A life of adventure inevitably has its ebbs and flows as seasons and stages change. What if instead of losing adventure in seasons of limited time and capability, adventure merely evolved along with you?
Nicky Chisholm is a lifelong lover of adventure and joined us on the Tough Girl Podcast to share how adventure changed through certain stages of her life, but always stayed with her. “Adventure is my way of navigating through life’s ups and downs,” Nicky says. “It’s a way of finding peace, solace, friendship and community.”
How will you find adventure in your life, no matter the season you find yourself in? Keep reading to get Nicky’s advice and you’ll find the inspiration to explore.
How to Fill Your Life with Adventure
1. Redefine What Adventure Means
For Nicky, adventure means something different now at age 52, than it did at age 18. “Adventure is basically just getting outside,” Nicky shares. “It could be walking. It could be doing a marathon. It could be so many things.”
If you only have half an hour in your day, adventure could be going for a walk in the park at lunch and feeding the ducks. If you have a weekend, it could be an overnight camping trip.
Adventure can be whatever you’ve got. It never has to be some huge trip or milestone. If you walk out the door, you can find adventure. You may have to get creative, but it’s there for the taking.
2. Let Adventure Evolve
For years, adventure was part of Nicky’s career as she worked as a sailing instructor and leader of group travels around the world. When she started a family, that changed. But she still found adventure.
“You have to make adventure part of family life,” Nicky advises, “because the alternative is to do nothing at all, and that would have just driven me completely nuts.”
Seeing her boys run around in the sand and sea, going camping and cooking on fires was great fun for Nicky’s family. Now, they all have those memories to look back on. Even though it took a lot of time and energy, those memorable adventures will stick around for years to come.
How your life of adventure evolves will be unique to you. Let yourself be open to change and instead of giving adventure up, you may find a new exciting outlet.
3. Find People to Evolve With
Getting into the groove of a new kind of adventure takes time. What can help you out along the way is finding people interested in the same thing. Can you find a community of people with kids who want to get outdoors? Or women working a 9-5 who want to explore on the weekend? Or retired folks who want to try something new?
Nicky ended up doing a cross-country ski marathon in the Arctic Circle for her friend’s 50th birthday after enjoying walking marathons together.
Consider looking for people in a similar life stage with similar cravings for adventure. A group may exist already or may be waiting for you to create it.
(P.S. You may want to start in our community called the Tough Girl Tribe! You can get access through the Tough Girl Podcast Patreon.)
4. Look For New Opportunities
Are you at the precipice of a change in your life stage? When Nicky’s children started school, she found more opportunities for solo adventures. In fact, she’s followed her passion to find parrots in the Amazon jungle.
What might be available to you now that wasn’t before? Is there a support system in place you could use to help you get out there on an adventure? As seasons change in your life, so does your opportunity for exploration.
5. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Part of Nicky’s career involved an amazing female networking group. There she found that adventures can inspire and empower. With this group of women, Nicky went fire walking and abseiling. “We’ve never done anything like that before,” Nicky shares. “We’d get together, feel the power of sisterhood and feel really chuffed afterwards. It’s empowering.”
For Nicky, it wasn’t about wanting to throw yourself off a high tower. It was about stepping out of her comfort zone.
When things get scary on her adventures, Nicky learned from a performance coach to pretend the butterflies are a car engine. “That adrenaline that’s racing around your body and turning into panic,” Nicky says. “Let it race around your body but turn it into power.”
The flapping of butterflies in your tummy could really be the vroom of an engine ready to go.
Empower yourself to get out of your comfort zone and into adventure. Turn those fears into excitement and you’ll reach new heights.
6. Make an Adventure Action List
Nicky’s final words of advice? Be inspired. Find people that inspire you. Read. Listen to podcasts, watch films, find events. Take all that inspiration and create a list of 10 things to put on your adventure action list.
“There’s so much you can do,” Nicky says. “If you’re not ready to take a massive step, take mini steps.”
Wherever you are in your life, you can find adventure around you if you dare to look.
What more adventure inspiration? Join Nikki in the Tough Girl Tribe! You can join a like-minded community of women in adventure on our Patreon.
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