Defining "Adventure"

How do you define adventure?

That thing everyone likes to talk and dream about.

That idea subtly painting the backdrop of every TV commercial.

We see it all the time. Adventure is just out there waiting for you, right? That’s the reason gear and brands once reserved for technical backcountry needs now hang on front racks of popular department stores. That’s the reason the minivan commercial ends with the family scrambling up the mountain. The boom that has brought so much attention to the outdoor industry has been great in many ways, but it also reasonably waters down much of the experience.

And I would argue, it domesticates our views on outdoor adventure.

It’s hard for me to keep in mind that just a mere 100 years ago, explorers were still out there trying to chart unknown places on the world map. That Everest was unclimbed. The Appalachian Trail was not even established. For years, I have been enamored with the explorers and adventurists that sought out these unknowns. Even when I was young, a child growing up wanting to be Indiana Jones, I dreamt of far off places and adventurous pursuits. Then as an adult, I started trying to figure out how to appease those desires.

So often this search brought me back to the question: how do you define adventure?

A couple of points…

There’s a big difference in outdoor recreation and outdoor adventure. A lot of the activities that have become so popular, and have aided in the outdoor industry boom, are recreation at their best. And the world is a better place because of it.

But that’s not adventure, a word precisely described as an “unusual or exciting event or activity, usually hazardous.”

Not every person is going to go buy a wing-suit or try a first ascent a wild rapid in the Borneo jungle, obviously. But in our culture, we have perfected the art of taking the risk out of the outdoors. We have the campers, the cable cars taking visitors to the top of the mountain, the guide that makes sure we are never in danger. Yes, these are the things that brought the recreation to the masses.

But adventure involves some risk. And a little unknown. I heard one prominent outdoor icon say that adventure only really starts once something goes wrong. You can be prepared and still be ready to go off-course. Some of the best outdoor experiences I have ever had involved getting lost, flipping the boat or enduring extreme weather.

Outdoor recreation has definitely helped me grow physically but it was the adventure that changed me. So much of the greatest parts of the wild lie just beyond the belt of comfort we are taught to stay within.

You want to see what adventure in the outdoor is like? Leave the trail. Go out in the weather. Do something new or something that scares you a little. Stay out an extra night.

Go higher.

Go farther.

It’s worth it.

-JW