“When We’re Outside the Classroom, We Get to See the OTHER Things Kids are Good At”

This charming, cheering video — and plea for outdoor adventures for kids — comes from Alastair Humphreys, who describes himself this way:

I’m iazrezybke
a British Adventurer and author. I spent years tackling big adventures such as cycling 46,000 miles round the world, rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, or walking across India. But a few years ago I took to a very different path. I realised that many people loved the idea of adventure, but very few felt able to live as adventurously as they would like. There are many individual reasons for this, but the general issue was a lack of time, money, expertise, or the simple fact of urban living. I began trying to show that you do not need to run across a desert to have an adventure, and that squeezing small doses of adventure (I call them Microadventures) into our busy 21st Century lives is far better than doing nothing at all. I have been trying to break down the perceived barriers, showing that the things people worry about are usually surmountable and that the rewards of seeking out adventure are huge.

I have been encouraging urban office workers to spend a summer evening sleeping out on a nearby hill (sharing their experiences online with the hashtag #microadventure), demonstrating that you don’t need money and expertise to have a fun river adventure, and trying to remind adults that children love living adventurously. What’s more they are far more competent than we give them credit for, and most of the reasons we stop them from living to their potential it’s due to our own adult worries and preconceptions.

Here is a New York Times article about microadventures. I have written a book about Microadventure ideas that people can try wherever they live in the world, and I create videos online to offer inspiration and ideas. I have set up a blog to encourage people to spend a year living more adventurously through microadventures.

Yours, Alistair Humphreys