What does it mean to be an adventurer? Do you picture Kathleen Turner (Joan) and Michael Douglas (Jack) in the movie ‘Romancing the Stone’ who set out on a great adventure to find ‘hidden treasure’ using a map left by a dead man? Narrowly escaping death one hundred times, crossing over raging waterfalls and fighting off wild crocodiles? If so, you are sadly mistaken. That really only happens in Hollywood movies (sorry). No, adventurers are realistic travellers who don’t necessarily have Swiss Army knives in their back pockets. In fact an adventurer is usually someone quite unprepared, who just has a heart for the wild and a willingness to adapt to whatever challenge presents itself.

Take this quick quiz to see if you have the heart of an adventurer:

1. Are you scared of creepy crawlies?

2. Are you afraid of things that go bump in the night?

3. Do you only eat food that comes from a grocery store?

4. Will you refuse to drink something that does not come from a glass bottle?

5. Are you afraid of lakes?

6. If you have to sleep outside, will you stay awake all night, wearing out the batteries in your flashlight?

7. Do you lather yourself in so much insect-repellent that your partner does not recognise you?

8. When going on a sunset cruise on a calm river, do you wear two life jackets and stand next to the life boat?

If you are answered ‘yes’ to two of these questions, then you do not YET have the heart of an adventurer. Now you have a choice: you can read on to see how to become one, or you can hide under your duvet cover while watching ‘Ice Age Part 2’ and have panic attacks everytime ‘Scrat’ the Saber-toothed squirrel looses his acorn!

Who an adventurer is:

1. A go-getter – a very enterprising person

2. Passionate – when you do something, you do it with all their HEART

3. Spontaneous – not stupid…spontaneous!

4. Brave – in the face of danger, you will take a photograph ;)

5. An individual – you follow the bull, not the sheep

6. An explorer – you pick up the rock to see what’s underneath and don’t jump over it

7. Optimistic – when the morning forecast predicts rain – you wear your bathing costume

8. Exciting – when others are feeling down, you inspire them to get up ;)

…and finally, an adventurer has scars

5 Greatest Adventurers of all time:

Sir Edmund Hillary – The first man to summit Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.

Ernest Shackleton – he led an expedition that reached the furthest southern latitude at that time, and followed this by attempting to cross the continent of Antarctica from sea to sea. Although his ship became trapped in ice, all his men survived.

Reinhold Messner – he was the first person to summit Mount Everest without oxygen!

Thor Heyerdahl – he used a self-built raft, and sailed 5,000 miles from South America to the Tuamoto islands of the Pacific.

Ranulph Fiennes – he was the first person to visit the North and South Pole by surface, and he was also the first human to completely cross Antarctica on foot.

I shall leave you with this quote by another inspirational human being, Helen Keller: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”