An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving,

mountain climbing Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sports. Adventures are often undertaken to create psychological

arousal Arousal is the physiological and psychological state of being awoken or of sense organs stimulated to a point of perception. It involves activation of the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS) in the brain, which mediates wakefulness, th ...

or in order to achieve a greater goal, such as the pursuit of knowledge that can only be obtained by such activities.

Motivation

Adventurous experiences create psychological

, which can be interpreted as negative (e.g. fear) or positive (e.g.

flow Flow may refer to: Science and technology * Fluid flow, the motion of a gas or liquid * Flow (geomorphology), a type of mass wasting or slope movement in geomorphology * Flow (mathematics), a group action of the real numbers on a set * Flow (psych ...

). For some people, adventure becomes a major pursuit in and of itself. According to adventurer André Malraux, in his ''

Man's Fate ''Man's Fate'' (French: ''La Condition humaine'', "The Human Condition") is a 1933 novel written by André Malraux about the failed communist insurrection in Shanghai in 1927, and the existential quandaries facing a diverse group of people associa ...

'' (1933), "If a man is not ready to risk his life, where is his dignity?". Similarly, Helen Keller stated that "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Outdoor adventurous activities are typically undertaken for the purposes of

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

or excitement: examples are

adventure racing Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is typically a multidisciplinary team sport involving navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length. Some races offer solo co ...

and

adventure tourism Adventure travel is a type of niche market, niche tourism, involving exploration or travel with a certain degree of risk (real or perceived), and which may require special skills and physical exertion. In the United States, adventure tourism ...

. Adventurous activities can also lead to gains in knowledge, such as those undertaken by explorers and pioneers – the British adventurer Jason Lewis, for example, uses adventures to draw global

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

lessons from living within finite environmental constraints on expeditions to share with schoolchildren. Adventure education intentionally uses challenging experiences for

learning Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...

. Author Jon Levy suggests that an experience should meet several criteria to be considered an adventure: # Be remarkable—that is, worth talking about # Involve adversity or perceived risk # Bring about personal growth.

Mythology and fiction

Some of the oldest and most widespread stories in the world are stories of adventure, such as Homer's '' Odyssey''. The knight errant was the form the "adventure seeker" character took in the Late Middle Ages. Adventure fiction exhibits these "protagonist on adventurous journey" characteristics, as do many popular feature

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, such as ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' and ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...

''.

Outdoors

Adventure books may have the theme of the hero or main character going to face the

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

or Mother Nature. Examples include books such as '' Hatchet'' or ''

My Side of the Mountain ''My Side of the Mountain'' is a middle-grade adventure novel written and illustrated by American writer Jean Craighead George published by E. P. Dutton in 1959. It features a boy who learns courage, independence, and the need for companionship ...

''. These books are less about "questing", such as in mythology or other adventure novels, but more about

surviving Survival skills are techniques that a person may use in order to sustain life in any type of natural environment or built environment. These techniques are meant to provide basic necessities for human life which include water, food, and shelt ...

on their own, living off the land, gaining new experiences, and becoming closer to the natural world.

Questing

Many adventures are based on the idea of a quest: the hero goes off in pursuit of a reward, whether it be a skill, prize, treasure, or perhaps the safety of a person. On the way, the hero must overcome various obstacles to obtain their reward.

Video games

In video game culture, an adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media, literature and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, encompassing a wide variety of literary genres. Many adventure games ( text and

graphic Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...

) are designed for a single player, since this emphasis on story and character makes multi-player design difficult.

Nonfiction works

From ancient times, travelers and explorers have written about their adventures. Journals which became best-sellers in their day were written, such as

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

's journal '' The Travels of Marco Polo'' or

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

's ''

Roughing It ''Roughing It'' is a book of semi-autobiographical travel literature by Mark Twain. It was written in 1870–71 and published in 1872, as a prequel to his first travel book ''The Innocents Abroad'' (1869). ''Roughing It'' is dedicated to Twa ...

''. Others were personal journals, only later published, such as the journals of

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

and William Clark or Captain James Cook's journals. There are also books written by those not directly a part of the adventure in question, such as '' The Right Stuff'' by Tom Wolfe or books written by those participating in the adventure but in a format other than that of a journal, such as ''Conquistadors of the Useless'' by Lionel Terray. Documentaries often use the theme of adventure as well.

Adventure sports

There are many sports classified as adventure sports, due to their inherent danger and excitement. Some of these include

, skydiving, or other extreme sports.

References

External links

* Martin Feeney ''Going on a journey: Life in Year 10''
Website of the Research Unit "Philology of Adventure"
ongoing research project on the literary history of the adventure pattern
What is an adventure?
A definition of "adventure", "hero" and "epic" with an illustration of the hero's journey. * Wikivoyage {{Authority control