Adventure

Any experience can be an adventure as long as it simultaneously rewards and challenges you. Different perspectives can make anything an adventure. For example, my mineralogy class last semester was an adventure for me. As a requirement for my geosciences major, I had to take it, even though I can honestly say that I have absolutely no interest in the structures and chemical compositions of common minerals. The course challenged me to find strategies to stay focused. At the end of the semester, I realized that even though I did not choose it, the course had challenged me and that I had been rewarded with a new set of life skills.

            Similarly, Herzog is obviously challenged by Annapurna but he has several advantages over the average college student. While many of my peers take their course for only abstract rewards, Herzog chose his adventure because he knows that he will get something out of it, presumably adoration from his fellow French citizens. Another difference between Herzog’s adventure and the adventure of a college undergraduate is that he decided to devote a block of time solely to achieving his singular goal, while in common, routine life adventures tend to occur concurrently as components of one’s life.

            Most of us are perpetually in the midst of several adventures. For me, my main adventures right now are the grieving process, my college education, and sometimes my romantic relationship. All of these adventures occur simultaneously and pose their own challenges. Although it sometimes feels like my entire life is devoted to only one of them, I do think that I, and many of us, have a more diverse and perhaps less extreme set of adventures than Herzog.