“We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character”
– Henry David Thoreau
Adventurous stimulation is different from recreational stimulation. When a person is adventurous, they like to go out and try new things. You might say they have an affinity for discovery. These types have little fear of the unknown. They tend to prefer the unpredictable and don’t like to remain static for too long. They enjoy traveling to new locations or taking on some type of risk, such as starting a business, parachuting, or perhaps flying a helicopter into a remote Alaskan glacial range.
Being adventurous doesn’t necessarily mean that the risk involved is life-threatening or illegal (although to some of these types, this is what makes it rewarding); it just means that the person tends to get stimulated by new and novel circumstances.
Some of the types of risks these adventurous people enjoy taking are related to gambling, investing, traveling, hand gliding, fighting, and using drugs (obviously these are only a few of the possibilities). Sometimes, if these adventurous types get too comfortable with their lives (e.g. they become too predictable), they will even cause themselves undue risk to meet their stimulation needs.
One characteristic of an adventurous partner is his/her sense of spontaneity. Adventurous types don’t necessarily need a concrete plan from which to work. They are often content with making things up as they go. For these types, that’s often half the fun! But what happens if the other partner isn’t so adventurous? In this case the couple would have to compromise.
Freezing in the Grand Canyon; How Romantic
After a brief summer visit with my mom in Denver, I was faced with a fifteen hour drive back to Phoenix. I had made that same drive by myself at least a dozen times before. Believe me, it wasn’t something I was looking forward to. At the last minute, my girlfriend flew to Denver so that she could help keep me company during the long trip. She brought her CD collection and promised to entertain me on the trip home. The thought of that brought a smile to my face.
My girlfriend and I had already been on the road for about eight hours when, heading west about sixty miles past Albuquerque, she spotted a green highway mileage sign that read GRAND CANYON 295. “Wow,” she said, “the Grand Canyon is only 295 miles from here.” I asked her whether or not she had ever been to the Grand Canyon. “No I haven’t,” she replied.
I must have looked surprised at her answer because I knew that she had lived in Arizona her whole life. Barely able to sit still in her seat, she looked back at me with a pronounced enthusiasm and said, “Hey, let’s go there tonight!”
The drive to the canyon took my girlfriend and me about 300 miles out of our way, and by the time we arrived at the South Rim, it was already 2 a.m. and very chilly. Although we had driven all this way in my pickup truck, we couldn’t sleep in the camper shell because it was full of furniture (I had agreed to take some things back to my sister who lives in Mesa). So we reclined our seats, put blankets on top of us and attempted to get some sleep.
My original plan had been to show my girlfriend the incredible romantic sunrise that slowly lit up the vast canyon expanses. I remember that particular night at the canyon feeling uncomfortably cold, which was very unusual for a July night in Arizona. So, when we woke up before sunrise hoping to see the miraculous view of the sun slowly revealing the various colors of the canyon walls, neither one of us could keep focused long enough to appreciate its beauty.
Neither one of us could stand the bitter cold (we were dressed in shorts and t-shirts). Let’s just say I had real frost on my Frosted Flakes that morning! We ended up having to go back into the truck and run the heater. Unfortunately, we were never able to comfortably experience that romantic sunrise.
Later that day, my girlfriend and I were hiking, and we visited one of the Ranger stations on the South Rim. While there, she noticed a posted report that contained weather statistics from the previous night (for hikers and the like). As it turned out, a freak cold front had blown in during the night. The temperature had actually gotten down in the low 40s. Since it was dark when we arrived, we had no idea what had caused the unusual cold spell, but we sure felt it!
That afternoon we finished touring the rim area of the canyon. At about 3 p.m., we began the drive back to hot Phoenix. We were both disappointed that we hadn’t been able to experience the romantic view of a Grand Canyon sunrise.
Despite this let down, during the drive home, my girlfriend gently grasped my hand, gave it a soft kiss, and then thanked me for taking her to the canyon. She said that although it had been a freezing fiasco, we’d both be able to laugh about this trip at a later date. Some partners would have gotten upset when things didn’t go exactly as planned. Not her; she said that she sincerely appreciated the fact that she had been able to at least experience it with me.
