The definition of Adventure
Adventure “an unusual and exciting or daring experience” Recently the meaning of this word I commonly use has come into question from myself. I use it all the time, I’m a self-proclaimed ‘Adventurer’ and ‘Adventure hunter.’ It’s what I seek, most hunters desire dramatic landscapes, risk and cool places rather than easier hunting spots. Basically, I don’t mind low animal numbers as long the landscape I traverse is Lord of the rings’esk. This means anything from swamplands, high-country deserts, glacial valleys, thick forest or cave ridden mazes. If you’re a hunter you’ll know what I’m talking about. But is adventure this grimy battle in the wilderness? seeking beasts in inhospitable lands and conquering your fears? Or is it as simple as going to the beach.
I don’t think the latter definition is wrong, I certainly don’t think hunting is the only form of adventure, but surely it needs to include a bit of struggle and hard graft? What does it say about society if recreational activities like going on a simple road trip, hanging out driving are deemed adventurous? I don’t think this should bother me but it just does. It’s certainly a prideful part of me that doesn’t want my backcountry activities grouped with the likes of seemingly mundane, boring things. In my mind adventure is intertwined with figures like Sir Edmund Hilary, Ed Stafford, Levison wood and Tim cope. Real feats where death was a constant possibility. It seems to me that somewhere along the line Hyperbolic exaggeration has changed the definition in people’s minds.
Under my own rules would I call myself an ‘Adventurer’? I semi regularly take up expeditions for days at a time in the backcountry and experience danger under a goal driven quest. Is it really adventure? At the press of a PLB I can be out of 90% of dangerous situations, a road end is at most a week of walking away but usually far less. So much of NZ is covered in tracks, huts, other people who speak the same language as me, I can use my phone at the top of many hills and use a GPS to find my way anywhere. It’s hard to compare what outdoor recreationalists and I do in wild places with the likes of Mountain climbers like Sir Edmund Hilary, and epic multiyear traverses like Tim Copes traverse of the Silk Road or Ed Stafford’s Battle through the amazon Jungle. I think the definition has scale but it still doesn’t sit right with me. One day will going to the fridge be an adventure? I surely hope not.