Here we are, at the gate to the garden of summer adventures, ready to open the door. You have the key in your hand. Will you do it? Or will you pass on by and leave it unopened, unexplored, sticking instead to the safety of the familiar?
This month’s dare is about taking the key to adventure and putting it in the lock so you just have to turn the knob to enter into adventure when you’re ready. Here’s what that looks like: create a list of ten new things you want to try this summer. Get out a piece of paper or open up a blank document. Write down the numbers 1-10, then fill in the slots with experiences you want to have in the next three months.
You list could include local shops you want to check out, foods you want to grill, sports you want to try, bike paths you want to travel, road trips you want to take. Make it an eclectic collection or go with a theme. Work hard to come up with ten ideas that are doable – not too far or too expensive or too time consuming. Although don’t pitch the ideas that are distant, pricey or long-term. Those should go on your master Bucket List. This list is just a mini version limited to the scope of the June through August of this year.
Invite your kids to come up with their own lists. Ask your spouse to create one too. Spend time in the next week as a family comparing lists.
If you stick with a list of 10 New Things to Try, you could easily check them all off by going after one each week. Or use your list as an outline for how you’ll spend days off, if you take a vacation.
Here’s my list:
1. Visit a new-to-me cupcake shop in the suburbs.
2. Go zip lining (they have this at the camp my daughter is working at this summer, so my goal is to do this on one of our visits to see her).
3. Make homemade tiramisu using the recipe we learned in Tuscany.
4. Pick one of my Pinterest “Crafts to Try” board ideas and do it.
5. Eat at a Naperville restaurant we’ve never been to.
6. Volunteer at a Naper Nights concert.
7. Put my daughter on a plane to Europe with a friend (already planned, but every list has to have a “gimme”).
8. Take my husband to a comedy club.
9. Check out a new-to-me festival.
10. Go to a vintage baseball game.
Once you have a list written, you won’t have to wonder about what to do when you’re looking for adventure. Just pick something from your list and go!
Are you game to take this month’s dare? Share in the comments an idea or two from your list.
Do let me know about the zip lining. There is one here and I toy with the idea but not sure I can get by my fear of heights. Love this idea to give focus to summer. Think I will put a local museum that I have yet to visit on my list, even if I need to go solo.
Um, yeah. I’m afraid of heights too. We’ll see how that turns out. There’s something appealing about the idea of visiting a new museum alone. Keep me posted!