[Adventure]

[Adventure]

A friend of mine recently asked me if I consider myself an adventurer. I like to see myself as one but at the same time it got me thinking. What does it really mean to be an adventurer? What is an adventure? I had to look it up. The dictionary on my computer gave me this definition: [Adventure: Verb. Engage in hazardous and exciting activity, esp. The exploration of the unknown: ex. They had adventured into the forest].

Ok, well I have to be honest. I do tend to like some things that may be considered hazardous. But the part of the definition that I felt touched me the most was what came after, the ”exciting activity exploring something unknown”. Just reading it switched my brain on and my mind started to wander off, going back and fourth between memories from past travels and dreams of places I have yet to see and explore.

So I can at least say that I do like an adventure. The feeling of starting something you cannot fully control or even explain. Because it’s new. You haven’t done it before. Starting something like this is often with mixed emotions of course. Exhilarating yet a bit scary. But whichever way you come out of it, whether you reached your goal or if the circumstances set a new direction for you, you will undoubtedly have learned something new from the experience. To learn something new we need to get outside our comfort zone, the things we already know. Explore the unknown. Have an adventure. And I love learning new things.

But I admit, it has been a while since the last long adventure. So now it is time to change that. Starting June 10th Untamed Science heads outdoor again. Myself, Rob Nelson, Louise Fornander and Haley Chamberlain, will trade our comfortable and safe homes, our comfort zones, for whatever we can fit on a bicycle and a bike trailer each. We will start riding from the Mediterranean coast of Northern Italy, continue north through the Swiss Alps, then Germany, Denmark, cross over to Sweden and then (hopefully) all the way up to the Arctic tundra of Northern Sweden. I say hopefully because, well, it’s an adventure. We know where we WANT to go but we don’t know what is going to happen on the way there. Everything will be thoroughly documented (of course) with a focus on what we love: nature and adventure, and we will do our best to show you what we find.
But while we do, let’s make a deal. We will post stories and video so you can follow our trip but at the same time we hope you get inspired to go out and find your own adventures as well. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a two months long bike ride. It could be as little as trying out a new route to work by hiking through the forest instead of taking the “normal” road. Remember, exciting and unexplored, and then you can add as much “hazardous activities” as you wish. You will find our updates through the website, Facebook page, and blog.

More to come soon!
Jonas Stenstrom