A Grand (£1k) Adventure: 8 Microadventures Around Latin America

I have £1k ($1,600 US) to spend however which way I want on an epic adventure of a lifetime. What do I do?

That’s the question I’ve been asked to answer for the Grand Adventure Challenge, and I have come up with the most amazing itinerary that I’ve stretched to the max.

I’m a microadventurer. Microadventures range from full-day to multi-day mini outdoor expeditions of a human-powered journey. They’re all about getting up, getting out, and testing the hell out of yourself. I started doing microadventures as my way of “traveling” when I’m not traveling …I skateboarded 30 miles in 12 hours from Boulder to Denver, Colorado once, and another time I did a 2-day, 50 mile walk along the Atlantic coast, just to name a few.

For my grand adventure of a lifetime, I’d take my homeland journeys and I’d create an epic series of  8 microadventures around South and Central America. I’m talking SUPing across lakes in Nicaragua, walking straight across entire countries, kayaking the circumference of islands! Epic Adventures!!!

Before I dive into those details, I’ll first explain my cost breakdown because you and I both know that it takes some cash to do these things. So, let’s see just how far I can stretch a grand. After that, I’ll go into a bit of detail about each of my 8 microadventures, how they’ll work, and what makes them so epic.

The Cost Breakdown:

How to do 8 microadventures over the course of 3 months with only  £1k:

The plan is to do 1 microadventure a week, some of which will take 12 hours while others will take up to 4 days. This means I have about £325 pounds / $500 US dollars a month to stretch. That money will go towards:

• Keeping my belly full. Fortunately, I love street food and I have a stomach of steel!
• Buying myself a cold brew or two to drink at the end of a warm and beautiful day.
• A place to rest my head at night: Some nights I’ll do a hostel averaging $10/night, others I’ll use couchsurfing.org so I can stay with the locals or fellow expats. I also have a few family friends and fellow travel comrades living in various countries around Latin America I’ll be able to stay with.
• Buying magnets from each country I visit to add to my enormous collection displayed proudly on my kitchen fridge.
• Renting Or Bringing Gear:  Kayaks, SUPs, and Bicycles are large items to carry around. Some I’ll be able to bring, others I’ll rent on the spot. One option is to rent a van while down there and bring all my own gear and equipment, the other option is to simply rent.

Fortunately, after these costs, doing microadventures are absolutely free. It doesn’t cost a dime to walk across a country from coast to coast, or to SUP across a lake, or to cycle across a desert. All I need for that is time, will-power, and a sense of adventure. After that, I’m set.

The Microadventures:

1. Nicaragua: Stand Up Paddle Board Across A Body of Water

Lake Nicaragua is the biggest lake in Central America. The plan is to take off at dawn on the western coast and SUP about 8 miles to the beautiful Ometepe Island. This 5 mile by 10 mile piece of land is made up of 2 volcanoes, one of which has a gorgeous lagoon resting at it’s peak. I’ll camp here on the first night, and spend a full day exploring the island by bike and foot. The hike up to the lagoon is only 6 miles and all I’ll need is a map and a pair of hiking boots for that. There’s both camping and a hostel on the island, and I can pay $3 for internet for the day to let me friends know I’m still alive after microadventure day 1!

In bed by 8PM, and the next day will be the real kicker. I’ll SUP about 25 miles to the eastern coastline for an expected duration of 12 hours. The beauty of SUPs is they are massive, and you’re able to strap all of your supplies (food, water, sunblock, white chocolate macadamia nut cliff bars – you know, the essentials) to the board.

I’ll arrive around 10 PM, and head straight for my hostel where I’ll spend £7 on a bed and a hot shower, and £3 on a gigantic cheeseburger and cold beer.

BREAK: Take a bus back over to the coastline of Nicaragua or the coastal lake town of Managua. Meet locals, laugh with hostel mates, and do some writing.

(image courtesy of: Jayne-Anne Ahmann)

2. Panama: Walk from Ocean to Ocean

Panama at its thinnest point is only about 25 miles wide, a walk that can be done in about 12 hours. The goal is to walk from one ocean, the Pacific, to another ocean, The Atlantic. And lucky me, there is a road that stretches from the city of Panama straight across the country alongside Soberania National Park to the small port town of Colon.

The only cost of this microadventure is water and food, and with small towns conveniently placed along my route I’ll have no trouble getting access to those things. After that, it’s just putting one foot in front of the other towards the beautiful Atlantic coast.

BREAK: Panama has some of the best surf spots in Central America. I’ll kick back for a few days for some dawn patrol surf session in the AM and reading and relaxing in the afternoon to heal up for the next microadventure.

(image courtesy of: Shab Madina)

3.) Chile (north): A Skate Trek along the Atacama Desert

The plan is to skate 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the town of Antofagasta, Chile to the Giant Hand in the Desert, a sculpture that stands 11 meters tall. It is gigantic, and it will be the ultimate and most well-deserved high five!

I can skate about 30 miles in 1 day, so for this microadventure I’ll skate 25 miles, camp in the desert, and skate the remaining 20 miles the next day. I already have a longboard made for long distance skating and camping gear, so all I need to worry about is having enough water in my pack to get me from A to B. The Atacama is said to be the driest place on earth, so it’s certainly not the kind of place you want to run out of water!

BREAK: I’ll head back to the small city of Antofagasta and meander it’s beautiful coastal streets for a few days sipping coffee and practicing my Spanish.

(Image courtesy of: Leonardo Del Prete)

4.) The Galapagos: Kayak The Circumference of an Island

Galapagos National Park has a circumference of about 80 miles. The plan is to kayak about 20 miles a day and then camp along its beautiful shores. There’s a chance I’ll need permits for this, but I’ll worry about that when the actual planning begins. The Galapagos Islands are known for having some of the most amazing landscapes and wildlife known to man. It’s like no other place on this earth.

BREAK: Spend the week on one of the islands teaching English in exchange for accommodation in the afternoon, and swimming with sea turtles in the morning.

(Photo courtesy of: Chad Chase)

5.) Venezuela: Canoe to the World’s Largest Waterfall

Angel Falls is the world’s highest water fall at 979 m (3,212 feet) and it can only be reached by plane or by river. This presents a perfect opportunity for a canoeing microadventure!

The plan is to canoe down the Carrao River and then embark on a short hike to the base of the falls. Fortunately, the Carrao River is very calm and it only takes about 4-5 miles from its starting point. I’ll spend the day skinny dipping with these magnificent falls as my backdrop.

BREAK: Relax in Canaima, a small village overlooking the waters of a tannin-rich lagoon. My next microadventure is going to be a tough one, and I’m going to need to conserve my energy.

(Image courtesy of: unknown)

6.) Peru: Mountain Bike Across the Sand Dunes of a Desert

The small coastal town of Pacaras known for its beautiful landscapes and wind surfing is about 35 miles from the city of Ica. There’s a road that takes you from both destinations that would be perfect to do by car in less than an hour, but why do that when I can go off trail and mountain bike the sand dunes in between?

BREAK: Relax in Paracas for a week and learn to wind surf while staying with family friends in the area. Meals, accommodation, cold beer are taken care of, though I will spend £10 to cook them an amazing dinner one evening as a sincere thank you.

(Image courtesy of: Miquel Milqito)

7.) Bolivia: Cycle Across Salt Flats

The salt flats of Bolivia offer some of the most creative, badass, and hilarious opportunities for photo taking. The plan is to cycle from Uyuni to the volcano fo Cerro Tunupa, which is about 50 miles apart. I’ll break this up into 2 days and spend the night camping in the breath-taking, and wide-open salt flats. This area offers the worlds largest salt flats at 10,582 square kilometers. It’s been on my bucket list for years, and I still kick myself in the butt for not having visited there when I studied abroad in Argentina during college.

BREAK: Take a bus over to Bolivia’s side of Lake Titicaca and spend a week lounging in a lake-side hostel and rope swinging into the water.

(Photo courtesy of: Miranda Daigle)

8.) Chile (south): A Place That Can’t Be Reached Without Climbing

Wheels simply can’t take you to Torres del Paine  in Chilean Patagonia. I’ll set out on a one-week backpacking microadventure. This is something I’ll do with a tour group as I’m not as comfortable with solo-backpacking for such an extensive amount of time. I’ll be budgeting a larger amount for this particular adventure, but I think it’s well worth it.

BREAK: It can’t be over can it?! It’s time to head out to my final destination…

(Image courtesy of: Julie Gosse)

The Final Week: Take It All In

Now it’s time to take a step back and think about all that I’ve done over the past 2.5 months. By now, I will have visited both South and Central America. I will have skateboarded through deserts, cycled across flatlands, walked across countries, SUPed the span of lakes, kayaked around an Island, and canoed a majestic river just to name a few. I will have experienced Nicaragua, Panama, Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru, and the Galapagos Islands.

“Now what?” you ask.

I think now it’s time head to one of my favorite cities in the world, Rio de Janeiro. I have a good friend volunteering there that I’d love to see, and know of a few too many stands on the beach that sell Caipirinhas. Did I mention I’m also a rock climber, and the mountains outside of Rio offer some of the most amazing climbing and bouldering in the world?

It’s true, I have a problem sitting still. I love to explore, I love to test myself, I love to see where I can go and how I can get there.

And now 3 months later, as I head home from the international airport outside of Rio after a week of reading The Alchemist on the beach and watching cute boys play soccer along the shoreline, I’ve just spent the best £1 Grand of my life. Ademas, yo puedo hablar español como si yo crecí hablándolo. (Furthermore, I can speak spanish as if I grew up speaking it.). And more than anything, I know I just did something amazing, and meaningful, and life-changing.

I’ll leave you with a few maps of the itineraries that will make up my Grand Adventure.

Today I’d like to share with you guys a beautiful poem called The River by Scott Robertson. This poem isn’t just about nature and the outdoors and all that it can do for us when we spend time among it, but also about life, and trusting in it.

For me, personally, when my head is clouded or I’m faced with a difficult decision, I take to the outdoors. I embark on an all-day hike or paddle or skate, and I don’t come back until I’ve worked out what it is that seems to be plaguing my mind.

When I came across Robertson’s poem, the lines that stuck out to me most were “The water carries me on, To a destination unknown, Yet I am peaceful in mind, As I know everything I need, The river will bring to me, When the time is right”

When we’re traveling, be it exploring the the world, or metaphorically speaking in life, this mentality is the one that will truly take you to the far and wide places you’re meant to go.

And so, without further ado, I present to you, The River by Scott Robertson:

I sit in an old wooden chair under an old street lamp
With its dimly glowing light
Illuminating the scenes before me
It glows like a thousand firebugs floating above my head

The sound of water roars by
The night sky twinkles above my head
Sounds of birds chirp in my ear
A peaceful clarity fills my soul
As if the water is washing all my stress away

Closing my eyes I see myself
Floating down a peaceful river
In a bright red canoe
The oars are floating some where behind me
Long forgotten as the stream
Does the work to propel me forward
I am at mercy of its flow
As if I am a train and the stream my tracks

Along the banks I see people waving at me
The river takes me to them
We chat and enjoy a nice meal together
Then the river carries me away
I growl as I am not ready to move on
But I have to trust that the river knows best

The water carries me on
To a destination unknown
Yet I am peaceful in mind
As I know everything I need
The river will bring to me
When the time is right

I open my eyes and find
I am still sitting in the old wooden chair
With the old street lamp glowing above my head
After a long content sigh
I sit back enjoying nature’s show before me

Written by Scott Robertson Nov 15 20

Photography Credit: Sunset Kayak by Incidental Creativity

What makes for a good death? (+4 more burning questions)

I want to live a life so extraordinary, and ridiculous and jam-packed with BEING that by the time I’m 105 I’ll still be doing microadventures in my walker, narrating blog posts on The Mad to Live to my grandchildren, and  starting businesses like an adventure travel agency for “super” senior citizens.

I don’t want to stop to living until the die I physically can’t live anymore!

Why are we the way we are?

But why is this? People ask me quite often why I’m so damn motivated. Most can’t believe I’m 25 years old and I’ve done some of the cool things I’ve done. (Though, I can still be quite immature, believe me, I’m still learning!)

I recently read a fantastic piece written by Venssa Runs -an amazing woman living a nomadic life on her own terms out of a van – titled Seeking Dispersers: A Call to Embrace a Wild Life. In it, she asked 5 very important question that I couldn’t resist writing down in my notebooks:

The 5 Burning Questions

1. What makes for a well lived life?  

2. What makes for a good death?  

3. Why does it seem like the best among us leave far too soon?  

4. What is it that made these men who they were?  

5. And what drove them to do the things they did?  

Breaking It Down

I posted these 5 questions on The Mad to Live’s facebook wall and one of my favorite readers, Paul St. John (who, by the way, writes a blog called Not Lost Just Weird all about embracing being different) commented, “What makes a good death? Having lived all the life out of living!”

… And that’s it, really.

The last two questions mention, “who they were” – a state of being, and the “things they did” – a state of doing.

… That’s what it comes down to.

A very inspiring woman and traveler, Britt Reints, who writes a a personal development blog that’s more than just fluff but inspires so much action and change called In Pursuit of Happiness, wrote in her twitter profile, “When I die, I hope they say: she had the guts to be happy.”

… Amen sista!!!

A Final Word

Just because we can break this down into  5 simple questions doesn’t mean the process of answering them in our own lives is easy. I’ve got an article coming to you soon all about my struggles and battles getting the courage to answer these questions.

Asking these these questions promise reflection upon the choices we’ve made so far, and whether or not we truly feel we have been making a well-lived life.

The picture above reads, “If you don’t live for something, you’ll die for nothing.”

And for a lot of us, there is that very deep, permanent, fixed place in our bodies that says that we must do something with our lives, that we must be significant in making this world a better place, and we must create, and do, and be, and see, and explore, and experience, and evoke, and inspire.

It is simply within us and how we are.

Some people, they sit on couches. And then there are the men and women driven to do the amazing things they do.

Cheers to that.

And cheers to being rock n’ rollin’ old ladies and men decades from now still living a life well lived!!!!

Our goal: To promote awareness and bring in donations that will bring the first ever climbing wall to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. BEYONDgear has raised over $12,000 for a climbing wall in a secure community sports center in a shantytown of Rio. However, more is needed to build it and expand their organization, The Centro de Escalada Urbana. Each tweet brings awareness to their campaign, and helps us get closer to making this happen.

JOIN THE CROWD IN MAKING THIS HAPPEN BY TWEETING:

ACT NOW: Be part of 100K people to RT #Adventure4Good in 24 Hrs to bring the 1st ever climbing wall to Brazil’s slums http://bit.ly/XzwFZl

A Don’t Just Watch Project: This social media experiment was created to show that it only takes a little bit of action (in this case 1 single tweet) to make a huge difference.

When we’re done with this campaign, not only will the climbing wall be possible for these kids, but it will also be a profound example to showcase the power of people joining together to make something happen. What’s more – doing it through twitter proves that amazing and powerful good can come from social media.

And so, I leave you with just a few final call to actions.

• Send out this tweet to your followers
• Email your friends and get them on board. Ask them to tweet and share it.
• Like this post and share it on Facebook
• Head over to the campaign and donate – $25 gets you one of BeyondGEAR’s trademark stopper necklace
• Take a moment to think about some of the causes you’re passionate about, and think about how you can make an impact there

Thanks for your support guys,
Lauren Rains (OMM & M2LIVE) & Asa Firestone (BEYONDgear)

There’s never too much that I can bite off, and I’m normally left with far too much to chew. And while I always find a way, it can get a little stressful at at times. If I had it my way, I’d never have to sleep, but that’s just not possible.

So, when Nate Agin came to me from NonStopAwesomeness and offered me a Life Audit to help me streamline my day, I couldn’t say no. It’s a service he offers on his blog to clients, and after hearing about some of the results he’s helped people to achieve, I knew it would be valuable.

Not to mention that Nate is definitely one of The Mad to Live. In fact, he just achieved a Kickstarter goal to launch his own show called Trave. Eat. Thrive where he takes people on a journey of travel, eating, conversation, and nutrition. His goal was $7,000 and he raised over $10,000. I think that speaks for itself.

We decided to film the Life Audit, and so below I share with you a condensed version of about 15 minutes. And while Nate is talking to me about some of my specific hurtles, I think you’ll find it worthwhile to watch yourself being that you guys suffer from the same “I want to do EVERYTHING in this one wild and precious life I have” mentality.

Get Objective – NO FLUFF!

One thing I loved about this life audit was that Nate didn’t feed me any fluffy bullshit. He gave me small, actionable steps I could implement as soon as we got off our call.

People like us don’t have time for “fluff”. I’ve read a billion times the same personal development tips that of course our important, but they’re so general and common-sense, they all start to blend together. If you want to do things, you have to get specific.

That means actionable steps, getting black and white, figuring out which decisions you’re going to say “yes” to and “no” to and not look back on.

Tweaking Is Key

Oftentimes, when we want to make a change, we feel like we need to do this gigantic grand show where it all happens at once. But that’s not always the best way to go about it.

Starting off small, and then tweaking until it’s streamlined is really the best way to do it.

For instance, when I first launched Outdoor Minded Mag, the initial version of the website got the job done, but it wasn’t perfect to me. However, I knew it would take time to get the overall vision established, to build the foundation, and to gain momentum. And so, step by step, I built it up to what it is today.

Or lets say you want to do a huge expedition where you walk across America like the amazing Nate Damm. To get a taste, do a microversion of that. That’s part of why I did the 2 day, 50 Mile Walk for Tomorrow’s World Changers!

Whether it’s planning something big out by starting small, or taking your day and tweaking it so those big things are more attainable, the only way to do it is to DO things that will get you closer to it!

Putting the 2 Together

These 2 lessons were key in Nate’s Life Audit for me. By getting specific and focusing on how I can make small changes that would bring big results, Nate truly helped me. This “do stuff addict” is going to get to do even more now!!

And so, without further ado, check out Nate’s Life Audit of me in which he helps me fine tune my day so I can DO even more and still get enough sleep at night!

THE PROMPT:

Anthony Bourdain once said, “Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves a mark on you. Most of the time, those marks on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” Looking back on the marks of your past travels, and seeing the big picture of it all, why is it, that you, in fact, travel? 

The Story Behind This Edition:

This particular Groundbreaker Roundtable was inspired by a video I made for the Traveler Of The Year Contest. The challenge was to create a video about “Why I Travel.” Truth be told, while I’ve been adventuring my whole life, I haven’t left the country since my year living in China, and it seems crazy to say this, but I had began to get out of touch with my inner-traveler.

As I made this video, compiling all the photos and video for it, getting out to film clips on top of a 14,000 foot mountain, and writing the narration for it, it all came back. Whether I win the contest or not, I was meant to do this project, because it reminded me of who I am at my root, put me back in touch with one of my greatest passion, and let me celebrate memories that I’d put away.

(PS – You can vote for my video right HERE to help me win a 30 Day Trip to INDIA!!! THANK YOU!) 

This Groundbreaker Roundtable is to inspire anyone who of course, loves to explore this amazing planet we live on, but also maybe has fallen out of touch with their inner traveler, and needs a little reminder as to why they travel.

Without further ado, I present to you these amazing individuals, and why they travel. 

Phil Drolet – Feel Good LIfestyle

Our Souls, Lives, Thinking Expands

I travel because with each new adventure, each new friendship, and each new discovery, my soul expands a little bit. I get exposed to different ways of thinking, to different realities and this makes me a more textured, understanding human being. I realize that my way of doing things is only one of a million. I think, I ponder. I change.

When I travel, my eyes sprinkle with excitement and my heart bursts with gratitude. I feel like I’m only a little speck in the universe, yet that I can change someone’s life with a smile or a kind gesture. I travel because we live in a wonderful, wonderful world and I only have one lifetime to experience all of it.

Spencer Spellman – The Traveling Philosopher

The Change Only Travel Can Bring

I travel for change. But not just because travel changes me; something even deeper then that. I think the philosopher Seneca said it well when he stated: “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” For me it’s about change of place, lifestyle, work, and daily routine. All of this change enhances the travel experience and brings new vigor, so that when I return, I’m not the same person who I left as. Travel has a trickle down effect that affects my home, work, and relationships. That’s reason enough to travel!

Caz Makepeace – yTravelBlog

It Comes Down To The Memories 

I believe that life is all about the memories. There is nothing else that permanently stays with us as we journey through life. Therefore I travel in order to create many beautiful memories. I’m 36 and I’ve been travelling since I was 21. I feel my life, even at my young age, is jam-packed full of living-life-to-the-fullest memories.

I feel most alive when I travel and as if I am living a purposeful life. It is where I feel most free and my dominate emotion is one of joy and peace, despite any challenges that arise. It is the experiences I have had and the people I have met travelling who have helped to shape the person I am today. My travel memories remind me always to be grateful, to be happy and that life is indeed beautiful and so are all the people who share the journey with us.

Melvin Boecher – Travel Dudes

Isn’t It Simply, More Fun? 
Wouldn’t I be bored, if I would just sit at home and do…??? Watch TV? Play computer? Go to work? Sleep in? Isn’t it more fun to sit on a pick-up truck and hitch hike through Thailand to get a night train in a 2nd class wagon with open windows and fans, which shakes you smoothly into sleep?

Isn’t it more fun to listen to crazy experiences other travelers share with you on the road or to meet locals, who open your horizont a bit more? Isn’t it more fun to have your own elephant encounter than just watching it on TV?
That’s why I travel… I like to live life!

Matt Long – Land Lopers

Travel Is My Teacher 

I was born with an insatiable desire to see and learn as much as I could. As a kid this meant reading everything I could get my hands on about foreign cultures; yeah, I didn’t have a lot of friends. As an adult though travel has filled this primal need and it has become a drug – one that rewards instead of punishing. Travel teaches me more about life and ultimately myself than anything else could ever hope to and it is for this personal journey that I feel the pressing need to see the world.

Erica and Shaun – Over Yonderlust

Learn Yourself 

There isn’t a single reason that we travel. It comes down to a few things. We love to eat. We love to meet people. We love to push ourselves to a breaking point. It is all about creating a new sense of self and learning about yourself and the world along the way.

Jason Castellani- 2 Backpackers

Travel For New Perspective and Understanding 

Travel for me is an escape, an education and a chance to connect with nature. A typical life working the daily grind in a cubicle can be debilitating to your body and mind. Our bodies are meant to do more, our minds to explore, of which travel satisfies. Most of us only know the world in which we live. That’s usually a closed world, immune to the sad realities of less developed nations, often influenced and bullied by Western worlds. We become more intelligent and better world citizens as we are exposed to new worlds. Lastly, I seek nature when I travel. It reminds me to respect mother earth and learn that we are only here because of her, and she will be here long after us. Nature has the most amazing wonders, complexity and challenges waiting for us to explore.

Jon Maiden – The Microadventuruer

To Get Back To What’s REAL
For me, travel is not so much about voyages to strange and distant lands, but a state of mind. I therefore remind myself to travel frequently – to wander, to explore, to discover – each and every day, both near and far.

Travel is an opportunity to break outside of the artificial world we can often create for ourselves at home, engulfed by technology and our too comfortable home surroundings. Travel allows us to get back to what is real – to experience the natural environment, to engage with authentic people and cultures, and remind ourselves of those who have journeyed before us.

So wherever I find myself, I will be continually wandering, constantly exploring, always striving to discover…

A Final Word From Lauren

All of these guys must be onto something, ya know? Travel has a way of opening our eyes, minds and hearts, and helping (sometimes forcing) us to grow into the person we’re meant to be. It helps us learn ourselves, creates memories in which we feel most alive, gives us a greater understanding as to how this world works, and changes us in ways only travel itself is able to.

If you haven’t traveled yet, I encourage you to book that flight or take a weekend roadtrip. Let wanderlust take over you.

If you’ve gotten out of touch with your inner-traveler, reread their responses as many times as you have to, until you’re reminded of why you travel.

And remember, there are all kinds of travel. Whether you want to emerse yourself in local culture or just hike the trails of your backyard, the key is to explore, to move, to experience. That is travel.

WHAT TO DO NEXT:

1.) IN THE COMMENTS: IT’S YOUR TURN!  Reread the prompt and share your insight, story, lesson, philosophy on why, in fact, you travel.

2.) VOTE FOR MY VIDEO: Head over to the Traveler Of The Year contest page and vote for my video! It’ll send me to India for 30 days – just what I need in the next step to getting back in touch with my inner-traveler! VOTE HERE

Well guys, that’s me! I’m going to be a quarter century old on Sunday! I want to end 24 with a very ridiculous bang, and start 25 with an even bigger one. That’s where you come in!

I’m taking suggestions, dares, and challenges to do over the next 2 weeks. Humongous to Microscopic | WTF-that’s-crazy to sweet and simple | Things that’ll make me laugh, to things that’ll make me cry, to things that’ll teach me what life is all about | 5 minutes to 24 hours | etc etc etc – ANYTHING!

Here are 4 of the main ones I’m looking for:

• Something that will get me out of my comfort zone 
• Something that will teach me about love and gratitude
• Something small that will brighten my day
• Something that you’ve done that changed your life
• Anything else you got!

Here is a video for him that his family made, and you can send your love, prayers and help at this website. http://www.Pray4Ray.wordpress.com

Tell you friends you love them. Stop and say hello. Or just send a text to say you’re thinking about them. Don’t ever let it go unsaid how much someone means to you.

- Love Laur

Today’s post tells a story about how and why people come into our lives. It’s about friendships that change, complete, and fulfill your life that merely started off as 2 strangers crossing paths. This post is about the adventure of chance meetings, serendipity, and what 2 people who at one point didn’t mean a thing to each other and would one day become an essential part of one another’s lives.

“Hey Stranger,” was the first thing Ray said to me when he met me for coffee this morning a little over a year after we first met.

At times I find it hard to believe it’s been that long since we actually did start off as strangers. But then again, at other times I wonder what I was doing to fill that piece of the puzzle in my life that he’s been for me.

The interesting thing about strangers is you never really know just what kind of impact they’ll have on your life: good or bad, short-term or long-term, romantic or platonic.

I met this once-upon-a-time stranger at a local cafe here in St. Augustine Beach, Florida. We were both regulars – the kind that show up early to do our work and stay till close even on a Saturday night – and one day he placed half of a bagel covered in honey on my table next to his.

We’ve been friends ever since.

When you make room in your life to let strangers in, you make room in your life for the great adventure of people and of friendship. In my opinion – this adventure is just as exciting, as daring, as capable of helping you grow as the adventures of exploring the hidden gems of earth on our travels.

When you meet anyone for the first time, be it in line at the store, a dinner party you’re the guest at, or in your local coffee shop, you’ll have no idea if they’ll be someone you will later call one of your oldest friends.

You won’t know their history, and they won’t know yours.

You won’t know if that friendship will out last the hurtles of time and distance and change that all friendships eventually do.

You won’t know if one day thirty years from now you’ll recall that brief conversation with that stranger that magically changed the way you viewed how an aspect of the world worked.

And so today I sat next to Ray and we got into talking about all of what’s written above. It’s a feeling I’m sincerely grateful for to be able to look this good friend in the eye who was once a stranger, and to have him look me right back in the eye, and we tell each other we’re thankful that we came into each others lives.

Some people – they just get you, ya know? It’s almost as if you’ve known each other forever. Or maybe it’s more like you don’t need to spend that extra 5 minutes explaining why this or that happened because somehow they already get it. There’s this basic and fundamental understanding there. And that’s what I have with this once-upon-a-time-stranger.

It’s sincere. It’s open. It’s accepting. It’s nonjudgmental.

Each and every person that comes into your life comes into your life for a special reason. The people that put us through hell are just as necessary as the people who help us open doors we never knew existed or we weren’t strong enough to open just by being a positive presence in our own lives.

For me, only a few months after Ray was just a stranger who spent way too much time in coffee shops like me, helped me get through some of the most difficult times I’ve ever gone through in my life. And he did that not by being some sort of nurturing cushion trying to act as a remedy, but just be being my friend and being in my life.

Some people, just be being with them, somehow help you make sense of any mess, help you remember that ‘everything is going to be okay‘, and help you remember what it’s like to not be sad or angry or hurt or scared if at least for a brief moment.

And it turns out, that along the way, I was the same thing for him too. We were two strangers that ended up having each others’ backs.

Somehow, we both filled a gap in each others lives.

And it all started with the simple, kind act of a stranger sharing  half of a bagel with another stranger.

In this Groundbreaker session you’ll meet Lisa Lubin, an Emmy award winning TV Producer and world traveler, Matt Karsten of one of the best travel blogs out there ExpertVagabond, Janet Brent who is a web designer living in the Phillipines, and Tia Sparkles who is just hands down a positive and inspiring individual.

Their Prompt: Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance, once told us, “Always remember, it’s simply not an adventure worth telling if there aren’t any dragons.” Being that those of us here at The Mad to Live see no other way to live our lives other than as a daring adventure of unbridled enthusiasm, we’ve all surely faced our fair share of dragons. Some of them we’ve taken down with the push of our pinkie fingers, and others have nearly pushed us off the cliff. Tell us about one of the dragon’s you’ve faced through one of your most significant business, travel, or general life adventures, and what lesson you learned from slaying it?

Lisa Lubin of LLWorldTour - Realizing what “real” means

Tia Sparks Singh of Your Life Your Way - The Passion Path

The biggest adventure I’ve been on includes life, travel, AND career, and has lasted 14 years – the adventure of finding, accepting, and loving myself and my unconventional way of life.

You see, some people have a career path, I have a PASSION path.

I was never meant to work in an office and haven’t held a job down longer than 9 months - either I upped and left or the firm went out of business! From advertising to financial services to educational content management to technical recruiting to massage therapy to career counseling to life coaching and blogging … it’s been a heck of a ride.

I’ve lived in 4 countries in 3 continents in 11 years, spent 3 years in jobs, 3 in contract work/self employment, 3 in business, and taken 5 years off in the 14 years since finishing my post grad.

The biggest dragon I faced in this adventure of living and working on my own terms has been to continue believing in myself and the life I’ve envisioned whilst fighting the comparison monster. It takes guts to live an unconventional life.

My lesson? That EMBRACING my multi-passionate Scanner nature and living my life MY way is a education and adventure that I cannot help but continue as long as authenticity is one of my values. Bring it on, world.

Janet Brent of Purple Panda – Making busy-ness, not lazy-ness.

Slaying my dragons makes me think of Alice, and indeed, this ‘crazy’ life feels like you’ve gone down the rabbit hole. Life is a business, so make busy-ness, not lazy-ness! Essentially, that’s what lifestyle business is all about. My ‘dragon’ isn’t necessarily one thing, but this THING that is my lifestyle… that is my business. I live in the slums for cheap transience while I figure this thing out. It has challenged me to tears, and brought me to many $0. I’m still surviving. Every time I see even the tiniest progress is a major triumph. Last year was lessons in learning how to think past scarcity mindset when you’re faced with scarcity and this year is making things happen! Hint: You can’t feel sorry for yourself, dwelling in lazy-ness if you want to succeed. It’s all about creating opportunities instead of holding on to false beliefs around circumstance. Get busy!

Yours Truly – Sticking With Things

Learning how to finish things, but also allowing myself to dabble and experiment when needed has been, and is still, a balancing act I’m learning to control. In the past, however, I was all over the place. I had notebook after notebook of ideas and blog posts and business plans and charts. NONE, and I mean NONE of them ever were fully finished or accomplished. They’d get 25% or 50% or even 99% done… and then I’d move on as if they’d never happened, completely enthralled in something else.

Sticking with one thing is what allowed me to launch and run Outdoor Minded Mag. It’s what’s gotten me to finally relaunch The Mad to Live. It’s what’s helping me train for my marathon, and giving me the discipline to save up for my Stand Up Paddleboard so I can SUP across Lake Tahoe. Lesson Learned: Train your brain, discipline yourself (and be strict if you have to), and remember that pure perfection does not exist!!!!

What would you add to this roundtable discussion? What’s a story and lesson behind a dragon you’ve slayed? Share your story for others to read in the comments below! 

Think about it like this …if you were to log your thoughts, say, every 10 minutes from the moment you rise to the moment you lay your head to rest again, what patterns would you find in your thoughts, reflections and musings?

Would you find complaints and long sighs about the less favorable circumstances throughout?
Are there any moments you stopped to smell the roses and actually took it all in? You actually payed attention to everything in your present moment?
How many thoughts are filled with self-doubt and giving yourself shit?
When you’re minded of past times, do you feel regret that they’ve passed or do you feel happy that they happened?

Are your thoughts backed by hope and confidence, or are they engulfed in fear and worry?
Do you find yourself thinking about the worst in people, or the best in people?
How many times a day to you feel grateful?
How many times a day do you give love and accept love?
Is there laughter and humor throughout your day, or is it intense and serious?
Are your thoughts filled with anger? boredom? peace? happiness? gratitude? resentment? uninspired?

The thoughts you carry with you create the rhythm of your life. And just so you know, in case you forgot because we all do this sometimes …you’re the one that controls the rhythm.

CTA: Here’s an idea. For the rest of the day, log your thoughts every 10 minutes in a notebook. Write one or two sentences about how you’re feeling in that given moment, until you end up with 6 thoughts per hour. You’d be surprised just what you find.

For instance, I once decided to take the “Complaint Free” challenge, which you can join over in the Mad Life Challenges. The complaint free challenge consists of going 21 days without complaining. You track your complaints with a purple bracelet, and every time you complain about something you switch wrists. The idea is to go 21 days without switching the bracelet.
And let me tell you …for someone who claims themselves to be a positive person who keeps a positive outlook, I couldn’t believe when the complains would find their way in there. And that’s just what I said out loud!
I actually still wear the bracelet as a simple reminder to look at the bright side of life.

At the end of the day, go back to your thought log and see what you honestly, truly think about throughout the day. Look for the patterns. Find out where you can improve.

If you have rhythm you hate, find a way to let go of it. Embrace your circumstances for what they are, even the ones filled with regret, the ones you can’t change, the ones that haunt you. Think about them, but don’t let them shadow over everything else.

And the last bit of wisdom I’d like to give you is this: the fastest and the best way to create a rhythm you love, is to give love.

Think about it.

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