Anna is a co-founder of Adventure in You and has been traveling the world for the last 9 years. She has spent time living in Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia, and Spain and is our local expert in these areas. Her expertise on travel, gear, and building businesses have been featured on Foundr, Business Insider, Yahoo Travel, and more.
Adventure is a word that is so often used, but does anyone REALLY know what it means?
What is adventure? What does it mean to be adventurous?
Heck, our blog name even has the word adventure in it! Does it always have to entail jumping off airplanes or diving through shipwrecks (both of which we’ve actually done)? Sure, by those standards you could say Tom and I are adventurous travelers.
We love going off to the unknown to experience something new. If we were standing by a waterfall and someone tells Tom to jump, without blinking an eye, he would. Our bucket list consists of cage diving with great white sharks, trekking through the Amazon Jungle, and bungee jumping off a bridge.
But, is that really what adventure is?
I turned to my trusty friend Google and it gave me the definition of;
“Engaging in an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity.”
Sure, that covered all our bases, but to us, adventure means so much more. Yes, we realize that our idea of adventure may be completely different from the person sitting next to us.
We might find that eating strange Filipino street food (like fried bugs and animal innards) is adventurous to us, but to the average local person, eating those is part of their everyday life.
Although somewhat perplexing, I realized that it was part of the beauty of adventure. It is the fact that each person has a different opinion of what adventure is.
To us,
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going out of your comfort zone to open yourself up to the experiences and beauty that life gives you, no matter what path you choose to go on.
Adventure is all about taking each experience, regardless if you know the outcome or not and facing it head-on. It is about seeing the world from a different perspective, even if you’ve seen it a million times before.
It is choosing to see the beauty from the ordinary and finding ways on how to do it differently.
Editor’s Note: Check out the Best Adventure Quotes of all time if you have a minute!
So just because we are jumping off 200m high gorges, bathing elephant and climbing volcanoes, does it mean that our adventure is better than everyone else’s? Absolutely not.
To us, adventure is stepping out of your comfort zone by doing something that you normally wouldn’t do. From helping out a random person to working up the courage to make friends with a stranger. It is about finding something that you love and pursuing it relentlessly.
Adventure is Not…
always about going away to some exotic destination, but about finding excitement in both the new and the old.
It is exploring where you are and choosing to look at it differently. It’s about going on a road trip not because you want to reach a particular destination, but because the journey there would awesome! Adventure can be found in our everyday lives. In the little things. If only you choose to see it.
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Massive recognition needs to be given to people entering the roller coaster of parenthood as they take on the role of becoming a mother and father, or sometimes even both.  Both my sisters are raising families of their own and there isn’t a day that goes by where I am not proud of what they are doing.
For some people, getting married and having kids may be the biggest adventure that they will ever take on, but they do it none the less. They face it with nothing but determination and selflessness in order to provide the best for their families.
Adventure Could Also Mean…
working your ass off to become successful in your job.
Whether you are building a business or making a name for yourself in your company, if that is what you want in life, why should you not view it as an adventure? Some people put their blood, sweat and tears into a job where they constantly strive to build their skills on a daily basis.
As long as you see the bigger picture and are working towards a goal, pursuing your career could be your adventure. To us, growing this blog has been an adventure in itself. It has its ups and its downs, but every day, we wake up realizing how lucky we are to be able to pursue our passions in life.
Adventure could mean spicing up your daily routine by trying out a new meal, ordering your coffee in a different way, or even something as simple as trying out a new look from time to time. In any situation, you can find different ways to be adventurous as you try something new and exciting.
Adventure is about trying out new experiences, whether you will like it or not. I must admit that even though I have jumped off planes and have done more adventurous things than anyone in my family, I often get scared. Just the thought of jumping off high places make my palms sweat and my heart race.
However, IÂ do them anyways. Why? Because I don’t want to live my life in the safety of my comfort zone. I want to live a life that exhilarates and excites me.
At the End of the Day, Adventure is About…
seizing opportunities and taking on life with nothing but passion, enthusiasm and excitement.
Our point is that every day should be treated as an adventure. Whether you are hiking through the Sahara desert, growing an enterprise, or chasing your kids down your yard, choose to look every day with a sense of marvel and excitement.
Dare yourself to do something out of the ordinary and breakaway from your everyday routines.
This is what adventure means to us. Pursuing whatever you want out of life relentlessly and passionately. So to those that say adventure is only for those that hike through caves and trek through jungles, hear this. Adventure is a choice.
Life is a big adventure and it is up to YOU to choose how you are going to live it.
19 thoughts on “What Is Adventure and What Does It Mean to Be Adventurous”
Adventure is when you have no safety net…you’re thousands of miles away from rescue and completely on your own, reliant on yourself for the life and death decisions you have to make in order to survive the next five minutes. There’s a split second between absolute fear and the realization that you’re experiencing true adventure when you know that you are incredibly alive. Every cell you possess will tingle and the act of living is an amazing burst of clarity.That moment is the most electric connection to living a person can ever feel. After that….bungee jumping and ‘crazy travel’ seem no more exciting than a day at Disneyland. My first time was when handling an open cockpit trimaran in the South China Sea during a massive monsoon typhoon and lightning bolts the size of giant tree’s were crashing down all around me as 40 to 60 foot swells threatened to tear me away from the wheel in the driving rain and vicious winds. That micro-second of light created by the lightning bolts allowed me to see the deadly black chaos surrounding me. There was no calling 911 or going back to the hotel to change my shorts. I either had the balls to hang on and use all my fierce skill to survive or I could freak out and die…that’s adventure friends….and once you’ve had it…nothing else comes close. When dawn broke and the wind had subsided I saw we were surrounded by a forest of tornado’s walking across the surface of the sea…calm by comparison to what I’d been through the night before. In the distance I saw the broken wreck of a freighter that had been cracked open across an exposed reef in some previous storm…likely causing the death of all aboard. I was still a thousand miles off the north coast of Borneo and a thousand miles west of the Palawan…and my journey had just begun.
I like your thoughts about adventure, and I agree with you. You can make a simple day adventurous by stepping out of your ordinary routine, doing things differently or seeing life in a beautiful way. I think that, a lot of times as travelers we see travel or crazy travel experiences like jumping out of a plane in Australia as the way to be adventurous. But, you are completely right. Adventure can be having the courage to start a family or quitting your job and following your dreams, whatever those may be.
I love people who tell me they are jealous of my adventures. My adventures occur because I am willing to take the chance and step out of my comfort zone. Personally, I feel that adventure is what you make of it. Some people its going somewhere new others, its extreme sports. Adventure is something you do to expand yourself.
I’ve been called “adventurous” because I’ve swam with great whites, skydived, and rappelled down a mountain. But I don’t consider myself adventurous at all. I’m actually a very big chicken. But I want to experience life and live it fully, so I guess no one will ever really be able to agree on a definition.
Hahaha! I’m a big chicken too-I just work up the courage to do it..because I always think to myself that life is too short to live within the bounds of our comfort zone!
LOVE this post. “It is about seizing opportunities and taking on life with nothing but passion, enthusiasm and excitement.” YES! That’s what we’re all about and all about inspiring – whatever that opportunity or passion happens to be! Adventure can totally be applied to anything in life if it means stepping outside your comfort zone, venturing into unknown territory and finding and going for your passion no matter what that may be!! Bookmarking this to share!
Great post. Adventure means different things to different people. Perhaps that’s why it’s so hard to define, one person’s adventure may be someone else’s boring routine. That’s way its always important to keep growing, learning and challenging yourself.
I’m not sure I’d quite stretch “adventure” to everything you mention in your post, but completely agree that “adventure” is about stretching your comfort zone. It doesn’t have to be exciting. In fact, I prefer safer adventures, the Christopher Robin-type adventures 🙂 Nothing wrong with that.
I am huge on seizing opportunities frequently to free myself. Adventure to me means making freeing but sometimes uncomfortable choices to create a freeing, epic, fun, fascinating, inspired life. I have circled the globe for 4 years after not taking a vacation for 22 years. I dove in 😉 Keep on inspiring!
Thanks @ryanbiddulph:disqus !! Unlike Tom I actually get quite scared before doing crazy stuff, but like you said, it is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and freeing yourself!
I have a series on my site called tales from the anti-adventurist – because for me, being adventurous means wearing white after Labor Day or taking a bike ride! But I’ve learned you don’t have to be wild to enjoy travel – it’s about pushing your own personal limits, not keeping up with the crowd. Sometimes the best adventures are quiet ones. Great post!
Love it! We will definitely check out your series! Yes, exactly. Some people think adventure has to be something big and exciting but really, it is about expanding and experiencing!
Love this! For us an adventure is also just getting out of our comfort zone and trying something new. We travel with a 5 yr old in tow, so most days everything is an adventure for him and it helps us see it as something new and exciting too!
Adventure is when you have no safety net…you’re thousands of miles away from rescue and completely on your own, reliant on yourself for the life and death decisions you have to make in order to survive the next five minutes. There’s a split second between absolute fear and the realization that you’re experiencing true adventure when you know that you are incredibly alive. Every cell you possess will tingle and the act of living is an amazing burst of clarity.That moment is the most electric connection to living a person can ever feel. After that….bungee jumping and ‘crazy travel’ seem no more exciting than a day at Disneyland. My first time was when handling an open cockpit trimaran in the South China Sea during a massive monsoon typhoon and lightning bolts the size of giant tree’s were crashing down all around me as 40 to 60 foot swells threatened to tear me away from the wheel in the driving rain and vicious winds. That micro-second of light created by the lightning bolts allowed me to see the deadly black chaos surrounding me. There was no calling 911 or going back to the hotel to change my shorts. I either had the balls to hang on and use all my fierce skill to survive or I could freak out and die…that’s adventure friends….and once you’ve had it…nothing else comes close. When dawn broke and the wind had subsided I saw we were surrounded by a forest of tornado’s walking across the surface of the sea…calm by comparison to what I’d been through the night before. In the distance I saw the broken wreck of a freighter that had been cracked open across an exposed reef in some previous storm…likely causing the death of all aboard. I was still a thousand miles off the north coast of Borneo and a thousand miles west of the Palawan…and my journey had just begun.
WOW!! That sounds intense..and sure as hell sounds like an adventure! Glad you made it out alive to tell the tale @jwesthardin:disqus
I like your thoughts about adventure, and I agree with you. You can make a simple day adventurous by stepping out of your ordinary routine, doing things differently or seeing life in a beautiful way. I think that, a lot of times as travelers we see travel or crazy travel experiences like jumping out of a plane in Australia as the way to be adventurous. But, you are completely right. Adventure can be having the courage to start a family or quitting your job and following your dreams, whatever those may be.
Exactly! Glad you got what we were trying to say. 🙂 Thanks for reading @Fromtourist2local:disqus
I love people who tell me they are jealous of my adventures. My adventures occur because I am willing to take the chance and step out of my comfort zone. Personally, I feel that adventure is what you make of it. Some people its going somewhere new others, its extreme sports. Adventure is something you do to expand yourself.
Exactly! It doesn’t always have to mean crazy stunts or travels!
I’ve been called “adventurous” because I’ve swam with great whites, skydived, and rappelled down a mountain. But I don’t consider myself adventurous at all. I’m actually a very big chicken. But I want to experience life and live it fully, so I guess no one will ever really be able to agree on a definition.
Hahaha! I’m a big chicken too-I just work up the courage to do it..because I always think to myself that life is too short to live within the bounds of our comfort zone!
LOVE this post. “It is about seizing opportunities and taking on life with nothing but passion, enthusiasm and excitement.” YES! That’s what we’re all about and all about inspiring – whatever that opportunity or passion happens to be! Adventure can totally be applied to anything in life if it means stepping outside your comfort zone, venturing into unknown territory and finding and going for your passion no matter what that may be!! Bookmarking this to share!
Thank you @carolannandmacrae:disqus!!
Great post. Adventure means different things to different people. Perhaps that’s why it’s so hard to define, one person’s adventure may be someone else’s boring routine. That’s way its always important to keep growing, learning and challenging yourself.
I’m not sure I’d quite stretch “adventure” to everything you mention in your post, but completely agree that “adventure” is about stretching your comfort zone. It doesn’t have to be exciting. In fact, I prefer safer adventures, the Christopher Robin-type adventures 🙂 Nothing wrong with that.
Safe adventures are perfectly fine as well, like I said, your adventures may be someone else’s routine and vice versa! Thanks for reading!
I’m with you. An adventure is anything you want it to be, all it takes is the right frame of mind.
Love it Anna!
I am huge on seizing opportunities frequently to free myself. Adventure to me means making freeing but sometimes uncomfortable choices to create a freeing, epic, fun, fascinating, inspired life. I have circled the globe for 4 years after not taking a vacation for 22 years. I dove in 😉 Keep on inspiring!
Ryan
Thanks @ryanbiddulph:disqus !! Unlike Tom I actually get quite scared before doing crazy stuff, but like you said, it is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and freeing yourself!
I have a series on my site called tales from the anti-adventurist – because for me, being adventurous means wearing white after Labor Day or taking a bike ride! But I’ve learned you don’t have to be wild to enjoy travel – it’s about pushing your own personal limits, not keeping up with the crowd. Sometimes the best adventures are quiet ones. Great post!
Love it! We will definitely check out your series! Yes, exactly. Some people think adventure has to be something big and exciting but really, it is about expanding and experiencing!
Love this! For us an adventure is also just getting out of our comfort zone and trying something new. We travel with a 5 yr old in tow, so most days everything is an adventure for him and it helps us see it as something new and exciting too!