The Call Of Adventure

Lying on a beach or mooching through a museum not your idea of a fun holiday? Maybe it’s because you crave the transforming challenge of adventure. Ditch your comfort zone, push through barriers or do something that scares you, to feel infinitely more alive Writer Catharine Nicol

- Catharine Nicol

“Seeking new and unfamiliar experiences is a fundamental behavioural tendency in humans and animals,” says Bianca Wittmann of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University College London. “It makes sense to try new options as they may prove advantageous in the long run.”

Over and above the new and unfamiliar, risk-taking is important too, within reason. “Risky behavior has its moments where it’s valuable,” says Karl Deisseroth, professor of psychiatry, bioengineering and behavioural sciences at Stanford University. “As a species, we wouldn’t have come as far as we have without it.”

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We are hardwired for adventure and have dopamine to thank for that. The ‘motivation molecule’ neurotranmitter fuels both the motivation to do a task and the satisfaction of achieving it. Exercise, enough sleep and meditation can increase our levels of dopamine and a craving for the next adventure.

Adrenaline is released when we face something stressful, exciting or dangerous, and it causes the fight or flight reaction, as and self-affirmation. The journey can feel intense physically, give us a boost mentally and even veer into the realm of the spiritual.

Even if we’re not innnate risk-takers, our brains are elastic, so as we become more experienced and skilled our comfort zone expands, and we become increasingly comfortable taking risks.

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