” i think i’m going to become a professional adventurer“ i said. half joking but equally half serious. my mom looked up from her puzzle and stared at me for a minute. then finally she nonchalantly just said…”okay” and resumed puzzel-ing. maybe it wasn’t such a grand and wild idea after all.

i mean, isn’t that kinda what i am doing already? some days it feels like it and other days it feels like i need to be doing it more. it’s been raining for the last 3 days, i must have cabin fever to be this deep into thought about these things. i spent an hour today studying my instagram feed, frustrated at the lack of brightness and color and adventure from the last week in my cabin fever state. i am in one of the most beautiful places in the world yet feel uninspired somehow. i think it’s a phase. as creatives i think we all go through it, or at least i do occasionally. ‘you’re not artistic enough, not creative enough, not innovative enough, not good enough’ thoughts i have to push out of my mind. because the truth is, most of the time our biggest obstacle is ourselves. and if i want to do something, i should be able to figure out how to do it. so i thought, maybe i need to just put it out there, and that will get me to stop making excuses and motivate me. sounds reasonable, right?

“don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same nuer of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein” – H. Jackson Brown
…. okay so not that i want to do any of the things those people did, but you get the idea.

i guess the world is just so magical, it has such an immense power to remind us how small we are and how even smaller our problems are in the scheme of things. this year i am going to make it my goal to explore and adventure as much as my two feet can take me. i want to explore the rocky mountains, hike new hikes, find new waterfalls and get a little bit more outside of my comfort zone. a few days ago peter and i booked a spontaneous trip to italy and then a sailboat trip in croatia for the fall (AH!), and there are a few other adventures in the works. but mainly, i am going to focus on really living hawaii once i get back there. experiencing all i can experience, even on the days where i feel lazy and exhausted i am going to try and go adventure something. the world is filled with enchantment, all you have to do is look for it.

this year i want to:

kayak into kalalau (complete! amazing! to read more about this incredible experience click here)
find 10 new epic waterfalls
photograph a couple in italy (i’ll be on the almalfi coast from sept 21-24!)
photograph an elopement on an cliff overlooking the ocean
hike into wai’ali’ali (kauai)
hike in yosimite (california)
explore oregonvisit a new hawaiian island
take a helicopter tour of kauai
sail through the croatian islands (septmeber! yay!)
hike to croatian castles and waterfalls
take a canoe on emerald lake (alberta)
hike ha ling (alberta)
explore jasper alberta

and that’s all i can think of specifically at the moment but i am going to add to the list daily. half the reason i don’t have more is because i don’t know about them, so if any of you have any incredible adventures to share please comment in the comment section so i can add them! i may not get to all of these things this year but i’m going to do my best to try, and if you want to follow along my newly declared dream of professional adventuring (whatever that means, haha) follow me on instagram @megcourtney1!

ok, i really need to get outside. thanks for being here! xo
meg.