culture, but it happens to be in April when I'll be in Colorado. Maybe next year, however?)

Another "adventurous" thing I've been talking about is getting my motorcycle running. And then getting comfortable riding it. (I'm sure I've written about the darn motorcycle, but I'm not finding it in past posts.) In fact, that's something I should just put on my list for this month.

I guess for me, in a way, "adventure" = movement. Seeing the world, getting out on roads and trails and into the backcountry, or going deep into urban culture. Getting lost and finding my way home. The movement doesn't have to be risky, but it has to be at least somewhat on my own terms.

Perhaps what I mean by adventure is an activity that puts me in touch with myself—with my competencies, my interests, my strengths . . . but also, to an extent, with my weaknesses and fears, so that I can, if not banish them, at least keep them under control, and not let them control me.

After posting this, a friend pointed out a lovely little essay to me, "A Word in Favor of Rootlessness" by Oregonian John Daniel. I link it here as a reminder of the importance of continued movement.