- How can we inspire people to build their own habit of living adventurously?
- How can people self-learn skills away from the structure of organised adventure training?
- How can young people develop skills and independence until they are trusted to roam further and tackle bigger challenges by themselves?
Mulling over these questions, I came up with a step-by-step list of activities aiming to encourage independent microadventures that anyone can begin, and to build up skills and confidence without needing access to expertise, training or facilities. The aim is to encourage self-motivation, independence and learning from mistakes in a safe way, with minimal time or financial cost.
- Climb your local hill in a group – choose a hill that you can see from your house / town
- Climb your local hill in the dark
- Climb your local hill by yourself
- Sleep out in your garden
- Sleep on a hill for the night in a group
- Sleep on a hill for the night by yourself
- Go on a journey – for a day, in a group
- Go on a journey – for a day, by yourself
- Go on a journey overnight, in a group
- Go on a journey overnight, by yourself
- Go on a journey that requires some planning or skill, perhaps by raft or inner tube, or by bike, for at least two nights. Navigate with a map, swim in a river, cook on a fire
Some useful skills to learn and practise along the way:
- Cook on a fire. Leave no trace
- Build a basha
- Make a beer can stove
- Explore your local area on Bing Maps using the Ordnance Survey feature, the Where’s the Path website, or an app like ViewRanger
A few questions I’md appreciate your thoughts on in the comments:
- What is good about this idea?
- What is bad about this idea?
- What objections do you think people will raise that stop people from doing these activities?
Love the simple spirit and the accessibility of all of these, except, I’m from a region that’s well known for its lack of hills. Are there any other landforms you recomended you could centre adventures around?
Lakes? Hillocks? Water sources?