I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

For the last year and a half I've been looking into ways to study in Japan and get my master's degree. This was supposed to be my adventure for the coming year(s). However since I was rejected for a scholarship, and I'm having no luck in contacting universities/professors that can/will aid me in my quest, I'm getting the idea I may have to look for some other adventure. Also the fact that I have passed the age-of-25 marker, and the fact it'll take me about three years, makes going back to university a tad... well... perhaps not the best idea.

I just read the Shaolin thread and the blog and an incredible desire to have an adventure begins to boil up.
Having seen a few episodes of the Discovery Channel series "The long way down" I've been thinking that a journey 'round the world would be one hell of an adventure. Apart from the general risks (of being shot at, mugged, killed for candy bars or being killed in a crash), the motorcycle bit may be a tad tricky as my physical condition isn't that great, nor do I know how to ride a motorcycle, nor am I apt with (fixing) mechanical things. Though with a year of preparation it would be doable.

Anyways, I need a bit of inspiration here... so tell me... what's your dream? What's your adventure? What's your thing you must do before you die?

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

Firstly, a Masters degree normally takes a year (don't know about your course though). Secondly, how do you plan to finance this? It's a cool idea but make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

The ones I found take two years, plus a year to get language skills on a certain level and to get admission through a research student position.
I had (have) two main reasons for studying in Japan. Firstly the adventure part, and secondly getting my master's degree in order to open up more career paths in the future. These reasons are in the order of importance to me. The adventure parts weighs heavier than the degree itself. I admit this may not be entirely... the right way to do this... but there are many ways to achieve a goal.
Financially this should not be too much of a problem. At the moment this would begin I will have built up enough of a financial buffer to live a decent (student) life for at least two years with no income, granted I have no big initial or unexpected expenses to make.

But enough about me... What is your idea of an adventure ASG?

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

I'm not going to tell you mine, you'll steal it.

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

You could do a TEFL* course in Japan. You earn about the same amount as a teacher in inner london but the accommodation and bills are free, so people often manage to save up money that then allows them to do a bit of travelling.

A TEFL qualification is about £800 I think, but I could be wrong. KaneED did one a couple of years ago.



*Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

I believe this suggestion (or something along the lines of it) was posted back in the days when I was acquiring information on Japanese studies. Although it wasn't referred to as "TEFL".
The problem is that I am not a native speaker of the English language, and although at times I may sound to speak it relatively fluent (or so they say), I'm hardly ever fluent AND correct when speaking English.

For the future this may be an option which I will try to keep in mind, but for now I don't think it's a viable option.

That's the whole point of this thread! You tell me your adventure, I do it, come back and tell you about it in detail so you don't have to go anymore.
:rolleyes:

No seriously, this thread is meant to be a source of inspiration, not to copy ones idea blatantly and to put it back in their face after it's done.
I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of ideas for adventures though.

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

You could hitch-hike across Europe.

I've hitched to Amsterdam before, from Exeter (south west UK). It took me about 36-48 hours.

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

Become crew on a ocean-crossing yacht.

There are a number of agencies that will hook you up with a yacht making transatlantic crossings. Some of these (yachts) will charge you for the experience, in other cases, skippers simply needing crew to fill spaces on watches will take anyone who know what a rope looks like and can prove they can swim.

I was > < close to going transatlantic on a nutty 26ft yacht with it's single-handed owner (Geoffrey Hales), he was sailing it over in the then-OSTAR race, I was joining him in NY and brining it back.
I went on a couple of training trips with him on that thing, it was way OTT for something 20 years ago. Twin rudders at the back, another at the front, massively oversize fractional rig. SMALL.

Completely silly. It broke it's boom 2 days out of Plymouth and that was the end of my Atlantic trip.
I had another chance to cruise the Baltic on a 65ft Swan but we collided with another yacht on a shakedown cruise in teh Channel Islands and that was off too.

Finally, I was in Canada when Geoff Hales entered a 30ft catamaran in the Round Britain race in 1996 or so. My Dad and brother went on it and told me about surfing waves downwind at 30knots.

I cried.

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

Bit of an albatross are we?

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

If albatrosses get annoyed because their sailing dreams get sunk (ha ha) before they set sail (ha ha) then yes.

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

I know what you mean. Some sites i have been looking at.

A few sites to whet your appetite:-

MotorBike Related: Go on you know you wanna :P

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/ - THE site if yer off on a bike.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/index.php (check the Ride Reports thread)
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/ - An informative site, friendly people

Bike: (without the motor)

http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/ - Now THAT's a ride!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuroVelo - European cycling
http://www.tour.tk/index.htm - Man and wife on bike - sold the lot and went!
https://www.adventurecycling.org/index.cfm - American Cycling
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/ - Looks naff but excellent site.

Organized trips: (if you don't wanna go on yer own and go on a more organized tour)

http://www.oasisoverland.co.uk/
http://www.dragoman.com/
http://eoe.org.uk/

Inspiration:

http://www.travelblog.org/
http://www.travelpod.com/
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa - THE travel info site
http://www.jupitalia.com/ - The reason why Ewan and Charlie went - Ted Simon.

By Rail:

http://www.seat61.com/index.html - The only one you will need probably.

By Sail:

http://www.nonstopsail.com/

I am looking for "something" myself. My adventure would be - any of the above! There is plenty out there!

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

a civilization 4 remake of colonization is going to be out in like 20 days. may i suggest you sit down with a beer, throw a pizza in the oven, and let this hot headed nonsense pass you by until your copy arrives.

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

so have you found anything yet? ;)

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

I'd suggest going to Africa, swindling your way into the staff of some dictator and experiencing the fascinating life as member of a military junta until it gets overthrown 3-5 months later.

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

Why be a member when you could swindle your way into being the leader ;)


To me, I would say the best adventure I could conceive would be similar to what they do in the show you mentioned but to spend as little as possible and to start with even less.
Of course, this would likely require you to gain certain skills either along the way or in preparation (hunting, sailing, mechanics, etc.) but to me, that would only enrich the experience of it. As for the danger, yeah, something might happen to you, but what is the point if there is no risk?

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

No, I haven't looked at your links yet, but...

... this makes me think the motorcycle thing is still a cool idea.

I absolutely agree with the idea that the "learning skills as we go" thing adds to the adventure, but it's hard to ignore the risk involved...
... damn, I've been living this comfortable and (falsely) secure life for too long. ;)

[edit]It just hit me... a 4x4 truck/car would also be very cool... less vulnerable on the road at least... but more stuff that can break and may be more difficult to fix on the spot without proper knowledge.[/edit]

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

wow

i tried this japanese stuff back in 2003, and i felt way short of having the required points to be approved. It seems as though its meant for koreans only :(

Anyway, if your adventure involves brazil, you can have a stay over here (Florianópolis):salute:

Re: I'm in need of an adventure; what's your idea of an adventure?
 

So, a few weeks ago I bought myself a Toyota LandCruiser HZJ75 long body, spartan, but indestructible... I did a course off-road driving last weekend and had loads of fun. The initial idea is to learn off-road driving with it and prep it for a longer journey in the future.

AND, more importantly, I found myself a short-time adventure: Heroes Legend, the Paris-Dakar rally but also for non-professionals.
Participating in the race with just 6 months of sporadic off-road experience may be a tad too ambitious, but the Bivouac-Bivouac (mostly on the tarmac for those who don't want to race) option sounds tempting, and then do the real race in 2010.