Your year of microadventure

This is a guest post by adventurer, author and motivational speaker Alastair Humphreys. Find out more about Alastair here.

Would you like to live more adventurously this year?

To experience the wild and escape from the rushed, mundane real world.
To do something new, fun and different.
To spend memorable time with your friends, family or by yourself.
To challenge yourself, surprise yourself, and achieve something to be proud of.

I bet you can think of other reasons why you’d like to do have a more adventurous year. You may even be intending to make this the year when you really do get out “there” as much as you dream of doing.

But real life often gets in the way and good intentions fade.

So why not commit, today, to a challenge? It’s easy enough to be achievable, but will be really rewarding to complete.

12 months. 12 overnight microadventures. 1 adventurous year.

Are you in? Good!

Read on to find out more…

Why a Year of Microadventure?

Over the last few years I’ve run annual solstice microadventure challenges. Go sleep on a hill, have fun, take a photo. It’s been a great success and a nice way for both novice and experienced folk to prod themselves into action and go do the sort of thing they often dream of but rarely get round to.

This is an extension of the idea. It’s a monthly prod. A way to live more adventurously amongst the busy constraints of real life. A chance to explore your country or county. An opportunity to introduce your friends or family to the great outdoors. To spend more time with your mates, or a bit of time by yourself.

Each month the challenge is to spend one night out in the wild. I have scheduled all the dates in advance (scroll down if you want to skip to them). This is for two reasons:

If it’s in your diary, it’s more likely to actually happen. (Download the dates for your calendar from here or as a p ublic Google calendar. Here is the calendar if you’d like to print it / add it to your blog / send to mates.)
If the whole online community of people doing this are out on the same night, it provides a real encouragement and inspiration not to be left behind watching telly and feeling like a massive loser!

Of course, there might be occasions you are not available on these dates. It might be lashing down with rain. In which case, you can just do it some other time. It doesn’t matter. The challenge is flexible – it is designed for busy lives, for a range of ages and experience, and for terrible weather when the sensible thing to do is stay at home and watch telly. You can do what you want, when you want.

Only one thing is non-negotiable:

Each month, you must make yourself get out and have one microadventure.

(I know some people may genuinely not be able to do this. Modify the challenge to suit you – perhaps one microadventure each season would work for you? Rules are for the guidance of wise men; for the obedience of fools.)

LET’S GET THE EXCUSES OUT OF THE WAY…

Anything requiring commitment, a little organisation and a bit of effort comes up against obstacles. I’ll try to pre-empt a few of your concerns and help you show that this challenge is achievable (and remind you that it will be worth the effort).

And, whenever you find yourself saying “I can’t” – I can’t afford it, I can’t spare the time, I can’t climb a hill – just try replacing the word “can’t” with “choose not to”… It is a very powerful way of getting to the bottom of whether a problem is genuine or just an excuse – I choose not to afford it, I choose not to spare the time, I choose not to climb a hill.

I don’t have enough time…

The standard British worker has 112 days off each year. If you work super hard and are too busy to contemplate 12 evenings out on a hilltop, I may be so bold as to suggest that you are exactly the person who would benefit from watching a few sunrises and sunsets…

I realise I am asking you to commit to 12 “5 to 9″ microadventures – that’s 192 hours of your time. Just bear in mind that the standard British worker has 6736 hours each year when they are not at work…

I am truly not trying to belittle the difficult, juggling lives of busy people. Microadventures are aimed at exactly people like you. It’s just worth bearing in mind that we’ll all be dead soon (calculate the day of your death here – I’m scheduled in for September 8th, 2050, and I’ve added it to my calendar. Nothing prompts action like a deadline, and that’s THE dead line!), and nobody on their deathbed would regret a few hours taken out for sunrises, sunsets and swims in the sea.

It’s cold outside!

It certainly is not ideal for this challenge to begin in January! The first two microadventures will be the darkest and coldest of the whole year. That’s why for January I suggest starting very, very small. It will be so easy in January to wimp out of the challenge and that would be the end of the whole year of fun. So, yes, for the first couple of months of the year, you’ll need to pack plenty of warm kit. But the information here will ensure that you can stay warm and dry and happy.

I’m too late in the year…

No, you’re not! Start now, whatever month it is, and run the challenge for 12 months. If it’s not January when you’re reading this, it’s actually easier to begin as the weather will be kinder.

I can’t afford it…

You really do not need much gear for this year. Here is the kit list. You probably own, or can borrow, many of these things already. Even if you had to buy everything, you could manage it for £100. That’s pretty good for a year of fun, I reckon. If you genuinely can’t afford a one-off payment of £100, I’ll be happy to lend you the money – contact me here. I would hate a lack of money to stop anyone experiencing this year.

I don’t know what to do…

Then you are exactly the sort of person I hope will rise to this challenge. It might seem daunting in advance, but I promise you that once you’ve done a couple, you will know everything you ever need to know. In the meantime, the information here will tell you what you need to pack, where you need to go, and what to do when you get there. It’s easy, I promise! If you are in doubt, please just try it once. You will learn so much. Just start. Start rubbish, get good!

I’m still keen. What’s the plan?!

Each month you will go do a microadventure on the chosen date (or, if not on that date, sometime in the month – that’s up to you). Print out the schedule and put it on your fridge. If you don’t print it out you will probably not get round to doing these things. Sign up for the newsletter if you’d like a monthly reminder of the plan.

You can do whatever you want each month. I have prepared a list of suggestions that you may like to try to tick off over the course of the year. Each microadventure must involve a night outdoors, and use a bivvy bag not a tent (unless you have a very good reason!) There are masses of ideas here too.

Take a photograph on each microadventure and stick it online, using the #microadventure hashtag. Stick it on the Microadventures Facebook page too, if you use Facebook. It’s important to put it online as a way to encourage other people, and as a great way to see what the rest of the community are up to. Click here, for example, to see an excellent collection of real-time #microadventure updates.

Print out your photo too (here’s an easy way to print your photo from your phone instantly – the best way to make sure you actually bother to do it.) Stick it onto your year’s Microadventure Challenge schedule on your fridge – it will develop into a super year of memories.

At the end of the year, you’ll have had 12 fantastic adventures. I hope that is reward enough! However, I’m also going to try to work out a way to offer a reward to those who complete the year. I haven’t succeeded at this yet, but I am trying!

January: the crunch month. It’s cold and dark. It would be easy to fail before you even begin. So we’re going to keep it very easy this month. Sleep outdoors one night, any time you like. Sleep in your garden (groundsheet, sleeping mat, duvet, pillow). A snowy or frosty night is perfect for this.
February: Valentine’s Day. February 14th. Escape the unbearable embarrassment of sitting in a restaurant full of couples mumbling quietly to each other! Climb a hill, watch shooting stars, see the sunrise blaze across the sky. That’s a hell of a lot more romantic! Or, if you are duty bound to do the restaurant thing on February 14th, get out on one of the other nights of that weekend.
March: Equinox. March 20th. One of the best things of microadventures is reminding you of the wild universe out there beyond your house, office and commute. Especially if you live in a city. The equinox is the day when the hours of daylight and darkness are exactly equal. There is a spring equinox and an autumn equinox. The days are lengthening now – towards the summer solstice (the longest day), after which they will dwindle towards the winter solstice. These four dates – equinoxes and solstices [solstii??] – are key components of our challenge. To appreciate the way the world changes and feels over the course of the year, I suggest that you go for your microadventure in the very same spot for each of these dates. See how different it feels in spring, summer, autumn and winter. Do it with the same friends each time; do it with different people each time; do it by yourself – whatever you wish. It also makes the planning and organising of this project much easier when you realise that four out of the 12 outings are to the same spot.
April: Easter. April 5th.
May: Bank Holiday weekends. May 2,3,4 or 23,24,25. A little flexibility this month to try to squeeze in time for a night away.
June: Solstice. June 21st. The longest day of the year. A really special night to be outdoors. Take an eye mask unless you want to wake up very early with the sunrise! Same location as March.
July: Blue Moon. July 31st. A rare event, and a beautiful time to sleep without a roof: the night of the blue moon. Perhaps a chance to take a sceptical friend who claims they’d only do something like this “once in a blue moon…”? Full moons are brilliant microadventure accessories.
August: Meteor Shower. August 13th. The annual Perseid meteor shower is a highlight of the year. You’ll see up to 80 shooting stars per hour, and this year the moon is new so the night will be perfectly dark. Perhaps a good night to take kids on their first microadventure?
September: Equinox. September 23rd. Same spot as March.
October: Clocks go back. October 24th. An extra hour in bed. On a hill. Luxury!
November: Black Friday. November 27th. Seeing as Black Friday seems set to become “a thing” in the UK, here is a chance for minimalism and simplicity, to escape from the undignified fighting in shops to buy a bigger telly for £20 cheaper than it will be tomorrow. Don’t forget Bonfire Night (the 5th), too as a great excuse for a microadventure with fireworks.
December: Solstice. December 22nd. Same spot as March, June and September. A chance to think how different those four experiences were. And a time to celebrate completing the challenge, perhaps with a mince pie or two. Congratulations! Santa hats compulsory.

I’m still keen. What do I actually have to do?

You can do whatever you like on a microadventure. All I’d suggest is that you hang it on this loose framework:

Sleep outdoors. Don’t use a tent. Pack light. Plan simple. Seek wildness. Challenge yourself.

Over the course of the year you could try to tick things off this list of ideas to try. Those with an asterisk are likely to be deemed most-important if when I sort out some kind of reward system. If you have any good ideas to add to the list please let me know.

Sleep in your garden*
Swim wild – in a river, lake or sea*
Go solo*
Go with a friend
Go with a family member
Tick off some themes: river, hill, mountain, beach, wood…*
Take someone on their first microadventure*
Take a child for their first microadventure*
Do one on a work night*
Make a cup of tea on a stove you have made yourself*
Sleep by the sea (nobody in the UK lives more than 70 miles from the sea – video here)
Sleep under a full moon
Spot a shooting star
Sleep out below 0 degrees Celsius*
Put your own spin on the 12×12 challenge: 12 beaches, 12 Munros, 12 rude place names, 12 counties, 12 different friends…
Get there by bike
Get there on foot
Paddle a river – by canoe or tractor inner tube
Learn to identify a new bird or new tree each month
Forage for your food, or at least pick some blackberries
Do one on Mothers’ Day / Fathers’ Day
Go on your birthday
Go with some random people you meet online via #microadventure. (Bristol, for example, have their own Microadventure Facebook Group.)
Take a novice friend on their birthday
Sleep out on a snowy night
Sleep somewhere local but new to you
Do something that is challenging to you but achievable today (e.g. a ride or walk to a bivvy spot which is hard but do-able right now)
Something that requires you to plan, train or put some effort in in some way
Lots more ideas for you here.

I’m still keen. What do I have to do right now?

Make a public declaration that you want to do this. This is a key step to committing to actually doing stuff. Stick this photo on Facebook / Twitter, write something in the Comments section below. Tell your family and friends. Email others to get them involved too: it hugely increases your chances of persevering if you’re in it together.
Add the schedule to your Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar or a p ublic Google calendar.
Download and print out this schedule and helpful ideas sheet.
Make a plan for January’s first microadventure!

Fill your year with stories…

Welcome on board…