Indelible Adventures: The world at your feet

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Adventures come in all shapes and sizes and you don’t always need a lot of money to experience one or have to go to an exotic locale, nope, they are literally on your doorstep just waiting for you to discover and experience them.

In my opinion the concept of an “adventure” is centered in our mindsets. We often get so caught up in our day-to-day lives that we end up sticking to what we know and thus the same routines which we’ve created, although comforting can quickly become a tad mundane and perhaps boring...

Most of us don’t realize that we literally have the world at our feet and that if we really wanted to we could do anything our hearts desired.

So this week we’re going to explore the three C's to get you in the right mindset for your next adventure:

Indelible Tip #1: Choices Lets start local - what are three things that you’ve never done but that have always lingered on the fringes of your mind that you’d like to do or experience close to home. How about that Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning, or discovering that fabulous new brunch place? What about the jazz club that you’ve always wanted to go to? What about trying your hand at indoor rock climbing? Or, perhaps take in an Improv show last minute just because…? Your options locally are literally endless!

Now look further afield, perhaps within your province, state or country. How about globally - what takes your fancy. If money were no object, what would be the three things you love to experience?

Remember you get to choose and prioritize the things that are important in your life, isn't it time to do the things you've always wanted. What are you waiting for? There are no guarantees in life, take a look around and you'll see what I mean...

The best way to think about an adventure is to imagine that time is limitless. Last week I wrote about keeping it simple with not trying to pack in too much – yes, we’re all guilty of this…me included and so it takes some vigilance and discipline to really keep your time open.

Breathe and take your time...

Indelible Tip #2: Curiosity Just for a moment take a step back and try and remember the last time you were out and stopped to speak to someone you didn’t know. My guess is that it’s been a while. Start simple, chat to the owner of your local store where you buy your milk. Perhaps if you’re a dog lover and you see a dog and their owner walking toward you, you bend down when the dog is close by. I guarantee nine times out of ten the owner will stop and you’ll have a lovely conversation that connects you over a shared love. These may seem superficial but as you explore your confidence grows and you start to make eye contact and chat to people you meet. Follow your curiosity and don't be afraid to ask questions, its amazing what you'll learn.

Nothing is more inviting than making eye contact and smiling to start a conversation, and isn’t that what life’s all about…connecting. Some of my memorable adventures have started with simple a conversation and a dose of curiosity. Its amazing where a curious mind will take you if you let it.

One of my observations when I travel is that many people travel as if they are on the outside of fishbowl looking in, seeing all the sites, but not fully connecting or truly experiencing it.

Last year when I was on a four-day flip to Berlin, I went to the East Side Gallery to experience what remains of the Berlin Wall. As I was meandering along taking photos and soaking it all in, a tour bus pulled up behind me and as the passengers disgorged they literally lined up behind one another and walked along the wall, yes all 250 meters of it and without stopping or even looking at the wall (this is the part I found most fascinating) they trudged along not actually looking at the wall or stopping to admire it, but kept a steady pace while their cameras snapped photos before getting back on the bus which had pulled up at the end of the wall.

Yes, they went to the Berlin Wall, but for less than 10 minutes. So did they experience the Berlin Wall? Did they breathe in the history or its innate beauty? Can they imagine the significance of the wall or the ground that they were on? My guess is that they just checked it off the list...."Berlin Wall...check!"

Remember lingering and meandering are good!

Indelible Trip #3: Comfort zone? As you know Italy is my favorite country and I try to go at least once or twice per year. To be fair, I love it but my linguistic skills are surely lacking. That being said they have expanded to about 50 words, but a conscious choice I made was to improve my Italian by putting myself in local settings, away from the tourist areas.

When I stay in San Giovanni di Bellagio on Lake Como I walk to the local market most days for fresh supplies. The market is situated in a back alley in a nearby neighborhood that I discovered one day when I stopped and asked an elderly man in my broken Italian where the market was after I noticed he had a string bag full of fresh vegetables, he smiled and pointed me in the right direction.

As I often find when traveling in a country where English is not the first language if you try to communicate in the local language you’ll find that almost to a fault people will endeavor to help you. It’s amazing what a smile along with some friendly gestures and some local words will get you. J

So from my simple observance of the man with the vegetables its turned into a daily ritual, where I would learn the phrases that I needed to order my fresh meat, breads and other items before setting off. After a few days, they began to recognize me and let me give it my best shot...yes, they indulged me! They were extremely patient and one of the nice things is that for the most part they’d switch to English to help me with the phrases if I ran into trouble, then back to Italian.

Much more than a language lesson, it’s about discovery, taking a chance and engaging with those around you. Although I must say my favorite was when I discovered a bottle of Brunello sitting amongst the half dozen other local selections on the store shelf. I seriously felt like I'd won the lottery...

When I took the bottle along with my other daily purchases to the cash register the elderly matriarch looked at me and clucked her tongue, and waggle her finger at me saying “troppo costoso” (too expensive). This extravagant purchase was a ridiculous 19 Euros, when the other perfectly good bottles of local Chianti were more moderately priced at 4 Euros…clearly what was I thinking!!!

All I could do was smile and in my best Italian say “il mio preferito” (it’s my favorite!), Nona just shook her head...

Remember, adventures come in all shapes and sizes and the best part is that everyday has the potential for new adventures... Time to go find some!

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“Hanoi Posting”

A series of fictional micro-stories by Terence Wallis

Episode 47: Inflight

It was if Bill had disappeared off the face of the planet, but this only convinced Lea more than ever that he was just avoiding the situation. Damn him, I'm going whether he likes it or not, and I'm going to tell him exactly how I feel... Her resolve was steeled as she confidently boarded the plane for Bangkok late Thursday afternoon, although her confidence only lasted as long as she didn't dwell too long on the fact that she had all of her paperwork to stay.

Shortly after taking off, the drinks trolley sidled up beside her first class seat and the friendly stewardess asked her what she'd like to drink..."the champagne is an excellent!" she said enthusiastically to which Lea smiled and nodded. Popping the cork on a new icy bottle of Veuve Clicquot, and poured it slowly as the bubbles rushed to the rim of the glass but no further. Lea smiled as she took the glass and took a long and satisfying sip, she sunk back into her chair and smiled to herself, now this was an adventure she mused...and in a few hours I'll be with Bill. All was well with the world, smiling inwardly and taking another sip.

After dinner she had reclined her seat, put her eye shade on and had settled into to try and sleep, although she noted that the flight was getting decidedly bumpier as they flew on. A few minutes later the Captain's voice came over the intercom to inform them that they needed to divert around the rather large storm that was over the Alps and to tighten their seat belts as its was likely going to get a little bumpier for just a bit.

Moments late the plane felt as though it were falling from the sky, she could noticeably feel the plane nose its way down as once again the Captain's reassuring voice came over the speakers to say that they needed to divert to Milan and to not worry everything was fine, but given the ferocity of the storm they had to land. Lea's already jumpy fears of flying were beginning to panic her, and so she brought her seat upright, keeping the eye shade over her eyes began to breath deeply to try and calm her frayed nerves, "now if only the plane could just be still for a moment she thought I'll be fine"...

Just then a reassuring hand grasped hers, a little startled but also comforted as their fingers intertwined and their grips tightened. As the plane leveled and finalized its decent into Milan's Malpensa airport, she finally felt able to breath and so turning slightly in her seat lifted her eye shade to see who was holding her hand. Until this point she hadn't noticed who was sitting next to her as she'd been too caught up in her own mind about Bill and her trip. To her surprise the hand she realized belonged to a handsome well dressed man, she felt her cheeks flush as he turned and smiled...