Have you ever wondered what makes an adventure, well, an "adventure"? How does one know that they are in, or on, an adventure? What even qualifies as an adventure? Is there such a thing as a false adventure? How might one conceptualize adventure? Here I offer my thoughts.
So, what makes an adventure an adventure?
Is it the thrill?
The adrenaline rush?
Is it the suspense?
Is it about the anticipation of what is next?
The sudden reminder that, "this is what it means to be alive!"
Or is there something more to an adventure?
According to a certain common Internet browsing tool (yes, I'm referring to Google), an adventure can be defined in the following ways.
1) as a noun that means "an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity."
or
2) as a verb that means to "engage in hazardous and exciting activity, especially the exploration of unknown territory"
Both definitions, I feel, most would accept as accurate and it is clear how they connect to one another - an adventure, as classically understood, is a thing an individual can go on. But there is more to an adventure than just the definitions. An adventure can't just mean something, it has to be something too. It must possess certain qualities.
So, what qualifies as an adventure?
The above is a question that I have recently been meditating on and thinking deeply about. Although an adventure has to be something too, it can't just be anything. Right? Otherwise, it would lose significance and importance. If an adventure was anything, then it wouldn't be engaging, exciting, hazardous, or rewarding. So, what would qualify as being these things? This question is what I've been trying to wrap my head around. Perhaps the following questions will help illustrate why.
Would being rebellious qualify as an adventure?
Would being "evil" qualify as an adventure?
Would being violent or bad qualify?
Does destruction qualify?
Does doing bad things in general qualify as an adventure?
Perhaps now you have better glimpse of the dilemma. If an adventure is merely participating in an exciting and typically hazardous activity, then all evil and bad activity qualifies. And that is probably true. I can imagine doing bad things would probably be adventurous (kind of hard not to when you're a writer). That said, this contemplation highlights a crucial point.
There is often a "good" bias when thinking about adventure.
Essentially, this means that we want the word itself to mean something good. In other words, if I were to tell you that, "I'm going on an adventure" you would probably assume that I would mean something positive rather than negative. For instance, if you saw me putting on hiking boots you are much more likely to assume that I am going hiking rather than going to go start a forest fire. Both are adventurous. But, as noted above, there can be "bad adventures." In this way the word "adventure" might be more categorical (like "food," in which there is good food and bad food). Adventure defines a way of acting in the world, and as actors in the world, we can act bad or good.
Thus, perhaps there are not only bad and good adventures, but also true and false adventures. These would be different but similar.
What makes a false adventure?
A false adventure would be anything that appears like an adventure but in actuality would not be. It would only seem like an adventure. It would be false in the sense that there is no real hazard or risk. A false adventure would be a trap that doesn't seem or feel like a trap. An example of a false adventure could be a horror movie - it seems terrifying but in actuality there is no real risk. Thus, reading books, watching movies, playing video games, watching (or reading) porn, would all fall under this category - false adventures.
What makes a true adventure then?
A true adventure, in contrast, would be anything that makes you feel like you are escaping a cage. Where a false adventure is a comfortable trap, a true adventure is the desire to enter into the uncomfortable. As such, a true adventure can also be voluntarily entering into a cage - willingly entering into a trap, knowing full well that it will bring discomfort. A true adventure is also finding discomfort in the comfortable. The spirit of true adventure would say, "I don't want to look at or read about mountains - I want to climb one."
Now, don't get me wrong, playing games, watching movies, and reading books can still qualify as true adventures, if the right perception is applied. Allow me to explain with some questions. Does playing a game or watching a movie make you feel less trapped? Like you are escaping a cage? If so, then it would qualify (under this interpretation) as a true adventure, but it still may be a true bad adventure (in the case of watching porn, for instance). Additionally, it may not be correct to view the game or the movie itself as the adventure, rather the experience with others that is the true adventure. For instance, going back to the horror movie example, the movie itself is a false adventure, but screaming in terror with others qualifies as a true adventure - because there is real world, albeit mostly social and relational, risk involved.
All this may start to get confusing. Bad adventures, good adventures, true adventures, false adventures, true bad adventures, false good adventures. . . all of them are adventures. But that still doesn't help answer the following question.
How do I know if I'm in, or on, an adventure?
This question is a little harder to answer, but in contemplating it I think I've found a few ideas that one can use to test whether they are on, or in, an adventure.
The first one, is the "road less traveled by" test (yup, taken from Robert Frost's famous poem). Basically, you know you are on an adventure when you are on the untraveled road. The unmarked path. When you step beyond the chained off way. When you use bolt cutters to pass through the locked fence. When the map of the familiar starts to make no sense or when the map of the unfamiliar starts to make sense. When you move beyond the edges of the map. When nothing is making sense, or everything is all coming together. Exiting the stratosphere. Entering the void. When you feel lost. That is one way to tell when you are on an adventure.
The second is what could be called the "Rest Test." Simply put, you will know you are in an adventure when it requires rest. If you feel tired and worn out, then you are most likely in an adventure. For example, how do you know when you are climbing a mountain? You know you're climbing a mountain when you find yourself stopping to rest. So, if you need rest, perhaps you are climbing a mountain, and if you are climbing a mountain, then you are in an adventure. When the discomfort is finished. When the race is won. When victory is achieved and success reached. When you can rest now. That is when you know you were in an adventure.
There are probably additional tests that one could use, like a stress test, discomfort test, and unknown test which would be something along the lines of "you know you are in or on an adventure when you are experiencing stress and discomfort or when you find yourself walking into the unknown." Something like that, but I feel these areas are already covered in the definitions and above discussion.
Perhaps I may write a blog post in the future exploring the concept of adventure further but for now, I think I can offer a potentially satisfactory answer to the original question.
What makes an adventure?
You do.