Do you like to take vacations? Where do you go? Depending on your answers, you will tag yourself somewhere in a range between the cautious traveler and the thrill seeker. There is nothing uncool about being anywhere on the range. Folks tend to take vacations that fit their age, experience, temperament, judgement, and budget. Also, a thrill seeker who has a young family with children, will be impeded by responsibility, so it evens out.

What is the essence of adventure? I define it this way: It is an adrenaline rush of exhilaration, an experience that combines freedom with vulnerability precisely when a spark is fired by sheer terror! If you survive it, you will have a hair-raising memory that you will share with other people for the rest of your life. If you are harmed by it, you have my sympathy.

I cannot fit examples of my adventures into this article, but I can tell you how to have your own adventure. Play Airport Bingo (Railway Bingo, Cruise Ship Bingo, Taxi Bingo), a game in which you and your favorite person snag two discount tickets, a bargain basement savings to fill in an otherwise empty pair of seats. Then, just go! Don’t even pack a suitcase! Realize the power of this. Those tickets are the way to go everywhere. The fact that you don’t know where you are going until you spontaneously buy them is the thrill!

Suppose that you chicken out. After all, you have no luggage, no guaranteed place to stay when you get to your impromptu destination, and you can think of dozens of reasons not to do this. But, you do have your favorite somebody to share the experience, and figuring out what you will do is like finding the pieces of a puzzle. You live in the now. It is easy to chicken out, and if you do, years will pass. Regret haunts the caverns of a mind that has no memories. Be brave.

Do this just one time, and you will gain confidence, plus you will relive this experience as a happy memory. Even the struggling parts will add their colorful threads into the fabric of a good time. Bring your ATM-capable credit cards, your camera-capable iPhone, and passports if you go overseas. Otherwise, realize that on the other end of your journey you will find a local cab driver who will be glad to see you. He is your guide.