Naturally, many people think of an adventure as a multi-day journey. While that can certainly be true, it doesn’t have to be the only way. In our modern day, time off can be extremely limited, especially when obligations call your name. “The mountains are calling and I must go” said John Muir, but sometimes it just isn’t in the cards to do so every time your heart yearns for the beautifully desolate, the peaceful, the all-natural.

Allow us to introduce the answer to your jones-ing: the micro adventure. The micro adventure involves one’s ability to create a smaller activity that encapsulates the excitement of a multi-day journey. Something as simple as weeknight campfires, sleeping under the stars in your backyard, exploring local trails that you have yet to check out, waking early to check out sunrise from a tranquil space or packing a picnic to enjoy dinner in the wild away from the daily hustle and bustle. Hell, in the heat of the summer, pack your swimsuit in your car and go take a dip in a local body of water once the work-day is done. Recreate that feeling of a refreshing and relaxing river bath in the midst of the week. Needless to say, there are so many ways to carry-over our weekend adventures into the work week. This is a great way to escape the daily grind and reset without putting off a fresh mindset until the next upcoming weekend or a somewhat distant holiday weekend.

Basically, we’re telling you to apply a minimalist mentality and scale down your excursions within your daily life to incorporate adventure on a more regular basis. We strongly feel that the reward will be worth it. Just last night, we camped in our own backyard. I setup the tent as a surprise for Chris and prepared kindling and wood for a campfire. My goal was to create a night similar to those nights we spend in the backcountry. We fell asleep in our tent, with no rain fly, and knocked out with the stars glimmering directly above us. It was such a peaceful way to end the day and was something so small that made us so happy. We woke up as the sun peeked over the trees of our yard this morning and enjoyed the quiet before the rest of the world woke up.

Moral of the story, think small for a big reward, especially when you’re limited and unable to think big. Micro adventures are still adventures even if they are a little less extensive than what we’re used to.