Normally, my adventures start when I need to clear my head.

In my mind, nothing comes close to helping relieve stress than getting in my car and driving somewhere. Many times it has been in the dead of night when nobody else is on the roads, with the exception of the random trucker. This is the most wonderful time to go explore new places; I grab a friend and just go. No overthinking and no excuses to not let myself be completely spontaneous.

With the music blasting and windows rolled down, it feels like the little things in the world that get me down have just disappeared and I am finally in my happy place.

My random adventures all started my freshman year of college, when the stress of everything was weighing me down. It was around 10 pm on a Tuesday night and I was stuck in the study lounge finishing an impossibly boring reading from class. I turned to my two friends and without even thinking said, "I want to go to my happy place, I want to see a beach and feel the sand."

This led to myself and two others hopping into my car and making a midnight trip to Virginia Beach. This drive was about four hours each way, but that didn't matter. We got to the beach and went for a night swim, which was a crazy experience in itself. Then we stopped at IHOP for midnight breakfast. By the time we got back to school, it was six in the morning and we went straight to classes.

While I was dead on my feet that day, the stress that had been piled on to me had disappeared. The adventures continued from there with trips to UVA and Newport News. Whenever my friends and I were driving down the winding roads on our little adventures, life seemed to stop and allow us to take a minute to feel like kids again.

While most of the adventures we came across were in the middle of the night and during the middle of the week, there had been many great weekend trips too. We went to the top of a mountain for a random camping trip, and even just little day trips to discover adorable little record stores and coffee shops. I've even gone out with friends and simply decided where to go as we went along, and end up just staring at the stars.

Whatever and whenever the trip, I always came back feeling rejuvenated and capable to compartmentalize the little things that had previously caused me unneeded distress.

And that's what the benefit of random adventures are. A newfound freedom and ability to take a deep breath and just be. There are no expectations, nor requirements. You are free to be exactly who you want, where you want.

So, I urge you to take a random adventure. You may get hooked on them too. You never know where you'll end up, and in my mind, those are the best adventures. The ones where you have no destination in mind.

All you have to do decide is left or right.