Reader

For those of you following along on our family gap year journey, we are at home in Wisconsin. We have been home a little over a week and plan to stay home through Thanksgiving for a series of family related events starting with my parents 50th anniversary party this weekend. Being in one place for 7 days is interesting for us, given that for the past 10 months we've been staying in places 3-5 nights on average. Being home reminds me of the season that many families are in..the fall crazies. We have found how easy to slip into ordinary mundane life - simple adventures are helping us through this transition and keeping every week unique.

If you listened to my podcast episode this week I shared my love for simple adventures. They are the perfect remedy for our busy modern lives offering bite-sized escapades and a wonderful opportunity to escape the ordinary, to bond as a family, and to uncover the magic that lies within the seemingly mundane. Each adventure is like a small dose toward a more adventurous lifestyle.

Our gap year is based on the foundation of simple adventures. These are some of the fun and simple ways we have added simple adventures into our life slowly adding building blocks toward a more adventurous life.

1. Take a different route: Grocery Store
   Sometimes in the mundane of life we do what is easy. What if we changed the route? Simple things like changing your route or changing the grocery store is a path to a different perspective. Simple changes help you notice what is different. Our fun grocery store adventures is a 1:1 excursion with one of my kids and they get to choose 3 things they would like to have in to eat. During our gap year we go to a new grocery store almost every week and it is so interesting to see what the feature items are.
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2. Complete a Food Rating fo some of your family’s favorite foods?
   On our untourist quest to taste the best ice cream in all 50 states we rate each one based on the Price, Selection, Texture, and Flavor Quality, and Overall Experience.
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3. Play Frisbee
   As a challenge, set up a target or box and try to hit it with the frisbee (like a mini version of frisbee golf). How might you take an activity you’ve never done and create a “minimum-viable-product” version without the need to get the right things.
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4. Explore Outdoors regardless of the weather.
   Our untourist adventures in Portland Maine during a rainy week led us to the Head Lighthouse which a great brown sign with a craggy beach, a lighthouse, and old abandon historic buildings. Letting my kids explore and guide our adventure was a great adventure—even while raining. Perhaps a Tip: Buy bright colored rain jackets! The contrast on a gloomy day makes for great pictures.
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5. Watch an adventure movie or documentary
   Some suggestions: Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Free Solo, Into Thin Air, Call of the Wild, Jungle, A Walk in the Woods, Goonies, National Treasure
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6. Bring the outside in. Do an activity where you can add a little piece of nature to your decor for a minimum of 24 hours.
   For example: Freeze blooms or grass in ice cubes, Find an interesting rock to serve as a paperweight for 24 hours
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7. Jump around
   Either on a trampoline, taking trapeze lessons or having a few jumping contests such as standing long jump or who can jump the highest. Blast the music from House of Pain and pretend you are attending a Wisconsin Badgers Football game.
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8. Fly (something)
   A kite, volunteer to crew a hot air balloon, a model airplane.
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9. Try or Witness a unique sport or skill that most people don’t know about.
   We’ve enjoyed learning how to luge on free slider search days (https://www.usaluge.org/try-luge/slider-search), watched a blacksmith create art, a folk music school teach banjo, or participate in a pyrotechnics fire art show. Learn the stories about how they became interested in the activity and honed their skills.
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10. Take a Holiday Hike
    This might be a hike in your costumes, a haunted/spooky hike around Halloween, a night hike with luminaries, Singing Carols at Christmas, Looking for bunnies and eating jelly beans, First Day of Spring flower walk

Want more of this?

If this episode is helping you think differently or you are interested in infusing a simple adventure into your lifestyle you might enjoy the Simple Adventure Subscription. Each adventure is unique crafted with several variations of how to implement it to best fit your family.
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The first 25 can use the code YES to get $2 off per month. Each week you will receive adventure tips, ideas, or support via email to help your family take small steps toward big memories. You can register at any time using the link below.

I hope wherever you are, and whatever your season of life you are in, you find a simple way to adventure this week.

Heidi Dusek
Founder and Host of Ordinary Sherpa Podcast and Author of Beyond Normal​
​Listen: Ordinary Sherpa

Read: Beyond Normal: A field guide to embrace adventure, explore the wilderness, and design an extraordinary life with kids. ​

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Inspiring families to connect through simple adventure experiences

PS. I've had a hard time showing up and sharing the details of gap year life. There are so many lessons and experiences that are hard to put into words. I am still processing so many parts of this. If you are considering a gap year and would like to learn more or begin putting a plan together I have openings for 3 lifestyle design coaching clients. If you are interested, reply to this email!