Category: Research

  • Planning a Microadventure

    Planning a Microadventure

    “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,”

    …said LaoTzu, a popular blogger from China, and I’m convinced he was talking about microadventures.

    I mean, isn’t everyone these days?

    “So Jim, how do we start to microadventure?” is a question I imagine people asking several times a day …and it is a good question.

    Let me elucidate…

    elucidate

    ɪˈl(j)uːsɪdeɪt

    verb

    make (something) clear; explain.

    synonyms:      explain, make clear, make plain, illuminate, throw/shed light on, clarify.

     

    Let me demonstrate how I go about researching my adventures by planning one…

    I open Google Maps.

    I firmly believe that microadventures aren’t just about camping, and indeed don’t require an overnight stay. It’s interesting what can be discovered by mixing up your usual routine with the simple approach of seeing something new – shop in a centre you haven’t been to in a neighbouring suburb, or drive home via a route that you’ve never been.

    I research microadventures as I would if I was planning an extended overseas trip. Search, “Unusual things to do in [insert home town here]” and see what is on your doorstep.

    I do spend a bit of time exploring the bay, so this time I’ll plan a camping trip. It will give me an opportunity to try out my Fifty Dollar Camp Kit (Post is coming soon – subscribe to the blog to be kept in the loop)

    (Note: Your local neighbourhood might not look exactly like this – if it doesn’t, you’re not in Brisbane …which is OK.)

    mapsprelim

    This is what I’m looking at. What is immediately obvious looking at my map is that wonderfully empty patch of green to the west! It might not be as obvious where you live (I’d love to see what you’re looking at if you’d like to send me a screenshot), but as you can see here, there are also patches to the Southeast and the North. Except for driving around the outsides, I haven’t visited the big patch, so it’s time I went west.

    There is always the option of stealth camping, particularly in such a large park, but there are advantages to established campsites – money goes towards the administration of it, some have water or toilet facilities, etc. Google maps is terrible for searching for campsites, but a web search for, “Brisbane Bush Campsites” brings up heaps of suggestions. The one that catches my eye is titled, “Parks and forests with camping around Brisbane.” – and it has a government URL.

    …and it also has this gem:

    ParkMap

    The closest camp for me is Scrub Road Bush Camp, and a quick search on Google Maps shows me this…

    That’s a bit of a hike. There’s not much public transport out that way (it could cut it to about four hours), and I do own a car, so I could drive to the gloriously named Opper Brookfieldberg and walk the 6km.

    But it seems more of an adventure if I can just walk out my front door. The worst-case scenario is I give up half way and get picked up (there’s sufficient roads along the walk), or I can stealth camp short of the campsite.

    I think I’ll walk.

    Subscribe to be told when the pictures of this microadventure are published

  • Who really created Microadventures?

    Who really created Microadventures?

    What is a Microadventure?

    It was me
    Hint…

    Who really created Microadventures? Alastair Humphreys is a serious adventurer. His website casually lists that he has cycled around the world, walked across India and rowed the Atlantic, but read further and that’s just a tip of the iceberg …an iceberg he probably climbed, circumnavigated and sailed around Cape Horn.
    The story goes that in between what I have since coined ‘maxi-adventures’, Al (to his friends) got sick of the hordes of people sitting at his feet begging him to regale them with exotic stories of afar. Actually, I don’t think he did get sick of that part – it’s been a while since I read the story. The bit he got sick of, or mentioned, was he was forever getting told, “Yes, I’d love to have an adventure, but I don’t have the time/money/fitness/beard to do it, so I just have to sit inside.” To this, Al stroked his rough red beard, stared into the distance (I imagine he was standing on a sofa with one foot on the back, resting his hand on his knee) and said, “Hark. Adventure is a state of mind.”
    He did say that too – never let it be said that I don’t do my research – it’s on his web page, along with the definition of his supposed creation and topic of many books, the microadventure.

    “A microadventure is an adventure that is close to home, cheap, simple, short, and yet very effective.”

    Who really created Microadventures?

    The thing is, I invented it. It’s something I’ve always done instinctively. It’s my way of saying I’m not lost I did this on purpose.
    Al’s book was published in 2014, so it’s quite conceivable that in his travels away from London (here’s evidence he was in Brisbane in 2009 http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/photo-friday-brisbane-night/), he has overheard me talking of my ‘Urban Adventures’ and thought, “What a great idea!”
    In 2009, after having lamented our society’s lack of a rite of passage for boys turning into teenagers, I decided to create my own. I planned to have a whole day of just my son Cal (turning thirteen) and I doing something memorable. To this end I concocted the idea of a journey decided by the toss of a coin. First thing the morning of his birthday, the two of us tumbled into my van (the only way you could enter it), and proceeded to flip a coin at every intersection.

    Heads – turn Right
    Tails – Toss Again
    …Heads go Straight, Tails turn Left. 

    After having passed our local convenience store four times in a loop we thought we’d never escape, we drove for six hours, with breaks, until we gave up in the Gold Coast hinterland. We had visited parts of Queensland I had never seen, and haven’t since.
    …So I’m claiming that as the first ever microadventure.
    I’ve had many more since…
    …like my Facebook Post:

    “I feel a bit like Bear Grills …Jayne dropped me at the Roma Street Parklands with nothing
    but my wallet, phone and computer- and I have to navigate my way home.”
    8JAN12___Wolston Park_urbex___6000x___001-L
    Wilson Park Sanitorium (Follow the link for Photo Credit)

    …Or finding an abandoned sanitorium by stepping off the well-trodden track.
    …Or even having a microadventure on a maxi-adventure by looking for evidence of Londinium (Roman London) whilst there.
    But all that’s for the blog.

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    So, who really created Microadventures? Al did of course.

    Part of Roman London uncovered by the Blitz
    Part of Roman London uncovered by the Blitz