Can you recall where you had your sense of adventure instilled in you? How did that desire get planted into your soul?
For me it was from my grandfather.
Dean Wilson was a man of legend in my eyes. Growing up I couldn’t have asked for a better living example of an adventurer.
My grandfather lived on a sailboat. After serving in the Army and Los Alamos Police Dept as well liaison for Indian Affairs with the US government, he retired and had a dream of sailing around the world.
He bought a sailboat without any experience and was determined to master this skill. He read all the books he could find and would apply what he was learning. Eventually he felt confident enough to set off on a voyage from California to Hawaii. My grandmother and my uncle accompanied him across the waters for the first trip.
Of course there were struggles and a few strains on the relationships but they made it!
That was it….That was all it took…. He was hooked. He knew the rest of his days he wanted to be on the water, free from society and the ties that come with it.
He never carried a gps unit. Or a weapon (aside from his trusty Swiss Army Knife, which he could literally make anything with). He used a compass and sextant with his maps and charts and had a slingshot to get the seagulls from becoming a nuisance.
Not long after he set out. Mostly alone as my grandmother did not want to circumnavigate the globe. As we would get to each different country, he would send me coins and a couple bills from these foreign lands.
I would receive letters about the adventures he was having and the places he was visiting. Hearing how he was boarded my modern-day pirates. And since he had no valuable possessions, he just offered them a beer. How while visiting one country he received a small statue as a gift only to realize the next country he arrived at that this statue was outlawed and he was thrown in jail for a time. Each story seeming to be better than the last.
I always had the trump card when it came to cool stories with my friends.
He has sailed around the world twice before getting too old to make the voyages anymore.
I was fortunate enough to have spent 3 weeks with him on his vessel “The Broad” sailing down the inter-coastal water ways of Florida and over to the Bahamas. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Leaving the safety of shore with nothing but open water in every direction. Taking my shift in the middle of the night to keep us on course as we crossed over. Witnessing flying fish along side us and watching them land on the boat when their aim was a bit off.
I will always treasure those memories. It instilled in me a deeper sense of wonder and adventure that I already knew. Confirming to me that an Extraordinary Life was possible. He had a tradition, which I am continuing with my own children, that at the age of ten you received a Swiss Army Knife.
Talk about a becoming a man moment for a young boy. He might as well have given me a bar of gold. I still carry with me everyday a Swiss Army knife from him.
Was he a perfect man, husband or father? No, but to a young boy trying to figure who I was at the core, he played an instrumental part in my life. I am forever grateful to have spent some meaningful time with him. Which was a rare thing being that he was usually halfway around the world. I didn’t get luxury or convenience of Sunday after visits. Or the casual birthday and holiday times together. I had to know him through letters and stories. And when he was back on the right continent the time available was precious.
For me I feel it is of great importance to be able to instill that sense of wonder and adventure into my own children. To encourage them to seek what lies beyond the next bend in the trail. To allow them to try, fail and try again. To position them for victories both small and large. To watch them achieve what they didn’t think was possible.
The wilderness and outdoors are a special place and offer unique lessons only experienced outside of the modern world.
What are some of your stories of how “adventure” was deposited into your soul?
Have you created any traditions with your own families that involve the wilderness?
