Detours Gay Travel Blog

When Adventure Calls

• Shane Bingham
• Jun 15, 2020

This is a profound time we’re living through right now. With so many changes happening around us, it’s
understandable why the prospect of adventure may seem irrelevant, even impossible.

Adventure means something different to each of us. It can be specific yet broad, personal yet shared. It can even
be a life-changing moment when you found yourself out of your comfort zone, wondering how you got there, but
sure you don’t want to go back!

Regardless of how each of us define adventure, one thing for certain is that it has the ability to draw us to it. We
yearn for it, we crave it, particularly when its unattainable. Lately, as I take the time to reflect on how adventure
has shaped my life, that craving for it tends to grow stronger with every day that passes.

Growing up in Australia I spent most of my childhood in the great outdoors. Australia is a big place and when you
have parents like I do who kept you moving about regularly, you inevitably develop a deep-rooted passion for
adventure. No two years of my childhood were the same, and so my playground became the changing landscape
of mountains, forest, beaches and desert all around me. All the perfect places to seek adventure.

Constantly moving became my comfort zone. If I wasn’t meeting someone new, exploring new environments, and
establishing new roots, then it was only a matter of time before I would be. I’ve never understood why we moved
so much, but I also never questioned it, instead I just embraced it and lived for the adventure.

Little did I know this would lay the foundation for what would become my own journey, a journey that would take
me all over the world in search of new experiences. I found myself echoing my childhood path, constantly traveling
with an appetite for learning and meeting new people. I’ve always believed that travel is a powerful resource, it
can broaden our minds and teach us new ways, and it can introduce us to people who inspire us without them
ever knowing.

It’s in these moments that I feel the most alive. It’s the thrill of the unknown, the desire to learn, pushing myself to
be a better person, and being inspired by the people I meet along the way. It’s pure adrenalin from experiential joy
and it is incredibly addictive. This is what fuels my passion for travel and adventure and thanks to my parents, it’s
all I’ve ever known.

Each of us have our own sense of adventure, and the important thing is to listen to it when it calls. I believe that
call is our subconscious doing what it can to push us to be better, take risks, and live our best life. After all, what
else are we here to do?!

Every day I’m grateful for the opportunity to seek new adventures wherever they are in the world and help me
grow as a person, just as they did during my whirlwind tour of Australia as a child. I encourage you to embrace
your next adventure, whatever (or whenever!) that is for you. We’ll be ready to share your adventure with you
when we can travel together again, but for now I encourage you to explore some of your own backyard; who
knows - you may learn more about yourself than you realize, just as I did.

-Shane Bingham