Adventure may have less to do with where you go than with your willingness to leave the familiar behind. Denis Balibouse / Reuters
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.
The word adventure tends to conjure images of people climbing mountains, kayaking through rapids, or traveling to remote corners of the world. It sounds expensive, athletic, and slightly exhausting.
But adventure is really just the experience of stepping into something uncertain—doing something for which you don’t already know the outcome. And that can happen almost anywhere. Maybe you can sign up for a new class, introduce yourself to a stranger, or simply say yes to an opportunity that scares you. What these experiences have in common is not danger. It’s unpredictability.
Adventure runs against the logic of modern life. We spend much of our time trying to reduce uncertainty—to make things more predictable, efficient, and manageable. Adventure asks us to do the opposite. It tests our willingness to leave the familiar behind.
My colleague Isabel Fattal recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. “The stunning beauty of Red Rock Canyon, just a 15-minute drive or so from my home. It takes my breath away each and every time I see it—whether from my car or when I wake my laptop!” Michele R., from Las Vegas, Nevada, writes.
