How to Adventure

It was three years ago this past week that I had moved spontaneously to Portugal, without much thought, without knowing anyone and without a plan. 

I guess my plan was simple: go on an adventure. 

Part of taking an adventure that I love is the adrenaline rush and thrill of not knowing what will happen. Not knowing how I will react and respond to what comes my way. And not having a particular agenda or purpose, other than to be curious and open to see what might unfold. 

So much of life at times can feel meticulously planned, carefully architected and plotted to try and get the best possible outcome. However when reflecting back on my life, the best outcomes have been when I haven’t planned, haven’t researched and haven’t set specific goals. 

Having fewer expectations has been a recipe for feeling pleasantly surprised, and as a result, highly satisfied. And this has been the primary lesson of my three years as an expat in Lisbon.

I had no plan or desire even to make a lot of new friends. At this stage in my life, I felt satisfied and full from the wonderful friendships I enjoy. However little did I know that I’d discover a completely new set of friends, with a similar expat open-minded approach to adventure, and who also identify as global citizens. I really cherish these new friendships I’ve built over the past three years, probably because I had no expectations. 

I had no plan or desire to learn a new language. Within a year, I was conversational in Portuguese, and more interestingly, my dusty French improved and I found motivation to improve my Hindi. Being in a different culture helped me rediscover a passion for languages. 

I had no plan or desire to invest in real estate. However landing in Portugal, at the time I did, felt like the right place at the right time. I quickly learned a new industry, built a professional network and made some solid investments. More importantly, I’ve taken an interest now in real estate in other countries when I had never imagined myself getting into the asset class. 

I had no plan or desire to focus on my physical health. Keeping the forever young and invincible mindset, living previously in cities like New York and Toronto where physical health takes a back seat to financial health, I had never consistently worked out. Or paid attention to my protein intake. And now I spend at least a few hours per day looking after my physical health, in a variety of ways that I find interesting and effective. 

The list goes on. All of the many ways my life has changed during the past three years. 

Portugal hasn’t changed my life. Choosing to go on an adventure is what changed my life. 

Going on an adventure has meant saying yes to the unknown, and going into it fully open, ready to embrace what’s come up on the inside and outside, while staying curious. 

What an adventure looks like for you will be different than what it looks like for me. And what I’ve learned is that it’s less about what the specific adventure is and more about how one approaches it. The same goes for the adventure called life. 

And that is how I learned to adventure.