My friend Michael recently turned me on to the concept of “microadventures,” which was been popularized, or was maybe even invented, by Alastair Humphreys – a pretty serious adventurer.
Aware that not everyone can, say, bike around the world or row across the Atlantic, Humphreys advocates breaking out of the everyday rut of home and office with “microadventures” – short trips that go from “5 to 9” (after work one day until mid-morning the next) and that get a person out into nature, even if it’s just an overnight in a nearby park. I love the idea, which provides a name and a rationale for an activity that I’d already been doing to some degree. Michael and I have already done a few microadventures – one together, several separately or with others.
Saturday night, I went microadventuring while the girls were at a sleepover. I didn’t want to either overthink the outing or get overly ambitious, so I packed up my bike with some minimal overnight gear, grabbed food and drink from the kitchen, and took the scenic route out to a local county park. I stopped for plenty of pictures.
Once at the park, I made my way down a rough trail through the woods – surprisingly tall and green here at the edge of what should be tallgrass prairie.
I set up a little riverside campsite (being sure to tuck the Buffalo into a safe spot), got a fire going, and had dinner and a couple beers.
As much as I like being around people, I relished being by myself, listening to the birds and the river.
The night was pleasingly restless, and included being awoken once by something crawling around the campsite. In the morning, I had a little campfire breakfast in a light rain and enjoyed more river views.
Then I packed up my stuff and rode home down a slick road, soaking up the green scenes
and spotting some damp old junk.
It was wonderful. I look forward to doing it again soon.