When I hear "adventure" my heart rate rises a couple of beats, the thought of going beyond, going places you’ve never been, or going where you have been but in an unusual way. There is something about adventure that screams unexpected.
What comes to mind is that adventure can look like taking my bike and exploring without a plan, route or set time I’ll be out for, just riding a massive loop I’ve never done before. It can be heading out to hike a peak that’s been staring at you from your stoep over the past few years and left you wondering what the view must be like from up there. My favorite adventures though, are when you had a plan, but that plan falls apart and you find yourself in a situation stripped of control, leaving you with your instincts and curiosity to lead you home.
I’m thinking back to Day 2 of our bikepacking trip through Albania. We were following a route that was indicated as a “secondary highway” on Komoot, but when we got there, we quickly realized that the only vehicles using this road were livestock and locals on scooters. We pushed on as the road got more washed out and impossible to ride. It was completely overcast and started raining, we had no idea how long this stretch would continue for, and the next town was 40km away, that’s a long walk. I always remember Norwegian saying in these moments: “Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlig klær!” which translates to “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing!”. It took us about 6h to cover the 40km stretch until we reached the town of Ballsh. As we rolled through what seemed like a deserted town a man called out and invited us into his restaurant. We were served a spread of lamb stew, a variety of local delicacies and invited to overnight there in the family home. The unknown, the unusual, if we had turned around when the road became unexpected, we would never have seen this beautiful part of Albania or met this family.
This is adventure to me!
I love adventure so much that I tend to purposefully seek it out, knowing I can only control a few things. Like the Norwegian saying goes though, choosing what you equip yourself with can be the difference between going through an adventure or the adventure going south. Are you prepared? Are you able to stash enough food and water when out alone in 40+ degrees? If the storm hits, are you be able to stay dry and warm enough to protect yourself from hypothermia?
Adventure doesn’t have to be extreme, it is merely “an unusual, exciting or daring experience”. Adventure can be found around every corner, usually when you don’t expect it. My few words of advice are to be well equipped to seize the moment when the opportunity arises.
Happy exploring,
The Freyers.
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