“Adventure is a state of mind… not only crossing deserts and climbing mountains; adventure can be found everywhere, every day, and it is up to us to seek it out.” – Alastair Humphreys

What if – due to age, or lucky temperament – your state of mind is permanently adventurous? What if you’re a three-year-old brimming with curiosity, or a mother keen to foster that sense of exploration?

Microadventure: something nearby and simple, which retains the challenges and joys of long-distance/long-term travel, but does not require expensive gear or an extended holiday to complete.

Mr. Humphreys, the British photographer and microadventure creator, gave me an idea: if the physical location has little to do with it, then we can turn anything into an exciting destination.

Even, say, the living room of our urban one-bedroom apartment.

Here’s how to take a local environment and turn it into a traveling microadventure, L.A. style:

• Embrace the preparation.

Sure, your list might be a bit shorter, but write one anyway. Revel in the little details that make up a successful journey. The best part of packing for a living room camp-out is that you don’t have to carry your bags farther than the back wall…

• Talk it up.

Inject your microadventure with a bit of enthusiasm, and you can turn a ‘typical’ weekend mission into something much more exciting. There’s a reason my daughter pronounced this “The best camping trip ever!”; we started every activity with an “Ooohh” (and then ate a lot of s’mores).

• Keep it cheap.

One of Humphrey’s tenants is that this type of adventure shouldn’t require fancy new gear. Packing made easy, requiring only a trip to the kitchen cupboard or nearby store. In this case, we added the neighborhood library and sushi joint – because what’s swanky city camping without reading bedtime books over California-caught salmon?

• Be ready for surprises.

Clearly, a real fire would go against numerous building codes, and freak out the neighbors. Yet my favorite thing about traveling is how the world surprises us with little possibilities. So I put the gluestick to good use and suddenly, Aila and I were burning our toes near the bright (construction paper) flames. Go ahead, add ‘Imagination’ to your microadventure packing list!

• Never turn your back on an open bag of marshmallows.

Because scavenging crows and raccoons aren’t the only creatures who can smell sugar from across a city block.

• Ignore the clock.

Going into the Great Outdoors – another important element of the microadventure – also gets you off the clock. Rather than measuring the day by wristwatch, you can relax and figure the hours based on forest shadows, hiking blisters, or hungry stomachs.

• Get creative.

I confess, counting airplanes incoming to LAX is not the same as counting constellations in a clear night sky. And a 24-hour mini-adventure in a child’s play tent will never be quite the same as a month backpacking through a foreign country.

So consider it a challenge. If discoveries are inherent to distant travel, what unexpected memories will you make in your own backyard?

 

Tell me about your ideas for an urban microadventure!