One of my closest friends from university introduced me to ‘adventures’ and since then I’ve been hooked. We may see an adventure as something momentous, to go out to the world and explore or do something you’ve always dreamed of doing. Yet it doesn’t have to be daring or risky, as long as you leave each one with a great memory. She taught me how to fall in love with exploring cities and doing things I’d usually put off. What she taught me was that an important part of an adventure is what you make of it.

It’s not often you meet rays of sunshine in your life, I’ve been lucky to have a few as friends and family. I met one of my closest friends, Sophie, at university through a mutual friend and I can remember meeting her as if it were yesterday. We got chatting about books, cats and music after I poked my head into her student digs.

Through our time at university, we’ve made many memories, but there is one thing I will always be grateful to her for. She introduced me to this wonderful way of looking at adventures, by exploring cities, finding hidden gems from bars to impromptu cinema trips. My idea of what exploring could be changed.

I used to think adventures had to be momentous, that exploring wasn’t for everyone. All those tales I used to read in travel blogs, social media posts and books. Adventures meant travelling the world, skydiving or finding something unknown. I couldn’t just pack my life up and leave, and so adventures to me always seemed out of reach.

Sophie showed me what I had overlooked, that you could explore what lay on your doorstep and that it could lead you to amazing places, give you brilliant stories to share, memories and endless photos to look back on. From S=side streets that served good coffee, Tiki bars that served the best ‘Rum Bongos’ around, diving out of the library to check out the local church and head to the cinema and dinner parties too – we managed to pack a lot in our time at university (and after too).

I learnt that adventures didn’t have to reach a milestone, or range in a particular size. They are what you choose to make them, and thanks to her, my adventures are ones filled with memories. It’s why I want to fill my year with as much of them as I can, like I had last year; and as soon as it is safer outside for me to venture out, I will continue to follow this amazing tradition that started off small. For now though, I will plan for a time when the sun is shining and I can share it with those I love.

What’s your next big adventure?

~ E