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What is an Adventure with Purpose?

Wed, 01/25/2012 - 10:59

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By Tom Marvin

Tom is the current Head of Operations at Much Better Adventures. Working exclusively with independent, locally owned and ethically focussed active holiday providers from around the world, you can be sure to find your next adventure on MuchBetterAdventures.com!

Volunteering abroad is sometimes defined as "traveling with a purpose" or "meaningful travel." Many volunteers simply start out as international adventurers and then combine their interests of adventure, travel, and philanthropy to create a larger impact. This combination is sometimes referred to as "adventures with purpose." So use your free time as a volunteer to explore and adventure in a new land. The experts at Much Better Adventures give us insights into what ‘an adventure with purpose’ entails.

Volunteer Adventure with Waves for Development in Peru

So the question lies, what is an adventure with purpose? Does there have to be a great underlying issue which needs tackling? Or can one have a seemingly selfish reason for under-taking an adventure, "just because it’s there?"

The History of Adventures with a Purpose

People have been drawn to adventures for millennia – it’s how the human race spread across the world, whether it be crossing a continent on foot in search of food and water, or exploring the seven seas on state sponsored expeditions to find new territories and commodities. The lure of finding new places and seeking new experiences hasn’t stopped to this day, with the growth of active holidays.

Throughout history, adventures and expeditions have nearly always had a purpose. Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain with the intention of finding a route to the East Indies. The Kingdom of Spain didn’t support him because it sounded like a nice jolly on a boat, but because they felt there was a discernable benefit to opening up this route for themselves in order to gain advantage over other countries in the Asian spice trade. Darwin travelled the world in order to learn more about nature, and how evolution worked, as part of his scientific quest for knowledge.

Gavarnie Cirque hiking in the Pyrenees

Modern Adventures with a Purpose

In modern times, adventures aren’t about discovering ‘new’ things, but about expanding our knowledge about what we already know, pushing physical boundaries and spreading issues to a wider audience.

Many famous adventurers benefit from sponsorship deals with equipment providers to help them complete their expedition in return for high quality media coverage and brand exposure. Some choose to use their expeditions as a way of shedding light on an issue; others may choose them because they want to be the first or the fastest to complete such a challenge.

Critics of the former may ask why someone should be so lucky as to have the ability to be able to just complete a challenge on a whim, with no benefit to anyone other than themselves. But isn’t this just an extension of anyone’s spirit of adventure? If I could gain sponsorship for riding my bike across the Gobi Desert, I’d be daft to turn it down surely?

My purpose, in cycling across the Gobi, would be to prove to myself that I can undertake such a challenge, that I can push myself to the limits of my endurance. I may meet a few people along the way, and we may exchange knowledge, but that might not be my goal.

If an adventure has to benefit ‘something’ then who is the arbitrator in this? Who defines what is and isn’t a ‘real’ adventure with purpose?

Pepy Ride, Cambodia

Compare this to the adventures of Ed Stafford. He’s a professional adventurer, with a range of experiences under his belt. He recently walked the entire length of the Amazon River – something nobody else has ever done. He used the trip to learn a lot about deforestation, and its effects on the local people and environment. Ed would be the first to say though, that the trip was an expedition for himself – a chance to be the first to achieve such a feat – it wasn’t purely done for environmental awareness reasons.

We’ve discussed adventures with purpose on Much Better Adventures, so we’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter! At Much Better Adventures we love active holidays, so we’re bringing together the best locally owned and independent active holidays in one place. From surfing to skiing, biking to diving, we’ve holidays from all over the world.