9 Types of Adventure for Midlife Women
The types of adventure midlife women want to embark upon may differ from the ones we enjoyed when we were younger. As we continue on the journey of life, we change and our circumstances change.
Many people think of adventures as mainly being physical challenges or overseas trips. Yet there are many other types of adventure too you could be enjoying–for decades to come.
Read on to discover nine different types of adventure, so you can enjoy life-enriching adventures that bring joy to your heart.
What is an adventure?
Adventures are endeavours that encompass a diverse range of physical journeys and life experiences. Where challenging, they can provide opportunities for personal discovery, transformation and growth.
From brief, mini adventures to extended journeys lasting months or even years, they can occur in our local surroundings or faraway lands.
While some adventures are meticulously planned, others unfurl spontaneously as a mindset to embrace and cope with unexpected life events.
A common thread of all types of adventure is that they involve experiencing something new, whether this be for the first time or with a new perspective, set of circumstances, or resources.
Here are the nine types of adventure:
1. Physical challenges
One of the most popular types of adventure, physical challenges include outdoor activities, adventurous sports, and extreme one-off feats. Examples include walking the Camino de Santiago, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, doing a Moon Walk or completing a marathon. Long periods of training and planning form integral components of this type of adventure.
Some midlife women can shy away from physical challenges but if you do, you’re likely to be missing out on fabulous times, opportunities to make new friends, and increase your long-term mobility.
Even the shortest of physical experiences such as a beach walk, wild swimming or entering a mini-triathlon could be an adventure.
What may seem routine to others, may pose a significant challenge or adventure for you. Ultimately, you determine what resonates as a physical adventure, on your terms!
What physical challenges would you love to do?
2. Adventure activities
These are activities that take you to new places, explore outdoors, or try something new. Types of adventure activities include walking, cycling, paddleboarding, wild swimming, going on a road trip, mountain biking, scuba diving, hiking, or seeing wildlife in their natural habitat.
I love watching Robson Greens Weekend Escapes (available on BBC iPlayer) where they combine catching up with friends, enjoying the outdoors, and trying out more unusual activities such as walking llamas in the forest, singing around a campfire, and enjoying an outdoor gong sound bath. This programme has really inspired me to think creatively about the type of adventures I’d love to experience.
What new activities would you like to try?
3. Adventure travel
Adventure travel involves exploring off-the-beaten-track destinations, that expose you to new cultures and experiences, and push you outside your comfort zone.
You can embark upon adventure travel as part of an organized tour, arrange a bespoke tour through a specialist travel agent, or plan and book the trip yourself. Adventure travel companies are an excellent solution if you don’t have time or the confidence to plan everything yourself.
While I sometimes go on organised tours to countries where it’s safer or easier to travel with a guide, I usually organise my adventure travel trips. As part of my planning, I often refer to established itineraries from experienced adventure travel companies to ensure I capture the best sights and experiences for my chosen destination.
Want more friends to travel with? Check out my blog posthttps://alisoun.com/travel-buddies/ Travel Buddies: 5 Ways to Find People to Travel With <HERE>.
Where in the world would you LOVE to visit?
4. Local adventures
I used to think of adventures and trips to faraway lands until COVID lockdown restraints compelled me to find new ways to feed my adventurous spirit locally.
This could be anything from local walks, historical sites, forests, beaches, or outdoor activities. Consider ways to build adventures around hobbies and interests e.g. if you like reading, dancing, or castles. Then create a list of all the places you could go, and then work through each local adventure on your list.
I have a couple of friends who identified all the local trig points and then spent several days over a few months walking to them. I love pyramids and volcanos so I’m considering a series of adventures based on those. There will likely be some wonderful places nearby that you could spend a few hours or days exploring.
What local sights or places of beauty could you explore?
5. Mini-adventures
Adventures don’t need to last for weeks, months, or years. Mini-adventures are those which fit into the times you have for fun or nurture your soul. Mini-adventures could be days out, mini-breaks, weekends away, workshops, short courses, or trying out new activities.
Other examples include a short walk or cycle, visiting a historical place of interest, or signing up for a popular local tourist activity. If you love adventure, consider how you could embark upon even the shortest of adventures, at home or away.
I write down all my ideas, and those I get from friends, social media, and TV in my Adventure Journal, so I don’t forget them.
What short trips or adventures could you embark upon?
6. Armchair adventures
Sometimes, through illness, ageing, war, or lockdowns we’re unable to leave home. Most people would find this type of restriction hard, particularly if you love to go out and embark upon adventures. So what can we do when we’re stuck at home?
Battling with chronic fatigue for the last few years also prompted me to consider new ways to infuse adventures into my life. Adventure books, films, TV shows, podcasts, and YouTube videos have been my saviour in bringing adventure into my home and keeping my adventurous spirit alive.
Likewise, you could also embrace new hobbies as adventures such as painting, photography, or gardening. Training to be a yoga teacher during Covid lockdowns was a fabulous adventure that gave me something to do and look forward to while at home. More recently I’ve turned my attention to learning how to create journals such as my Adventure Journal and Gratitude Journal.
How could you embrace more adventures from home?
7. Everyday adventures
Why restrict adventures to your free time and the days you have off?
If you love adventures or want to enjoy life more, intentionally finding ways to embrace adventure every day is a wonderful way to nurture your soul. Especially if you’re caught up in the many demands that often fall upon midlife women.
These could be anything from choosing to be more adventurous in what you eat, reading adventure books, reading books you wouldn’t usually read, taking a new route to work, or trying out new activities.
Spending less time on your phone and engaging in conversations with people you meet in the course of day-to-day activities can also lead to unexpected joyful moments and new opportunities you would have otherwise missed.
How could you incorporate more adventures into everyday life?
8. Adventures in life
Life adventures are the stages, transitions, and journeys we embark upon throughout life. These may be intentional e.g. going to university, learning a new skill, having a family, or starting up a business–whether or not you are successful in these quests. Or unintentional new experiences such as ageing, adventures in retiring, or coping with loss, grief, or chronic illness.
Personally, while I would never have chosen to have chronic fatigue, I am now treating my recovery as an adventure. It’s a new challenge that I’m determined to overcome, by trying all sorts of interventions until I’m back to full health. Being ill has invited me to enjoy more mini, everyday, and armchair adventures.
Similarly, becoming involuntarily childless prompted me to volunteer overseas and subsequently bring teams of women together who raised funds to build schools in Asia. Without a doubt that first email I sent was one of the best and most pivotal decisions I’ve ever made. It unleashed a torrent of fabulous adventures around the world.
How could you reframe life experiences to be more of an adventure?
9. Adopting an adventurous mindset
Have your thoughts ever held you back from embarking upon a new adventure?
Adopting an adventurous mindset is critical for all other types of adventure. Because, what you think, and how you act and respond to events throughout life determines your experience every day.
An adventurous mindset is one where you adopt a curious, open-minded, and courageous approach to life. Together with a love of learning and experiencing new things.
I’ve heard women over 50 saying they are too old to do all sorts of things. Not because there was any real reason they couldn’t do things, but rather because they were choosing to believe outdated nonsical misogynistic beliefs about how middle-aged women ‘should’ be. When you hold on to such beliefs they will hold you back from enjoying and making the most of life. It’s far more empowering to ask yourself, How/what could I do to….?
It’s time to let go of doubts, fears, worries and anxieties that are draining your happiness and explore exciting opportunities on the other side of your comfort zone!
I share more about how to nurture an empowering mindset in my book Heartatude, The 9 Principles of Heart-Centered Success you can check out <HERE>.
What thoughts or feelings are holding you back from adventures you’d love to experience?
Summary
There are many ways for women over 50 to experience adventure whether they are near or far, long or short, to physical destinations, experiences at home, or an adventurous mindset.
Whether you want to venture into the wilderness, immerse yourself in different cultures, or pursue personal goals, adventures provide opportunities for personal growth, add joy and meaning to your life, and create enduring memories.
What’s next?
What type of adventures appeal the most to you?
Want to capture all your ideas in one place? Or to find it easier to plan and remember your adventures?
I designed my Adventure Journal to enable you to do this. It has pages to list down all your ideas so you can prioritise them, put the dates in your diary, and start turning your adventures into reality. This journal is the perfect aid for planning and remembering all sorts of day trips, mini breaks, and micro-adventures. Check it out <HERE>.
To receive regular types and stories of adventure in your inbox, sign up for my Inspiring Midlife Adventures Blog <HERE>.
Remember, age should never be a barrier to pursuing new activities and adventures. Embrace your passions, interests, and curiosity, and let them guide you toward exciting experiences!
You matter, your happiness matters, and you do next matters.
Let the adventures begin!
With love and gratitude,
Life Coach, Business Mentor, and Author for Adventurous Midlife Women
Empowering you to enjoy a life of purpose, adventure, and fun in your midlife years and beyond.
P.S. Have you checked out my books <HERE> yet?
Often described as one of the most authentic and inspiring souls you can meet, Alisoun is on a mission to make it easier for women in their midlife years and retirement to make the most of life and do something that matters.
Alisoun’s keynote talks, training, mentoring, and best-selling books Heartatude: The 9 Principles of Heart-Centered Success and Give-to-Profit: How to Grow Your Business by Supporting Charities and Social Causes have favourably changed the good fortune of thousands of people worldwide. Personally, Alisoun loves spending time with friends, exploring the world, and living by the beach in Scotland.
Alisoun has written the following free resources:
- 101+ Ways to Create a Joyful Life of Meaning, Vitality, & Impact (download this HERE).
- Ebook: 52 Ways to Raise Funds for Charities and Social Causes Through Your Business (download this here)
Connect with Alisoun here:
