Interview Brigitte
Ik koppelde duurzaamheid aan Artificial Intelligence in de hotelwereld
Valerie Nolte
Afgestudeerd, won de Tourism Innovation Award en wil verder met een master
Let’s go on a microadventure!
There is so much to discover and experience in your own country. So called ‘microadventures’ are fun and refreshing, because they break the daily routine and you learn a lot of new things. And they’re great for the environment and the locals. Alumna Brigitte Ars tells you all about microadventures!
Of course, we want to go on an adventure, preferably far away! But we don't always have the time, the money or - like now - the opportunity to go far and experience epic adventures. Microadventures are a great solution. These small adventures break the daily routine, and they force us to take on a different challenge or to discover a new part of your country. Whether it going to camp on a hill or in someone else’s backyard, swimming in a lake or river, cycling every street of your city or visiting and staying in a strange neighbourhood: just do it and you will experience the intensity and newness of an adventure.
The pioneer of microadventure is the Brit Alastair Humphries. "Adventures are important to us," he says. "We want to be challenged, experience things, and don’t want to feel later that we have been through too little in our lives," he says. Alastair went all the way as an adventurer: he walked through India, rowed across the ocean and cycled around the world. After he got a family, this changed. He also noticed that others were not always ready for an epic adventure: they had no time, no money, a family, or it was just too ambitious for them.
Adventure is an attitude
Alastair thought: Why not make your adventure so small that you no longer have an excuse not to start it? He and his friend walked around London, following the M25 ring road - not the greatest highlight, but interesting and challenging, which is most important. “Adventure is more of an attitude than anything else, and if it is, you can find adventure everywhere," he says. "The idea is that you apply the philosophy of big adventures locally." A micro adventure is short, cheap and nearby. A weekend for example, or an adventure from 5 to 9 instead of 9 to 5. For example, you hike up a hill and go camping in the wild. It challenges you and lets you be surprised. The handy thing about a micro adventure is that it is so small that everyone dares, including children. "Just do what you can, but also what you find exciting and inspiring," says Alastair Humphries. You can make it as wild and adventurous as you want. “Just go into nature and do something new and different. The only limit is your imagination.”
Moreover, a micro-adventure is much more than just being in the outdoors. A highway, village, city or any place is suitable for this as well. Talk to the locals, and it will give you a different experience. It’s all about mindset: search for the unknown in the known, and it really feels like an intense, refreshing mini-expedition.
Alice goes Wild
If you speak Dutch you can download a free guide with ‘40 microadventures in the Netherlands’ at my inspiration platform for adventurous living, Alice goes Wild (www.AliceGoesWild.nl). At the platform you can also read articles on adventure and adventurous lifestyle and mindstyle. The platform for adventurous living ‘Alice Goes Wild’ stands for personal development, physical and mental wellbeing and positive impact, guided by the Sustainable Development Goal – not only the way to travel now, but also in the future.