The Adventurers Dilemma - Keeping Your Spark Alive

On September 23rd, 2019, night finally took a stranglehold over the top of the world as the sun set and darkness settled in over the North Pole. Sunlight would not touch the frozen drifts again until late March. Into that seemingly eternal night two men struck out in an attempt to cross the Arctic Ocean, from Nome, Alaska to Svalbard, Norway - in the depths of winter. They would utilise a boat as far north as they could, finally disembarking to then drag two sleds per man, each individual sled weighing in at around 80kg, across almost 1300km of shifting ice, lurking open water leads and inhospitable weather - almost all in total darkness. They had seventy-five days worth of food and supplies. Eighty-seven days later, out of food, almost out of fuel, Mike Horn and Borge Ousland reached the Norwegian ice-breaker, the Lance, completing an epic quest that will long be hailed as one of the greatest feats of adventure in modern history. On board the Lance, Mike Horn pondered aloud the conundrum of adventurers - how over the proceeding months, when closest to failure and even potential fatal disasters or setbacks, that was when he had felt most alive. That all his focus had been on doing whatever it took to come back to ‘here’, to civilisation, ironically the place where he felt the least alive. This is the adventurers dilemma. He shook his head, noting what strange people we adventurers are.

Horn and Ousland are outliers of the most extreme variation - both men are already revered as two of the greatest explorers and adventurers of the modern era - but this concept of pushing your envelope and exploring your boundaries to feel ‘more alive’ is applicable to all of us, even if the scale is somewhat different. I’ve talked before (see the Lost Savage Blog here) about why I think people need adventure - to answer the call from deep within our primordial being, to ferociously blast away the coatings and trappings of a modern life to see what of us truly remains - but my hope here is to look at how we take can that feeling of ‘alive’ - from the ubiquitous ‘runners high’ or the deep seated elation of standing on the hard fought summit of some far flung ancient monolith - and keep that spark alive and bring it into our normal, everyday existence. Not just for ourselves but to ensure that the warmth of that spark is shared and fostered.

Cool idea ‘bro’ but I’m not one of you weirdo runners and I’m probably not going to climb Everest this weekend, that seems very much like non-essential travel to me… I get it - but let’s face it, life has been very different for all of us of late. And what is adventure if not some wild departure from the normalities and mundanities of our ‘regular’ life? Many of us have been flung back into constant and close proximity to those with whom we share blood and bond as opposed to office space and copier privileges. Hopefully this has lead to a reconstruction, even if somewhat forced, of the time and structure of the relationships we have with partners, loved ones, our children. More importantly - if you’ve found some positives in all of this - that increased time and proximity has brought you closer, pulled back the curtain on the opportunities that greater time with family brings - so that now, as the restrictions start to lift and the lure of a return to ‘normality’ rears its head, now is the time to look at how you can take those positives, those departures from ‘normal’ that have added value to you and those around you, and integrate them in your life going forward. How do we take that feeling of being ‘alive’ and keep it stoked as we slide back into the ‘normal’ civilised world?

Here’s one idea - write some stuff down. Journal. It doesn’t have to be complex, soul searching, ‘dear diary’ kind of stuff. I’m talking grab a scrap piece of paper and jot down some of the things that have happened during 'life in isolation' that wouldn’t normally have happened but that you kinda love. Maybe you’ve started having a lunch every now and then tucked up in a bedsheet fort in the lounge room with the kids, maybe Thursday night has suddenly become ‘Uno’ night or board game night. Maybe you started going for a little jog up and down the street with the dogs or the kids or just so you could get out of the house for a few minutes under the guise of ‘essential fitness’. Whatever it is - see it. Note it. And now plan for how you will keep it alive. Don’t let ‘normal’ come back and steal these ‘adventures’ away from you.

Don’t let this chapter close without letting the really good bits drive you into the next chapter. Keep the best parts of your evolving story alive.