To go on an adventure, you can’t just sit around and wait. Rarely will Gandalf come knocking on your door, wanting you to leave your Shire of a comfort bubble to go out into the great unknown. If you want to go on an adventure, you’ll have to find it for yourself.
1. Grab some friends.
Here, you get to be the Gandalf. You are the one who knocks… on the dorm room door. Try not to take your friends away from their notecard making and essay writing, but everybody needs a little break every once in a while. Adventures are a great way to spend time together, stay safe, and make some memories.
2. Find something average.
With your friends by your side, it’s time to take on the average world. Find something you have paid no previous attention to, and pay more attention to it. Trying to make something simple out to be interesting often makes it interesting. Try a visit to the hardware shop downtown, or spending some time sitting on that small foot bridge you pass all the time. You’re creating a breeding ground for inside jokes that will last longer than you can remember why they became funny in the first place.
3. Take a walk.
One of the best ways to briefly relax is to get yourself entirely away from the environment of college. Sure, a nice sunbathing session on the quad can be nice, but you will always have that one assignment lingering over your shoulder, or those papers to read, right out of the corner of your eye. Taking a walk allows you to explore the town you never get to see, yet live in three-quarters of the year. Take some time to appreciate the quaint nature of the side streets and mom-and-pop shops, or visit the public art and decorative fountains on the outskirts of the big city.
4. Bring food and drink.
Whether you bring food or buy food, the general presence of something to consume makes an adventure all the more pleasant, and also assures that you won’t get dehydrated along the way. Who knows, years from now you may take a sip of a strawberry lemonade and receive pleasant, nostalgic flashbacks of those walks you used to take with your friends in college.
5. Find a playground.
Don't worry; you're not going to break anything... probably. Finding a playground to spend time on will bring out the inner child you need to release during that week you have four tests, two papers, and a lab. It will also let you see a side to your friends you likely aren't used to seeing. Don't be afraid to let out the weird, childish side of yourself, because that's when you will have the most fun.
6. Bring a camera.
It's definitely important to live in the moment, but you'll also want to keep these memories forever. Bringing a camera, whether an actual camera or your phone, will make sure you can turn these memories into photographs that you will laugh at and love forever.
7. Bring up a debatable topic.
Even if you know you're all going to be on the same side, debating a topic while on an adventure is a great way to start a conversation you will remember for a long time. Religion? Politics? Hogwarts houses? You name the subject, and see where it goes!
Now that you know exactly what you're doing, go out there and make an adventure of your own! Make memories, take chances, and go places you've never gone before.
