Home

 Home

Build it.

Last week we talked about "Adventure being out there," or implying not here...not at home.  This week we wanted to talk about the importance of home in terms of the pre-req for the out-there adventure.  There can be a lot of physical and metaphorical definitions of home.  For today's purposes, we'll liken it to a "home base" or logistical fortification secure from the outside world.  David Brooks put it, “All of life is a series of daring explorations from a secure base.”  When we think of "home" as our enabling location to live our very best and big life, it takes on a connotation necessary for our conversation.  

Play it.

In breaking this apart a bit, it's a calling to ensure that as a protector and provider, your home is an adequate (don't hear extravagant) place to feel secure and become ready.  I think it's also important to point out that we can define adventure in this context as "big, full, rich life," however you and your family define it.  For example, we had a summer of playgrounds where we deliberately hit all the playgrounds in our surrounding region and sought out any playgrounds to visit while we were traveling.  That summer wasn't climbing Everest or scaling the Eiffel Tower, but in the several hundred playgrounds we visited, we made a ton of memories and our kids developed a ton of physical and social skills.  Cost...essentially free.  Time...would've gone by anyway.  

Hug it.

Now that we have some of the "adventure" paradigm down, what do we require of home to be ready to make a big, rich, full life from our homes?  In part, we need a set of loving people who meet us where we are at and are always there for us.  Hopefully that's a low bar in your home and an easy checkbox.  We also need a large enough physical structure that is secure.  Don't hear "mansion" here.  We've met some incredible adventure case study folks who make plenty due with a small apartment.  One of the champions in this space lives in a pretty modest home.  We've seen other mansion-level people who get so wrapped around the appearance of success they never go out and be successful in adventure...as a measure of a rich life.  

Travel it.

Adventure, as we're defining it, can require some stuff.  And all of that stuff is on a continuum.  The Fight Club mantra of "what you own ends up owning you" is very true.  The joke that the two best days in a boat owner's life are when they buy it and when they sell it rings true as well.  Using water as an example, we've got a new-to-us canoe for $100 bucks that we've had a lot of enjoyment with.  We also feel guilty if we haven't "used it enough" in a given summer.  On the flip side, we've had equal amounts of fun memories on rent-a-canoe-type things during our travels... probably also a couple hundred bucks all in over all these years.  Compare this to our neighbor in their home just up the street who just got a new "real" boat, as he put it...with a low, low payment of $550/month for 150 months (that's the national average, by the way).  Does his home/family get that much more value as compared to ours?  That's to say nothing of his annual maintenance, storage, upkeep, insurance, bigger truck, and gadgets that go into the whole cost.  

Swim it.

Another aspect of home is enough margin to be able to think and plan far enough in advance to actually do the adventure.  This executive functioning is a byproduct of enough time/space/money around the edges as well as a practiced skill.  In a home that is calendar or budget maxxed, it's awfully hard to get the bandwidth to get out the door.  The cool part is...those are choices, and we can minimize our expenditures of time and money to re-dedicate those investments into whatever you want them to be.  It won't happen overnight, and it may take a moment to extricate yourself from the status quo river you've fallen into.  

Do it at night.

Nationally, the "indoor kid" epidemic with screen time is causing many, many issues.  Long-term conservationists worry that without kids who love nature, we won't have adults who love nature enough to protect it.  Similarly, if we don't have kids and adults who prioritize adventure enough to partake in it, we won't be able to turn on that switch when the time comes.  In other words, nature and adventures are an acquired taste.  We have to pour in our time and commitment routinely enough that our enjoyment of those things becomes habitually second nature.  I just had a friend lamenting that at his house, his kids won't go fishing with him or anything...newsflash...he was the same dad who had no time for his kids when they were little because they were an "annoying distraction" from his adventure passions.  

Walk it. 
Just do it.

As we wrap up this week, hopefully this one makes you think.  However, you define adventure (read: rich, full, big life), and however you define home in terms of a pre-req, hopefully it gets you connecting dots in order ot do the things at home that enable and empower you to do the things outside the home - fill your life with travel, nature, new experiences, you name it.  You owe it to yourself, your family, and your future selves to look back with a big set of memories.  And, while you're at it, remember now that doing so doesn't have to be expensive or overly time-consuming...it just has to be routine and proactive.  Enjoy!

With you in the arena, from ours to yours...Happy Trails!

Call to Action: 

• Pick out three adventures you're going to do in the next month...and three things that you'll do around the home to make it happen.  
• 1 - ___________________ 
• 2 - ___________________
• 3 - ___________________
• Discussion: Consider what you/your family could/would/should (level of commitment) and start/stop/sustain (action) in terms of making changes to your calendar and budget to make adventure possible.  

Further Reading, Motivation, and References:

- Importance of Home in Nature