365 Day Challenge

Adventure 12 ~ Gutting A Fish

/ intrepidjane

One of the key ideas underpinning my 365 Days of Adventure project is that adventure can be found everywhere if we look for it . We don’t have to go to foreign places or do “way out things” to feel the sense of aliveness that adventure can bring.

When we come to the realisation that adventure can be found  in the everyday routine of life, when we are open to experiencing so-called routine with the mindset of an adventurer, then we are conditioning a constant connection to the pulse of our own aliveness.

Today I’m having grilled mackerel for lunch. I’m a huge mackerel fan and eat it at least once a week. It’s routine for me. And yet today will be an adventure for me because I’m going to gut a fish for the very first time.

I’m writing this before I gut the mackerel because even thinking about preparing the fish in this way has made me feel very differently about my food. I somehow feel more connected to the creature that has given its life for me. I’m not sure how this is going to go.

(I’ve posted a picture of my lunch underneath the video 🙂 )

fishI found this adventure to be a very earthing experience.

I felt great gratitude as I ate my food today. I thought of the fish and of the sea. I thought of my place within the system of all living organisms. I felt connected.

I’m changing my mind about something. I’m not quite sure about what yet. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 9 ~ How To Fudgel

/ intrepidjane

For Christmas I received a fabulous gift : The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth. The Horologicon is a quirky, entertaining and witty book about extraordinary, obscure and obsolete words.

I’m using the book as a basis for today’s adventure (and there is plenty of scope for future adventures too!). Today I am going to resurrect “fudgel”, an eighteenth century word which deserves a twenty-first century revival.

By the way, if you haven’t learned to fudgel yet, you really ought to. In today’s video, I show you how it’s done. It turns out that I’ve got quite a talent for it.

I’m just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 7 ~ Gone Fishing

/ intrepidjane

Today, I bought my very first copy of the Angler’s Mail (they don’t call me Intrepid Jane for nothing). I was curious to find out  if I could learn three fascinating things about angling by reading this magazine.

Here’s what I discovered  (hold on to your hats, by the way. This is pretty mind-blowing stuff. No. Really. It is.) ~

I am just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 6 ~ How’s Tricks?

/ intrepidjane

Today I learned a card trick and now I’m going to try my hand at performing it.  Can I pull it off?

Now that’s magic 🙂

I’m just going outside and may be some time!

JT

Adventure 5 ~ Let This Be A Sign!

/ intrepidjane

And just to cover all bases … to be totally sure … absolutely certain … completely safe …. assured of survival …  Adventure 5 sees my trying my hand (quite literally 🙂 ) at British Sign Language!

I am just going outside and may be some time 🙂

JT

Adventure 4 ~ I Wonder If Bear Grylls Can Do This!

/ intrepidjane

Adventure seems to be ubiquitous at the moment. This week alone, I’ve watched television programmes about Reinhold Messner (he climbed Everest without oxygen) ; about James Cracknell and Ben Fogle (they attempted to ride camels across the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Desert) ; and about Bear Grylls and Stephen Fry (they shared a wild weekend in the Dolomites).

Whilst I recognise the practical skills and courage required for such undertakings, I did have concerns for their safety. I wondered whether they had sufficient linguistic skills to communicate with the local people should it come to a life-or-death situation.

I think responsible adventurers should take it upon themselves to learn at least one “survival phrase” in the local language of the countries in which they mount expeditions. From my research, there seems to be one key phrase that will ensure survival pretty much anywhere.

The adventure I have set myself today is to say that key survival phrase in 11 languages. Can I do it?

I hope this short video will be accepted as a vital contribution to the global adventuring community. Words save lives 🙂

I am just going outside and may be some time,

JT

Adventure 3 ~ Vegetable Fugu

/ intrepidjane

Today’s adventure was a real toughie for me. Truth be known, I’m going to have to set up a new blog category for this type of challenge . The category will be called “Near Death Experiences”.

Watch me as I taste the vegetable equivalent of poorly prepared fugu (a Japanese puffer fish delicacy).

As is the case with fugu , I am now convinced that domestic preparation of this vegetable  may lead to accidental death.

This was the first time I tasted this vegetable. It will also be the last time. I count myself lucky to have survived.

I am going outside  and I may be some time 🙂

JT (I am feeling decidedly unwell).

1 Adventure Down ~ 364 To Go!

/ intrepidjane

Don’t you think that there is something about this  time of year that encourages us to turn inward? It’s almost like the dark Winter nights have their own voices : whispering at us incessantly , urging us to remember something really important , trying to awaken us from our life-drowsiness.

It turns out that sooner or later you really do have to stop and pay attention. As December 2013 marched on, the whispers became louder and eventually I decided to take a look at what was calling me.

I got to thinking about the kind of life I am living now and the kind of life I want to live.  I got to remembering all the really adventurous things I used to do – and how alive adventuring made me feel.  I got to realising that for the past 2 years, I’ve let adventure fall by the wayside.

So this is me standing up and answering the call to adventure. Today I’m declaring 2014 to be my year of adventure, the year I’m going to reconnect with the spirit of adventure , the year that I create the opportunity for adventure wherever I am. I’m going to adventure every single day for 365 days.

And here’s me on my first adventure today,  starting off at basecamp :

And reaching the summit :

So there you go, I’m the first person in the world to achieve this mighty feat. How cool is that? 😛

I am just going outside and may be some time,

JT 🙂