Stepping out of our Comfort Zones, and into the Great Outdoors - Part 1, Car Airbnb
For members of the silent and adventure sports communities, the meaning of the phrase “comfort zone” ranges from “I’ll just ride this trail again because I feel safe on it” to “I can’t really see anything beyond this drop, but I’m going to roll it anyway.” On the one hand there is absolutely nothing wrong with finding your happy place and leaning into it. That’s likely why so many of us picked up our passionate pursuits in the first place, to find some excitement while getting our blood moving as well. So long as you’ve got the ski poles/paddle/handlebars in your grip, and an ear-to-ear grin to match, you’ve already checked the boxes of membership to the club. In the same breath there’s something fantastic about the prospect of danger to life and limb that comes with venturing into something a tad beyond our skillset as a rider, paddler, climber, runner, or alpinist.
With the exception of the top tier elite athletes and truly thrill-seeking wild ones among us, I think the sweet spot lies somewhere between the two extremes. The past two years have forced me to get creative when it comes to enjoying the things I love, so I’ll share a few of the ways I managed to push my own boundaries and in some cases rediscover my passion for the world outside as well. I hope at best you’re inspired to try something for yourself, or at least get a kick out of my own missteps on the road to adventure.
Turn your car into an AirBnB
Ok, I don’t mean to say that you should actually list your daily driver as a shared room for rent, although the prospect is interesting and potentially profitable in today’s housing market. I’m talking about turning your trusty equipment and buddy hauler into a cozy (and weatherproof) mobile adventure center. We’ve all seen the oh so popular adventure vans on Instagram ranging from fully DIY late 90s Astro Van to professionally built Mercedes Sprinter to the tune of more than the cost of my mortgage. While adventure vans are great, anything that puts us into the outdoors more often is, I’m going to cast my vote for working with what you’ve already got.
Road trip
About 6 months into the pandemic my wife and I were living in downtown Milwaukee and getting cabin fever in June. There are only so many walks and bike rides that start and end at your front door. Flying seemed foolish, rooms for rent were extortionist, and we didn’t want to put friends at risk by couch surfing. Solution, take the back seats out of your 4Runner (or any moderately sized vehicle, it’s been done in a Prius) and build a sleeping platform out of plywood and 2x4s. The platform gives you a perfectly flat sleeping surface (contingent on your parking ability) with loads of storage underneath. We loaded our bikes on top along with all the usual necessities for camping and did a test run in the forests around Marquette, Michigan. Then we headed West and made it all the way to the Pacific Ocean on the Oregon Coast, by way of nights spent in the Badlands of South Dakota, Bozeman Montana, down the Lolo Pass to the sand dunes outside of Boise Idaho, along the Zigzag River downslope of Mount Hood, back to the desert plains outside Bend Oregon, to the front range of the Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake City Utah, to a driveway in Boulder Colorado, and all the way back home across the plains states to our home in Milwaukee.
New appreciation
Two weeks and 4500 miles later we had learned a lot about ourselves, about what type of comforts we’re willing to trade for sunrises and sunsets, and that the appreciation of hot water and indoor plumbing is something we will never take for granted again. So, grab a saw and a drill, and give yourself one more excuse to spend the weekend in the woods, or just go someplace you’ve never been before. Adventure awaits.
About the author:
Alex Shinners is a guest blog contributor who moved from Milwaukee to Wausau in 2021. Alex will be a guest contributor on the IRONBULL blog. So, if you’re interested in following along be sure to subscribe! Check out Parts 2 and 3 of going outside his comfort zone on the bike and on the slopes in the upcoming blog posts.