Spin Cycle: Rachel, Mighty Adventurer...or not.

This week's spin, as brought to us by the Keeper of Sprite, is about adventure.

When I was younger, one of my friends was super into the concept of "adventure". No, not the rock climbing, cliff diving, jumping out of airplanes variety, she liked things like getting lost. Or when an unexpected thunderstorm changed plans on you. She would have thrived down here with the hurricanes. For her, adventure wasn't really synonymous with thrill-seeking, it was more about finding excitement in life's mishaps, big or little. Which is a pretty mature way to look at them. And it just goes to show that there are all kinds of adventure, and excitement is totally in the eye of the beholder. Or in the fanny pack of the adventurer...

We all know I'm not a fan of unexpected events. I'm also not a fan of change. I'm also more than a little concerned about my safety. And I just don't look good in a rappelling harness. But all that aside, I do like to try new things, I just have limits.

I love to try foods from more interesting cultural backgrounds than mine (please tell me what the national food of a Western European Mutt is and I will gladly adopt it as my own. But until then...). I'm not willing to eat things like insects and eyeballs (and especially not the eyeballs of insects!), but I'm pretty game to try new things. As long as they're not too spicy. One of my favorite pastimes when visiting a new city is actually stopping at a grocery or convenience store and looking for food items I haven't seen before. That's what I call adventure.

I also like what I can only call "armchair adventure". I love to read travel guides. I also love to read books on other cultures or time periods. I just wouldn't actually like to travel there very much. I've talked before how I would love to see England and Lichtenstein and Japan and New Zealand (and various other countries I have my eye on), but only in the comfort of a travel group, a planned itinerary and a packing list. It's still true. And if I was made of money I would totally do that.

And I also like roller coasters. Even upside down ones. But only in the dark. If I can't see the ground it takes away my anticipation of hitting it and then I can scream my head off from abandoned enjoyment just like anyone else. Oddly this is also my strategy for giving blood and getting shots. I close my eyes (I'm in the dark) and ask them not to tell me what they're doing so I won't tense up in anticipation. They hate it because they think I'm going to be startled when they poke me, so I have to promise that I won't move, just will they please not give me the running commentary. "Now I'm just wiping your arm off, now I'm tightening this band, ok, now you'll just feel a pinch..." NO! If I wanted to know what you were doing I would be watching! Yes, I actually know what's going on, I've done this before, I just don't want to talk about it!

*ahem* Pardon the tangent.

Anyway, here are things that happen in my life that I consider adventure:

1) Elbowing aside other mothers at the Macy's clearance racks to grab a killer deal first. It's MINE!!!

2) Eating a flavor of a DQ Blizzard other than Oreo.

3) Passing other cars more assertively than usual in an attempt to make it to work on time.

4) Figuring out a new (or new to me) bit of technology. Maybe a feature on my iPod or a piece of software.

That kind of thing.

Not exactly skin diving, eh?