Need Inspiration? Here Are 55 Adventures That Could Be Yours.

Sometimes we don’t adventure because life gets in the way.

Sometimes it’s because of finances. Sometimes family. Sometimes fear.

And sometimes it’s just because we’re not feeling particularly inspired.

Which is why today I thought I’d pull together a bunch of my best ideas for adventures big and small. Some take almost no money. Some take little time. Some take tons of time. Some mean spending money. But because there are 55 of them, hopefully there’s something here that fits your budget and abilities and (most importantly) gets you excited.

So, here we go. 55 adventures that could be yours:

:: Bike an entire coastline (Canada has the longest and Monaco has the shortest).

Rovinj on Croatia’s northern coast.

:: Walk (or even run) across a country (or region or county).

:: Walk a pilgrimage.

:: Sleep overnight on a hill or in a forest.

Just outside Salzburg, Austria.

:: Kayak a stretch of coastline.

:: Sail across an ocean.

:: Hike above the treeline.

Alps near Murren, Switzerland.

:: Summit a 14er.

:: Visit the oldest trees in the world.

:: Take a road trip to 10 (or five or 15) of America’s most strangely named towns.

:: Explore the landscape of your favorite novel. (Or of my favorite novel.)

:: Visit the Museum of Broken Relationships.

:: Visit an abandoned theme park.

:: Walk a river from end to end. (Though maybe start with something less intense than this guy’s journey.)

Soca River, Slovenia

:: Hike the Caminito del Ray, formerly one of the most dangerous footpaths in the world, now reopened to tourists.

:: Go to circus school and learn the aerial silks or trapeze (beware, that silk stuff is harder than it looks!).

:: Learn to paraglide.

:: Track a migration.

:: Track down and taste the world’s 10 strangest cheeses/wines/spirits/dishes/desserts/ice creams/etc.

Cheese with pine needles, found in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland.

:: Visit 100 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

:: Live in a treehouse for a week.

:: Cook your way around the world.

:: Cook every recipe in your favorite cookbook.

:: Motorcycle across a country.

:: Build your own boat, bike, or skateboard and then take it on a journey.

View from the Loire a Velo cycle path in France.

:: Visit the top-ranked tapas restaurant in every major Spanish city.

:: Walk an old Roman road from end to end.

:: Take a cooking class in every European country.

:: Read a book from or about every country.

:: Walk the Water of Leith Walkway.

:: Walk around an island.

Gozo coastal walk.

:: Actually do the spin-the-globe-and-go-where-my-finger-lands thing.

:: Sign up to perform at amateur night at your local comedy club.

:: Attempt to ride a mechanical bull.

:: Go to a BASE jumping destination, make friends with the jumpers, and follow them out to the exit to watch them perform their death-defying leaps.

BASE jumpers exiting the cliffs near Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland.

:: Write that book you’ve been meaning to.

:: Choreograph your own dance routine and perform it in the street.

:: Visit a ghost town.

:: Cycle around the world.

:: Become a diving instructor.

:: Hike the Appalachian Trail.

:: Join the Peace Corps.

:: Teach English abroad.

:: Try something that scares you.

High altitude hiking in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland.

:: Go canyoning.

:: Find and ride the 10 tallest/scariest roller coasters in the world.

:: Play in the rain.

:: Go on safari.

:: Trace your ancestry.

:: Go zip lining.

Zip lining near Sayulita, Mexico.

:: Hang out on a glacier.

:: Learn to do a handstand/back flip/splits.

:: Volunteer at a local charity.

:: Spend one day volunteering at each of your city’s local charities.

:: Walk to work one day instead of taking your car (even if it takes hours).

:: Go river rafting.

---

Now, let’s bulk up this list. Add your ideas in the comments!