Micro-adventure magic

All that's required for a micro-adventure is leaving your familiar environment.

You don't have to go to the edge of the world or the middle of nowhere to experience a micro-adventure.

Adventure is not about distance. It's about experiencing something new.

The best way to go on a micro-adventure is to keep it simple.

You don't need a big life event to experience a micro-adventure.

You don't need to spend a lot of money or time to have a micro-adventure. You just need to make a decision to step outside your routine and do something different.

Consider a solo micro-adventure

When you're on a solo adventure, you can let the whole day (or the whole adventure) move at your own pace.

When you're alone with no side conversations, you'll observe more of what's going on around you, and you'll meet more interesting people.

Whether you're on a busy street in a strange town, hiking alone up a mountain, or taking a road trip, these can be exciting micro-adventures.

When you're alone, and something goes wrong (and something will always go wrong), you have to figure things out yourself.

The more you do things alone, the more you learn to depend on yourself. That's when you find out that you really are much more capable than you ever thought possible.

International travel

A friend just returned from a six-month solo trip to Europe, staying each month in a different country. He has done this every year for the last three years.

Surprisingly, he said he can do this for about the same amount of money he spends not doing it. He rents a place to stay for a month at a time for about what he spends when he's not traveling.

His only extra expense is the airfare, and there are some real bargains if you shop around. After he gets to Europe, he travels to the next country by train or bus.

He said he can usually rent an apartment for a month for less than what he used to pay to rent a campsite for a month to park his RV.

You might think that you could have traveled like that when you were younger, but it's never too late. My friend is in his 80s.

Bottom line: Whether your micro-adventure is an afternoon hike on a trail by the creek, a weekend getaway to somewhere you've never been, or a longer trip, make a decision and make it happen. What is your next micro-adventure?