Paying for the Experience

According to a recent Travel Industry Association of America survey, almost one half of U.S. adults, that’s about 98 million people, have taken an adventure trip.  Not surprisingly it is the over fifties who are amongst the most surprising demographic of this new breed of adventure traveller. It is the Senior citizens who have not only the means, but the enthusiasm to travel.  Having belatedly realized that it is not just young people who are into adventure, the Global travel and leisure industry is rushing to log into the growing demand of the increasing elderly population.

But do we really believe that the only way to experience adventure is by paying for it, when even a quite trivial event as going for a walk, mowing the lawn or clearing the snow can be someone’s adventure. Do we need to pay to be personally guided down a raging river in Colorado, make a parachute jump, climb Everest or swim with hungry blue sharks to proclaim a personal adventure experience?  I could tell many an adventure story about just going to and coming from work, meeting with old friends or just the adventure of making new ones. Such events may sound insignificant,  but if you see every day life as an adventure, while not being as exciting as training with the French Foreign Legion in  Guyana or sand gliding in the Sahara, it is certainly less strenuous, probably more full filling  and much less expensive.

OK, so you cannot show friends a thousand digital photos of you and Ethel in a Inca toilet in Machu Pichu, abseiling down K2 or barrelling over the Niagara Falls – is anyone truthfully interested? Do you really need to pay for an adventure experience just to tell everyone you have had one? No thanks. That’s not for me, but I will keep you informed of any untoward experience happening on my way home from the pub tonight – without photos of course.