Hello March! Chapter 3 of 12 into the new year. Anyone who knows me well can attest that I, quite literally, live for adventure. I’ve already taken some amazing trips and hikes this year and made some incredible memories, including sliding down a canyon wall at Trail Canyon Falls to skinny dip, digging for quartz, crystals and animal skulls in Quartzsite, Arizona, and partaking in an impromptu camping trip to Joshua Tree. Adventure is a way of life for me, and I can only hope that it always will be.

When we are young, we view the world with wonder. Everything is new. Everything is amazing. Everything is mysterious. As we grow up and we learn how the world works, we succumb to monotony and we lose our hunger for new experiences.

I remember looking into my Grandpa’s eyes as a child and seeing how much he simply loved life (at 90 years old, mind you). Everyday was a new adventure to him, an opportunity to start something over, meet new people, make a change or to learn something. As long as he was mentally present, he was determined to live with a youthful fervor and hunger for knowledge and new experiences. Since that day, I made a pact to myself that I, too, would never surrender my wandering spirit, starve my eagerness to learn or lose my passion for life.

As time in 2014 is already flying by, I’ve had to check in with myself a few times to make sure that I am present. Often, this involves removing myself from the comforts of home and forcing myself to face the unfamiliar where I am confronted with only my thoughts and the feelings of simply being. And so, this month is dedicated to adventure; to exploring new terrain, accepting the reverence of solitude and confronting the fear of the unknown.

In the words of Kent Nerburn “If we don’t offer ourselves to the unknown, our senses dull.  Our world becomes small and we lose our sense of wonder.  Our eyes don’t lift to the horizon; we don’t hear the sounds around us.  The edge is off our experience and we pass our days in a routine that is both comfortable and limiting.  We wake up one day and find that we have lost our dreams in order to protect our days.”

Travel builds character. When we leave the comfort of our beds and the safety of homes we become vulnerable. Faced with the unfamiliar, we are introduced to a state where fear meets danger, eclipsed by loneliness and excitement. It can be a daunting and emotional place, but through adventure we are reminded that there are millions of places to visit, billions of people to see, and an infinite array of possibilities and roads ahead.

Adventure is life. It’s a code of living –  a means of discovery, an educational extension and a way to self-medicate. It’s a magnificent, sometimes scary, and brave act of always moving forward and into the unfamiliar.

I invite you to partake in one new adventure this month. Go somewhere new, make a new friend, try a new food or get out of your comfort zone. Share your moments with us. Leave a note in the comments or tag your photos on Instagram with #ExploreMore!

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”