Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable: Adventure Travel for Beginners with Ashlyn George | EP. 11

When you hear “adventure travel”, what’s your immediate reaction? Excitement? Fear? Indifference because there’s just no way you’re considering that kind of journey?

What if I told you that adventure travel can be accessible to anyone, and possible for even the most inexperienced traveller? In fact, if you look hard enough, you might not even have to go too far from home (although you’re always encouraged to see as much of the world as you can!).

Adventure travel isn’t always about how far you go or how extreme it looks. It’s about how willing you are to step outside of what feels familiar, and stay long enough to see what changes. 

If I’ve piqued your interest, join me as we explore what this means to travel blogger Ashlyn George, as well as how to step into your own quest.

Meet Ashlyn George: Proof You Don’t Need a “Travel Background”

Ashlyn and Christopher were lucky enough to spend some time together at the Kâniyâsihk Culture Camp earlier this year. 

Ashlyn grew up in one of the tiniest towns in Saskatchewan. She and her family are farmers, and she says that it wasn’t until after college that she really felt the need to get out and see the world. 

Now, she’s already been to all seven continents and has a bucket-load of stories that easily cause her listeners to gasp and shiver a bit. From being stopped at airport security after traces of explosives were detected on her gear, to tipping over in a kayak, and being cornered by a mama bear and her cubs… 

These are all just some of the fascinating stories that Ashlyn has now and will have in the future to tell her children and grandchildren. 

And why? Because she really just gets out there. Ashlyn’s blog is all about sharing her way of travelling. With adventure stories that include educational tips so that her readers can enjoy just as much of the world as she does, and learn from everything she’s already had to handle along the way. 

Learn more about Ashlyn, her bear encounters, fascinating (and slightly frightening) travel experiences, and her mission behind The Lost Girl’s Guide to Finding the World in this episode of Rudderless Travel Podcast:

(embed/link to podcast)

How to Start Adventure Travel Without Doing Anything Extreme

We’re not here telling you to take off on a hike up Everest with nothing but a water bottle and camera to help you. But, if you think you’re too tame for adventure, we’re telling you to think again. 

Whether you’re 25 or 52 (or older), here are some of our adventure travel for beginners tips. 

Start smaller than you think

Ashlyn is someone who loves cold camping and solo trips, like her 120 km solo trek in the boreal forest. You don’t have to be that extreme. 

You can have an adventure in your back garden if you do it smartly. Imagine how ‘uncomfortable’ it would be, sleeping in a tent out in your yard, with the wind and nighttime creatures as your soundtrack.

If that’s where you need to start, then do it. Then, next weekend, take the family, the dogs, and maybe your introverted neighbour, for a short hike in a nearby forest or park. Once you get out there, you’re going to find just how many opportunities you have to tick off places and encounters on your bucket list. 

Choose curiosity over comfort

Speaking of uncomfortable…

I myself am a big fan of soft pants, a warm drink, and an old TV show to binge. But something about Ashlyn’s passion for adventure is contagious. 

So you might need to give up sleeping in to catch a sunrise over your local lake. Or take three flights in one day to get to your destination. And there will probably be a few moments where you’re not really feeling the situation that you got yourself into. 

But if you listen to Ashlyn, I think you’ll agree that having stories similar to hers, that involve purposeful travel, new perspectives, and meeting people you wouldn’t find in your comfort zone, will make it worth it. 

Plan just enough to feel safe

Part of adventure is letting go of control and allowing the adventure to happen to you. A planned vacation to the beach just isn’t going to hit the same as a spontaneous hike where you get lost in a storm and find an abandoned castle to explore while you wait out the rain. 

So, make sure you have the essentials to survive. As Ashlyn mentions in the podcast (go listen if you haven’t!), if you’re in bear land, you should have bear spray with you anytime you head out into their territory. 

So, for any trip, make sure you know:

• Where you’re staying
• How you’re getting there
• And a rough idea of how you’ll get around

But outside of that, don’t overplan or overpack or overthink it. 

Accept that things will go wrong

“Hope for the best, but plan for the worst” is a saying I often use. It’s really handy when you’re trying to be more adventurous. 

Assuming that something (big or small) will go wrong will help you plan for safety, have a backup plan in place for food or shelter, and keep you calm when something does happen. 

But it’s also really important for your mindset. Because adventure travel is best when you can learn from mistakes and hurdles, and use them to make the next time better. Don’t let something going wrong stop you from trying again. Or getting braver, for bigger adventures. 

Don’t wait to feel confident

Maybe this is where “fake it ‘til you make it” really comes into play. If you’re really not confident, finding a suitable travel buddy is probably the best first step. 

Don’t pick someone who is going to grumble all the way, or who will leave you behind while they go on ahead. But someone who will fully embrace the unknown with you, laugh at the hiccups, and bring you a sense of comfort if you end up in a panic. 

However, you also shouldn’t wait for someone to go with you before you set off. The more you experience and see, the more confident you will be. Trust yourself. You handle everything else that life throws at you on an everyday basis, you can handle a little adventure. 

The Real Reward of Getting Uncomfortable While Travelling

There’s a special kind of discovery that happens when you travel outside of the norms. We experience it quite a lot here at Rudderless Travels, taking the roads less travelled to be graced by beauty and wonder that many crowds tend to miss. 

Adventure can happen anywhere. And it’s usually found in the places that many people don’t think to look. You can go to the Athabasca Sand Dunes or spend a weekend in Saskatoon, paddleboarding and soaking up the land’s history. 

Whatever adventure means to you, and however you choose to participate in it, you deserve to know what it feels like to step outside what’s familiar and come back with a new sense of what’s possible.

As Ashlyn so wisely put it: Be scared, be nervous, but be curious and go do it anyway!