Embracing your inner child

Do you remember being young and excited about something new? Or being over-excited about Christmas? (This is always a good thing, even if, as an adult, the excitement has switched from mainly presents and food to being about seeing family and friends you haven't had the opportunity to spend time with all year...and still about the food: IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE FOOD) anyway...

Think right back to when you were in primary school, or even nursery. The long summer holidays, or even half term or Easter, when you'd go to play at a friend's house, and you'd your friend would turn to you and proclaim 'Let's go exploring!'

The young explorer!

And it was so exciting! To be in a new place together, with made up kingdoms and battles to be won, the thrill of discovering somewhere new and the adventures you'd conceive...all of it feels quite far away now, (I know I'm still young, but I'm waiting for Alzheimer's to bring it all flooding back in full vibrancy!) but I feel like this is the best way for me to relate the same feelings I get when I go on an adventure.

Because that's exactly what it is: an adventure! Why would you simply call it a trip abroad or a holiday? Why make it the mundane?! It's a fantastic exploratory journey that can take you back to that child-like state of continual wonderment of all things new to you.

And I feel that is key: it's NEW TO YOU. It doesn't have to be the most adventurous expedition anyone in the history of adventure-making has ever undertaken. Or the furthest, toughest, beyond brutally challenging journey you've ever undertaken. But it should be new, exciting and thrilling for you. So you can start to reclaim that refreshing child-like joy; the fun and simplicity of splashing in a puddle in the rain or bending down to look in a rock pool for the first time and discovering what can survive in that miniature world...okay, I'm probably taking it a bit far, but you get the idea...

I've just completed a most marvellous adventure which had me exploring places that I've never considered gong to, that are at best forty miles from where I live. And there are still places close by that need un-tapping...And, just as importantly, it was a challenge for me: one person recently compared my run to that of the awe-inspiring Ben Smith and his 401 marathons in as many days. Of course, when looked at side-by-side, my efforts at trail running quake in their muddy trainers, but then I stop and remind myself that this was a challenge for me, that pushed me beyond my comfort zone whilst allowing me the chance to explore my home county.

And it's finding joy and beauty in the seemingly insignificant. A field can be just a field to walk, run, cycle or even ride through, But in that field you may pass by beautifully delicate wild flowers that are dotted, almost hidden by frond-like grasses that are gently swaying in the breeze, sun beams glinting through thick grey clouds scurrying across the sky...imagine being utterly alone, no roads or houses in the near distance. You're enjoying the entirety of the scene; no one else has had the privilege of both observing, and being a part of that moment in time.

Or perhaps you're in the midst of a beautiful bustling square, totally alone in your anonymity. No one knows you, you know no one. Yet there are brief moments of eye contact with various strangers in the crowd, these split seconds of connection, instantaneously lost in a single blink or a turn of the head. Both observer and actor in the scene.

It's in these moments that I truly remember why I love exploring and travelling. You create incredibly tangible memories from what appear to be the most insignificant moments. And it's these seemingly mundane scenes that are the integral moments that become the true feel of each individual adventure.