adventure time (simple ways to have more adventure every day)

Simple ways to be more adventurous in your everyday life:

– take a different route to and/or from work, school, the store, etc. Give yourself lots of time to explore side streets, make wrong turns, and generally get lost without getting stressed about it. Remember, you can always use your phone to find your way back (or not- when was the last time you looked at a local map? That might be an adventure in itself.)

– pick a new favorite color. Get obsessive about it. Look for it all over the place. Add it into your life where you can.

– take a class. In person, if you can. Online also works. Pick a topic that’s *not* in your normal range of hobbies or career, but something you’ve been interested in for a long time.

– rearrange the furniture in one of the rooms of your home/apartment or switch around your cubicle at work.

– dance. Blast a song you loved when you were a teenager, shut the door, close the blinds, and go nuts. Let your 16 year old self come out to play for a while.

– volunteer to be a dog walker (or kitten wrangler) at the local shelter.

– finger paint. With your eyes closed.

– write a letter, by hand, to an old friend, teacher, long lost cousin, etc. Mail it. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope so they are likely to write back.

– if you don’t have a long-lost to write a letter to, join postcrossing.com

– learn two things about the person in front/behind next time you’re waiting in a line. You don’t have to say a word if you are shy, just be really observant.

– google your neighbors, (not to be nosy, but to learn more about them.)

– drink something COMPLETELY different for a week. Swap out your giant black coffee for an exotic (caffeinated) tea. Switch from diet soda to fruity water. Make some good old fashioned lemonade, with real lemons and sugar.

– plant a seed and commit yourself to seeing the plant through its lifespan.

– say NO to something you don’t want to do, and YES to something you REALLY want to do but wouldn’t have the time for if you didn’t say the “no”.

– plan an indulgent dream vacation to a faraway land without actually going anywhere. Give yourself time to look up lodgings, attractions, routes, flights, etc. You may not be able to click the “purchase” button, but in the process you will learn what’s involved in getting there. And that information will create new connections in your brain that may just lead you there.

– have dessert before dinner.

– read a thrilling book out of your normal genre (a good one: “The Martian” by Andy Weir, or how about a Stephen King book?)

– camp out in your backyard, or at least spend a good portion of one night out there, exploring.

– buy an exotic cookbook (or check one out of the library) and commit to making at least 15 recipes from it in the next month.

– set your alarm clock for 2am and go outside and stargaze. Spend so much time out there that you get dizzy and a little bit overwhelmed (in a good way) at how big the universe is.

– buy a box of crayons throw them in a shoebox, close your eyes, pick one, and draw like a kid. Draw houses and people and flowers and clouds and sunshine- just like your 6 year old self would. Proudly hang the masterpieces on your refrigerator.

– buy a CD from an artist you’ve heard a lot about of but never actually heard and commit to REALLY listening to it for a while before you make a judgement on it.

– switch up your routines *just* enough to make you have to pay attention to your daily life a little bit more.

– find a classic adventure-based movie from at least 50 years ago and let yourself be swept up in it as you watch it.

– stand up for something that you believe in, even if it scares you.

– be a tourist in your own city. Pick five local attractions and visit them all. Take tons of photos and pick up some postcards to send to friends while you are there.

Any suggestions to add to this list? I’d love to hear them- just leave me a comment below.