How to Come Up with a Good Adventure

An adventure is an idea. It doesn't even have to be a good one. Here's a helpful guide to dreaming them up.

I guess I realized a while back that anything we consider an “adventure” was, at the beginning, literally just an idea somebody had: [Drawing of person looking at a mountain, saying, “I wonder what it’s like on top?” [Drawing of people looking at a map, one saying to the other one, “Think you can get to *here* from *here*?] [Drawing of people looking at a map, one saying to the other one, “See, this one, this one, and this one form a BIG LOOP!”]

(Photo: Brendan Leonard)

Published November 2, 2024 03:00AM

You’ve been there, or someplace like it: Standing under the hot sun, black flies buzzing around you and occasionally landing on and biting your exposed flesh, and the view isn’t really that spectacular, or at least not worthy of 45 minutes of uphill bushwhacking and hopping over deadfall to get to it, and you wonder: Why, again, did I decide to do this? A better question: Do you really need a good reason? — (All illustrations: Brendan Leonard)

During the Q&A session at one of my recent book events, someone—Adam, actually—asked me how I come up with ideas for my own DIY adventures. [SCREENSHOTS OF : 7 summits of my neighborhood, New York Pizza Marathon, NYC food marathon, Strava page for Mt. Sentinel Five Fingers of Death? ] I fumbled my way through a semi-coherent answer, which, if better thought through, might go something like this:

I guess I realized a while back that anything we consider an “adventure” was, at the beginning, literally just an idea somebody had: [Drawing of person looking at a mountain, saying, “I wonder what it’s like on top?” [Drawing of people looking at a map, one saying to the other one, “Think you can get to *here* from *here*?] [Drawing of people looking at a map, one saying to the other one, “See, this one, this one, and this one form a BIG LOOP!”]

And I was told, even longer ago, that I am somebody. Therefore: [drawing of index card reading IF Adventure = somebody’s idea And I = Someone Then My Idea for an adventure =adventure]

So: What makes something a good idea? Answer: Who said it has to be a good idea? [drawing of piece of paper with title: List of People I have to convince that my idea is worthwhile: me friend (optional)]

I mean, sure, there are classic adventures that have been repeated time and time again, and will continue to be repeated by more and more people because they’ve been proven to be fun and/or aesthetic and/or transformational by dozens or hundreds or thousands of people: [Word balloons: “It’s a trail that goes all the way around Mt. Rainier” “There’s this place called Macchu Pichu” “You ski from Chamonix to Zermatt, staying at mountain huts along the way” “So you run and hike all the way across the Grand Canyon, and then back, in a day!” “There’s this place called Mailbox Peak” “I believe it’s Spanish for ‘The Captain’”

But if you’re just trying to figure out something fun or challenging or interesting to do, you don’t have to dream up some sort of “classic” adventure. Or even something that anyone else would want to repeat. It doesn’t have to be particularly bold, or fun, or even make sense. It just has to be yours. [BOX: Some templates for DIY adventures: _______ summits in one day/week/life; circumnavigating the [insert name of geographic or man-made feature]; [well-known outdoor objective] but bicycle to the start; all the mountains higher than _______; big day of human-powered travel between donut shops/pizza places/taco trucks/etc.; seemingly random numerical goal

Some people are really good at designing things that other people will go on to enjoy. All of these things started as someone’s (or multiple someones’) idea, or list—and then other people tried them and also liked them: The John Muir Trail; The Western States Endurance Run; The Haute Route; RAGBRAI; The Adirondack 46ers; The Seven Summits; Burning Man; Camino de Santiago; Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

Look, if you were explaining any of these things to an alien—or even someone was alive in, say, 1850—they’d probably think that all of them sound equally contrived and/or as ridiculous as the International Taco Bell 50K Ultramarathon. There’s no test, or certification process—if an adventure sounds good to you (and maybe to your friends, that’s an adventure). George Mallory’s famous quote about climbing Mt. Everest can apply just as well to the peak (or hill, or trail) in your backyard. [Drawing of George Mallory saying “because it’s there”]

Endurance Training Mountaineering Racing Ultrarunning

Add Outside as a preferred source on GoogleAdd

Add Outside as a preferred source on GoogleAdd