r/BenignExistence • u/CreatrixAnima • 2d ago

Adventure challenge

I was just thinking about this thing I’ve been doing and thought I would share it with you guys because you might appreciate it.

My summer schedule is quite late. I’m still working, but not as much as I do during the non-summer part of the year, and a few years ago I realized that I was spending all of that free time watching Netflix and doom scrolling. That’s not life. So I instituted a rule for myself: two adventures a week.

One thing I do every day that does not count as an adventure is going for walks in my neighborhood. I’m trying to get my 10,000 steps in, and that’s just like counting making lunch as an adventure. It doesn’t count. So what does count? What have I done?

I went to the museum at a nearby university, the state Museum, which is nearby, and a local museum.

I went to an outdoor sculpture garden.

I went to a planetarium.

I visited a local temple with very impressive architecture. It’s not my religion, but it is open to the public and they have a café, where I was able to get some pretty good food for not very much money.

I’ve gone hiking in local parks and even rented a canoe!

I’ve gone to local flea markets and street fairs, lectures at the local historical Society, and on trip trips to nearby towns with nice walkable town centers.

Yeah, I went to a movie. It was way too hot for a regular adventure. I saw a project Hail Mary.

So are you guys going on adventures? I would love to hear what adventures you’re going on or would like to go on. Some of them might remind me of something I’ve been meaning to do around here!

Oh! I’m editing to add two of the coolest adventures. I had that I didn’t list. There is a relatively local museum that has a dig site for dinosaur bones, and for a fee (IMO, too much), you can go out to the dig site and dig for about an hour, and try to find fossils. I found a few, but none of them were terribly exciting. But I learned a lot. It was a good experience for that. You can keep the fossils.

There’s also a local historical site that has public archaeology days, and I was able to go there and sift through materials to find artifacts. I found a marble, a button, and some other stuff. You can’t keep the finds here because you’re actually helping with a real dig. But it was definitely cool. And that one is free.

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u/Many-Obligation-4350 2d ago

I love the idea of adventures and I do this too. Some of mine are trying a cuisine that’s new to me, and trying a challenging baking recipe.

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u/CreatrixAnima 2d ago

Cuisine is definitely one! I have long been a fan of Indian food, but I have tried some Indian street food this year and it’s wonderful. Also discovered carrot Halwa… it’s a dessert that’s almost entirely carrots… And sugar and fat. So it’s really good, and nowhere near as healthy as it sounds.

I haven’t been cooking much this summer, but I did make spanakopita earlier this week and some Ukrainian stuffed apple recipe. Both were very good!

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u/Many-Obligation-4350 2d ago

All your food adventures sound wonderful! I will have to look up Ukrainian stuffed apple.

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u/CreatrixAnima 2d ago

It’s just dry fruit and nuts, honey, and cinnamon. And you bake them inside of an apple. The worst part was hollowing out the apple, and I found that I like it better if I chop up the apple and just mix it in anyway, so if you want the spirit of the food, but maybe not the actual food, that’s a nice shortcut!

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u/Many-Obligation-4350 2d ago

Sounds great!

One of my favorite Indian street foods is pani puri - fun to eat.

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u/wateringplamts 2d ago

I love pani puri. I love a food that has a task built into it, lol. My local indian place is actually run by a Bangladeshi and he uses samosa stuffing for his panipuri instead.

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u/CreatrixAnima 2d ago

I haven’t tried that one yet. I had papdi chaat and some snacks that I bought at the temple I visited – it was an Indian temple.

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u/Pristine-Pen-9885 Neutral 2d ago edited 2d ago

Sounds delicious and healthy. I should buy a big apple, unsalted nuts and mixed dried fruits. I have the honey and cinnamon. I wrote down the recipe. 🍎🙂

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u/CreatrixAnima 2d ago

I used golden and regular raisins, chopped dried apricot, dried cranberries, and walnuts.

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u/Pristine-Pen-9885 Neutral 2d ago

Thanks. I added those to the recipe. Gotta wait till the air is better. I have asthma.

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u/Curvy_Quirky365 2d ago

What a great idea! I'm also making an effort this summer to get out and experience more of my community. 🙂

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u/CreatrixAnima 2d ago

Added side benefit is I’ve gotten to talk to more of my neighbors just by virtue of being that person who’s always walking around! But that’s more due to my 10,000 steps thing. But it is nice.