How to Plan an Adventure

How to Plan and Adventure . ----------- Be BRAVE, be NAIVE, START!!!

Picture from the recent adventure Stand Up Paddle Boarding through Sweden

So often when it comes to planning an adventure we get stuck in precisely that, the planning stage.

Planning is important and has it’s place and works differently for different people. In my experience planning an adventure doesn’t need to be exhaustive, some adventures can be painless, yes some take a lot of time, effort and money but not all.

Think of the weirdest, the wackiest, the funniest, the toughest and the most awesome adventure you can go on. Write it down and go do it.

Different types of adventures take different amount of planning. Cycling from London to Paris took all of a few hours to plan.

Where?
London to Paris

Why?
To cycle in under 24 hours (arbitrary but fun reason to push ourselves)
Cycle to the Stade de France to watch our favorite band the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform.

Who?
Tarran, Luke and Gary

When?
2 weeks from now
Leave Friday morning, arrive Saturday morning

How?
Google maps - Find route.
Cycle to Newhaven - catch ferry over to France
Cycle to the cycle path Avenue de Verte
Cycle into Paris
Find somewhere to sleep

Picture of the boys Cycling from London to Paris
Left: Luke, Centre: Tarran, Right: Gary

That’s it. I knew roughly the route, roughly where we were staying in Paris. In reality it was crazy and SOOOOO much fun.
It was a race against time to catch the ferry, we made it just about. On the other side in France it pissed down with rain, we got soaked, we got lost, we asked people for directions, we found the cycle path, we crashed our bikes, we got lost some more, we pushed our bikes along a huge highway in the pitch black, we almost stopped, we didn’t stop, we carried on, we got pulled over by the police car, we tried to chat up the pretty looking French Police lady, we didn’t get a date with said police lady, we talked our way out of a ticket though, we found our way to Paris, we didn’t find our way to the hotel so we camped, slept under a tree next to the river in Paris. We woke a few hours later and found our way to our little hotel. We made it and it was epic.

This was actually one of the first larger things I did and it was awesome because I got to do it with two great friends. It really felt like we just jumped on our bikes and headed off. Google maps, asking people, street signs, there is always a way and when you are in a strange place and don’t know initially what to do or where to go, you will find a way. We are all far more capable than we think we are.

The questions to ask yourself about an adventure

1 – Where do you want to go? Paris
2 – Why do you want to go there? To watch Red Hot Chilli Peppers
3 – How will you get there? Cycle
4 – When will you leave? Friday morning 5:30am
5 – How long will it take to travel there? 24 hours
6 – How much will it cost? £100
7 – Who will go? Gary, Luke & Tarran
8 – Food & drink? Taking food with us and buying en route
9 – Accommodation? Hotel in Paris
10 – Route? Using Google maps in Iphone

Boom, its fairly straight forward once you get into the planning stage. It’s also so much fun to put something like this together.

Tell me about some of your adventures in the comments, I love to get inspiration from everyone. Look forward to hearing about your adventures.

​Tarran Kent-Hume