Do you want to start living your dream adventurous life? If the answer is yes but you are not sure how to go about making that happen, then this blog post is for you! My name is Ally, I am 26 years old and I am currently on my own journey to building an adventurous life. For me an adventurous life looks like going on outdoor adventures and traveling whenever I want. So now I am working towards being able to work for myself in order to make that life a reality. Your adventurous life is going to be totally different and unique to you! In this blog post I am going to share 10 steps to help you get started on your own journey to an adventurous life!
Step One: Decide that you want to live an adventurous life
First thing you got to do is decide that you want to live this way. Do you find yourself daydreaming about doing certain things or come across something or somebody and say I wish that could be me? That is probably a sign that you are wanting to live an adventurous life. I knew that I wanted to start living this way because I always felt restless and that I was following a path that wasn’t clearly mine. You might feel like you are living the same day over and over again. You may probably get little nudges or signs that something big and better is out there for you. Deciding that you want to live adventurous life means you want set aside more time to doing the things that you love! Go for it and see it where it leads you.
Step Two: Envision what that life would look like
This is without a doubt my favorite step because you can do it again and again whenever you feel stuck or realize that you need to make a pivot. I am here to give you permission to daydream. Set aside 5 to 10 minutes and go sit somewhere without any distractions. Bring a piece of paper and a pen or have a digital document at the ready. Ask yourself what would my dream adventurous life look like? What are you doing? Who are you with? Where are you? Envision what every area of your life would look like. Don’t sensor your thoughts, let your heart and soul guide. Deep down we all know exactly what we want our life to look like. We just need to take the time to slow down in order to figure it out. Once you got those ideas in your head, write them down on a piece of paper. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling, this is for your eyes only. I did this exact process and I can say it 100% percent works! You are able to clearly see what that life would like and also discover some insight into how to achieve it.
Step Three: Create a vision board or boards
Getting to the point where your life starts to look like what you envisioned in the past step is going to take time. It is a journey but it is so worth. Something that I have done and highly recommend that you do is create a vision board or boards that represent what you envisioned in the previous step. A tool that I use to create my vision boards for free is Canva. You can get a free account and have access to so many templates including ones for vision boards. Pick the one that you resonate with the most and switch out the photos to ones that represent your dream adventurous life. This step is so much fun, take as much time as you need to create one that inspires you! Once you have your vision board, time to put it where you can see it every day. You can print it out and hang it on the wall or like I have done, make it a screensaver on your phone. You can even have as the wallpaper on your laptop or tablet. Just make sure it is somewhere you can see it every day.
Step Four: Come up with a list of things you can do to start living that way now
Looking at what you have written and envisioned in the previous two steps, pick out some things that you can start doing today. For example if you want to start getting outdoors more, can you start planning a little day hike for the upcoming weekend. If you are envisioning a career change, are there skills you can start learning or courses you can sign up for? Examples of how to achieve that adventurous life are sprinkled throughout the scripting process and when creating your vision board. You have everything you need to start this journey, you just need to take that first step. My own personal example, I started creating more content and sharing that I was on this journey. Created a little video series on my socials. Finally, I set up my photography website. Find little steps like this that will lead you one step closer to living that life now!
Step Five: Create actionable goals
Now taking that list of things you wrote down in the last step, break them down into actionable goals. Start small and build from there, since this a lifestyle choice, most likely you are craving change in various areas of your life. Pick one goal for each area of your life. These goals might overlap with each other, that is totally okay because both will ultimately lead you towards living that dream life. Along the way more steps/goals will reveal themselves like bread crumbs. I want to be honest with you and say that at times working towards these goals are tedious but just take it one day and one step at times. Everybody is on their own timeline and you are on your way to the most adventurous chapters of your life!
Step Six: Follow people who are already living that kind of life
It is so important to surround yourself with people who are pursuing similar lifestyles. Think about the people you admire or when you come across their content or stories it reminds you that you want to live like that. Follow their social pages, if they have podcasts or videos, I highly recommend listening or watching them. This is something that I do, especially on days when I am struggling with my progress towards my goals. It is nice to have people who are going through similar things or may have dealt with a similar experience and can give advice. Feel free to follow me and subscribe to my blog. I would be happy to cheer you on your own journey! Definitely also follow Stephanie as well, she also shares a lot of great content as well!!
Step Seven: Give yourself grace and compassion as you start navigating this path
This is the one step I am currently working on myself, so whenever you reach this point, know that you are not alone. It is going to be hard and uncomfortable at first and a random points along your journey. After all you are making lifestyle changes, it is going to take time and sometimes you will feel like you are not making progress. Give yourself grace in these moments, prioritize self care and remind yourself of the reason you are doing this. It all comes back to your why, mostly like you are doing this because you want to make more time for things that you enjoy! Also it is okay to make pivots along the way because it is ultimately leading to your dream adventurous life. For example I am starting to create ways to support myself online as an entrepreneur. Currently pursuing photography, content creation and blogging. Some days the content I create across all these does well, other days not so much. I have to remind myself it is all a part of the journey and to keep chugging along because it is possible that my content just might inspire somebody else to seek an adventurous life. Also, usually right after you have these moments an awesome opportunity comes along! It has happened to me a couple of times on this journey thus far.
Step Eight: Celebrate the wins even the small ones
Please celebrate the wins along the way, no matter how small they seem! Any progress should be acknowledged, it helps you keep a mindset of gratitude. Your mindset is such a huge part of this journey you are embarking on. It is what is going to get you past all the hurdles that you will ultimately find along the way. If you set up a website, celebrate that, join a class or course, another reason to celebrate. Whatever it is , as long as it is a step moving forward, chalk it up as a win! Especially when you meet your goals or accomplish the tasks that you laid out for yourself. Those are big wins in my book! You are on your way to living a more adventurous life that is aligned with who you truly are.
Step Nine: Get outside and do the things that you love
Get outside and smell that fresh air! My main reasoning behind this step is to make time for play. If you have been following these steps so far, you have been putting in a lot of work. You are at the beginning of the biggest venture of your life and I want to help make sure that you and I are living a balanced life. Ultimately I am trying to create a lifestyle that is a healthy mix of work and play. A good place for me to start, make time to get outside every day. Scheduling my favorite outdoor activities based on seasons and weather in my calendar. Currently trying to cultivate a daily yoga practice as well. Make time for the things that you love and get outside when you can! Whatever activity evokes a sense of play or allows you to forget about the worries of everyday life. If you incorporate these little things into a weekly and monthly schedule, you are creating a balanced lifestyle. We want to start doing from the beginning because it will be a lot harder to incorporate much later down the road, not impossible though. Just go out and live your life to the best of your abilities.
Step Ten: Enjoy the journey
This is the final step I leave you with as you begin this incredible journey, enjoy it! Enjoy every last moment, the highs and lows, the people and friends you meet along the way. The experiences and adventures you partake in because you chose to live an adventurous lifestyle! You are saying yes to things that align with you and no to things that are not meant for you. Be present and in the moment because along the way ,more ways to enhance your life will be revealed. You don’t want to miss out on all the things meant for you!
Well, that is all my new friends, I hope that this blog post resonates with you and inspires you to go out and create your own adventurous life! I am so excited for you and I am so proud of you for doing this for yourself! You can always count on me cheering you on along this journey and would love to be a part of your support squad along this journey! Now go forth and start going through these steps one at a time. Take as much as time as you need with each step and feel free to repeat any steps along the way to remind and inspire to keep moving forward. Even if that means making a pivot, it is all a part of the journey!
Stay Wild, Stay Adventurous
-Ally
Author Bio:
Ally is a 26 year old entrepreneur based out of the PNW. She is a photographer, blogger and content creator. She loves outdoor adventures and travel. You can find more blog posts by her at https://wanderaboutwithally.wordpress.com/ . She is also on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, Wander About With Ally across all sites.
