Genesis

Welcome, and thanks for checking out the inaugural post of Intrepid Daily.

You may have some questions. What is this blog about? Who is this guy writing it? Why is it called “Intrepid Daily?” To answer those questions I’ll have to tell you a little story.

All my life, I’ve dreamed of adventure. Action heroes were my idols, and I too wanted to swing on vines, explore strange locales, and face down dangers wherever they were met. For awhile I seemed headed that direction. My involvement in the Boy Scouts helped me to pick up outdoor skills, not to mention opened up a lot of opportunities for me. Soon there were Scuba trips with my father, road trips with friends, primitive camping, and eventually a little international travel. I was primed and ready to continue my life as an adventurer.

Then, there was college. Then graduate school. And more graduate school. And a job. The Eagle Scout now works in an office. I became more and more sedentary, less and less active, and something was missing. Despite liking my job, having just moved into a cool century old house, and having a pretty stellar fiance, I’ve been feeling like something just isn’t right. I feel penned in; perhaps something to which many men and women my age can relate.

So, I’ve decided to do something about it. This blog is the ongoing story of how I’m reasserting control of the adventure that is my life. Because life is supposed to be adventurous. Like most things, it will start small, because I live in the real world with real world limitations. I work 40+ hours a week, have dishes and laundry to wash, live pretty much paycheck to paycheck, and I’m getting hitched in September. Initiating a jet-setting lifestyle from scratch just isn’t possible. But that’s okay, because believing that an adventurous life can only be lived in some foreign land is part of the problem. Maybe we should first strive to make our daily lives more adventurous.

And that brings my back to Intrepid Daily. That’s the goal, to be more adventurous (or, intrepid, as it were) in my daily life. How am I going to do this? The goal is that at least once a week, I’m going to do something new, strange, scary, or uncomfortable. Then, I’m going to tell you about it. Some of this will be more exciting than other parts. After all, just because something is new or scary to me doesn’t mean it’ll make for good reading for you, though I will certainly try to make it interesting! Additionally, once a month I will try to go on an adventure. What form will these take? Camping trips, road trips, visiting friends in other cities, races, just to name a few ideas. I’m open to any suggestions that any readers may have for me as well, so don’t hesitate to give me ideas in the comments. I’ll write about these as well, and tell you how it went, what I did wrong, and any insights I may have that might be useful for you if you want to try something similar.

That’s maybe the most important part of this journey though; sharing it. Because I know I’m not the only one who feels like he needs to break out of his box. The goal of Intrepid Daily is to live up to the title, to become more intrepid on a daily basis- not just me, but all of us.