Apple in the advertising for their new Apple watch use the tag line “Adventure Awaits.” At the beginning of the month we got back from a trip to Europe which included a river cruise that also included the tag line “Adventure Awaits.” Since then I have been trying to define adventure. I know I want adventures but I’m not sure what exactly what they are and how you find them.

Websters calls it “an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity.” This definition would include a trip to a Circle K in South Phoenix but would exclude most organized tours. A rafting trip down the Colorado River would be an adventure even if it was with an organizer. What about an off road Jeep tour near Moab or a solo off trail hike to an unnamed peak in the Tonto National Forest.

Note the brass seashell in the pavement. It indicates that I am hiking on the Camino de Santiago. And in fact I did for about 30 feet. But if I did the entire length from Bayonne to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela would it be an adventure?

Perhaps an adventure is a relative experience. For someone who has never been swimming in the ocean snorkeling is an adventure. For an experienced Scuba diver snorkeling is not. For a baby its first steps are an adventure. For a healthy adult a neighborhood walk is not an adventure.

People think of Zip lines and Jet Skis as adventures the first few times they do them. After that not so much. All I can be sure of is that a life where you seek adventure is more interesting than a life where you seek security.