A World Travelers’ Guide: How to Have a Local Adventure

It’s not uncommon to dream of backpacking through Europe, traveling through Asia or to journey across Africa. “One day, I will do it,” we tell ourselves. But right now, there isn’t the time, the money or the resources. So what if you didn’t need such things? What if proper adventures were possible right here, right now in Naperville?

Alastair Humphrey, British author and motivational speaker, has dedicated more than four years to bicycling around the world, traveling anywhere from the plains of Africa, to the streets of Paris, to the glaciers in Alaska. In 2012 he won National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year award for his attempt to expand adventure into everyday lives through his concept of “microadventures.”

“I’ve been doing these big adventures for a while,” Humphrey said in a Skype interview with CT. “It seemed to me that people wanted to do adventure in their life but often thought that they couldn’t, because they were ‘normal people’, not adventurous, and that seemed rather silly to me. So I wanted to find a way to bring down these barriers that stopped people from going on adventures.”

Humphrey’s new book,  “Microadventures,” focuses on local adventures that can be easily accomplished under everyday circumstances. In Humphrey’s own terms, a microadventure is a local adventure for a great escape. It can be anything from a long walk down an unfamiliar path, jumping on a train and biking home, or swimming through a river. The beauty, according to Humphrey, is how easy the feeling of adventure is achieved through simply trying something new.

“It’s more the attitude of trying to do things you’ve never done, things that are a little bit difficult, a little bit different, and do them with curiosity and imagination,” Humphrey said. “I want adventure to be broader than just literally going out and sleeping on a hill.”

According to Humphrey, microadventures are for anyone, regardless of how much time, money, or experience you have, or even what age you are. Succeeding in a microadventure takes very little, but will do great things for your confidence, which is not uncommon for adolescence to be struggling with.

“There’s a cycle that spirals; once you start to do one thing well, doing the next thing well is far easier,” Humphrey said. “I think for teenagers to go and do something outdoors is really a great thing for self confidence.”

Social media has played a rather large role in expanding microadventures, through #microadventure. Humphrey himself created this hashtag hoping to bring attention to the idea of microadventures and create motivation amongst viewers.

“‘Normal people’, people who are not adventurers, can look at other ‘normal people’ who are sleeping on hills, going on bike rides, doing cool stuff, and hopefully that will make them realize that it’s stuff ‘normal people’ can do it too, not just so-called professional adventurers,” Humphrey said. “I think the more likely you are seeing other people doing it, the more likely you are to do it yourself.”

The book consists of different microadventures attempted and tried by Humphrey around Britain. The pages are covered with original photography work by Humphrey, making the adventures come alive before you. Each page has a different and unique layout and theme, which truly creates a beautiful overall look.

To learn more about microadventures and how to create your own, go to http://www.alastairhumphreys.com for more details. “Microadventures” (the book) is also available on amazon.com.