I think most of us have a list of things we'd love to do.
Places we'd like to visit. Mountains we'd like to climb. Things we'd like to try.
Sometimes those things stay on the list for years.
We tell ourselves we'll do them when we've got more money, more time, better weather, better equipment or someone to do them with.
I've definitely been guilty of it.
Waiting for the right time
For a long time, I thought adventure was something that happened when everything else was sorted.
When life was less complicated.
When I had more time.
When I felt more confident.
When there was someone else to come along.
The problem with waiting for the perfect time is that the perfect time rarely arrives.
Life keeps moving.
There is always another responsibility, another bill, another reason to stay home and another reason to tell yourself you'll do it later.
And eventually I started wondering how much I'd miss if I kept waiting.
I didn't suddenly become fearless
Saying yes to adventure didn't mean I suddenly became brave.
I still worry.
I still overthink things.
I still look at a mountain and wonder whether I'm actually capable of getting to the top.
I still have moments where going somewhere unfamiliar feels much easier in my imagination than it does when I'm actually standing there.
But I've started to realise that being nervous doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't do something.
Sometimes it just means that you're doing something new.
Saying yes to the little things
Adventure doesn't always mean travelling hundreds of miles or climbing a huge mountain.
Sometimes it means taking a different road home because you've never been down it before.
Going for a walk when you'd normally stay on the sofa.
Cooking dinner outside.
Sleeping somewhere you've never slept before.
Stopping to watch the sunset instead of rushing home.
Trying something that makes you feel slightly uncomfortable.
Those little decisions started adding up.
And slowly, I started feeling like I was actually living rather than simply getting through the days.
The freedom of not having everything planned
One of the things I've started to love most about getting outside is the freedom that comes with it.
I don't need every minute planned.
I don't need to know exactly what is going to happen.
Sometimes the best parts of an adventure are the things you didn't expect.
A viewpoint you didn't know existed.
A quiet beach.
A campsite you hadn't heard of before.
A conversation with someone you would never normally have met.
Or simply finding somewhere beautiful and sitting there for a while.
There's something incredibly freeing about not knowing exactly what comes next.
Saying yes doesn't mean saying yes to everything
I'm not saying we should all throw caution out the window and say yes to everything.
Adventure should still be sensible.
There are times when the right decision is to turn around, change plans or admit that something isn't safe.
Saying yes to adventure, for me, means being more open to possibility.
It means not automatically saying no just because something feels unfamiliar.
It means giving myself permission to try.
I want more of this
There are still so many things I want to do.
Mountains I want to climb.
Islands I want to explore.
Roads I want to travel.
Campsites I want to discover.
Wild swimming spots I want to find.
Meals I want to cook outside.
And probably quite a few things I haven't even thought of yet.
I don't know where all of those adventures will lead.
That's part of the excitement.
So I'm saying yes
I'm saying yes to getting outside.
Yes to trying new things.
Yes to travelling somewhere I've never been.
Yes to climbing the mountain even if I'm not sure I can.
Yes to getting things wrong.
Yes to rainy campsites and cold mornings and meals that don't quite go to plan.
Yes to the possibility that some adventures will be brilliant and others will be complete disasters.
Because I'd rather have a few stories about things that went wrong than spend years wondering what might have happened if I'd tried.
I don't want to wait until life is perfect.
I want to experience it while it's happening.
And maybe that's what Wildly Wandering is really about.
Not having all the answers.
Not being fearless.
Not having the perfect plan.
Just being willing to take the next step and see where it leads.
So here's to saying yes to a little more adventure.
