What are micro-adventures

Micro Adventures are not a new thing.

Normal People are going outdoors for short, small, and easy-to-achieve experiences for many years.

However, COVID made Micro Adventures more popular than ever. This comes with a price too. Many people go outdoors thinking of themselves without taking into consideration if their actions will harm nature.

Sustainable tourism is something we should do, at least this is what United Nations claims. Does it make any sense?

What is my experience

I explore the outdoors since childhood. I do it whenever I can. This also involves just checking the trail in my back yard.

However, in the last 18 months doing micro-adventures was more frequent than ever before. All started with my family reallocated to the outskirts of Bucharest (RO).

Our new home was the best place to raise young kids. On the other hand, I had to pay a high price for it - 60~120min commuting daily to my company office.

It turned out, the COVID made work from home the new norm. And I could reallocate the commuting time to micro-adventures.

I thought to myself:

What if I explore my neighborhood within a 5km radius?

This covered an area of 80sq.km (~30sq.miles). And there was a big forest right next to my home.

In 2020 I managed to visit 147 times the Baneasa Forest, which translates to 2020km. About 95% of my micro adventures involved trail running, and the remaining 5% I spent wandering with my kid.

Conclusion

.in the forest I met: deers, foxes, rabbits, wild boars, hawks, owls, and various other birds and thousands of insects, wood mouses, and on few occasions aesculapian snakes.

.the Baneasa forest was full of life

.the ability to quickly go to nature between online calls let me cope better with stress

. I learned how to recharge mentally and cope with solitude

.Micro adventures pounded my first steps in the outdoor with my little kid. We learned to appreciate every second of our father-daughter time in the wilderness.

.We went even further by refraining from elevator usage. Even all the groceries we bring climbing the stairs.

. The micro-adventures gave me a sense of pride in the achievement. Not because of the mileage, but due to something much bigger than that. I had discovered an effective way to be active and reconnect with family, nature, and myself.

What’s next

In 2021 I ponder the idea of sustainable tourism. What would it take me to minimize the CO2 impact on the planet?

A small step for me with a big impact on nature. Here are a few new ground rules about traveling:

.walk or bike, if not possible

.use public transport

.hitchhike or take the train

.use a car or fly as the last option

.i will continue with my frequent visit to the Baneasa forest with my adventure buddy - my daughter. There are tons of insects and birds to discover.

.In fact, I have ordered a guidebook about all birds living in Eastern Europe. This will help me and my daughter to learn more about the nature around us. Let’s master the names and sounds of 50 birds in our neighborhood.

Practical tips

.set a perimeter you want to explore near your home 5km, 10km, 15km

.go with an open mind and curiosity to reconnect with nature and learn something new

.go grocery shopping only by walk or bike (carry the shopping in your backpack)

.use the staircase of your apartment building

.if you have never been outdoors for a long time, sleep during a dry night on your terrace.

.sleep in a tent in your garden together with your kids, if you have one

.go to the nearest hill, use a sleeping bag and welcome the sunset & sunrise (check the weather forecast in advance)

.make a challenge to visit a remote place within your country/state (100km~200km away) by traveling sustainably (walk, bike, hitchhike). Do this within a time limit (for example 72 hours)

.It’s a 2021 - learn the names of 20 birds and 21 plants near your home