On a cool afternoon, I decided to take my electric unicycle (a Kingsong 16x) on a ride through the neighborhood. I packed my camera in my favorite backpack, threw on my helmet with a few other protective measures, and glided off. As I listened to a podcast on a pair of bluetooth headphones, I thought about where I was going…
…And realized, I had nowhere to go. No destination, no plan. All I knew was that I wanted to capture a few nice photos. Even this goal felt vague because I didn’t know what I would see.
Isn’t this an adventure?
What is adventure?
I used to think that adventure required some plan, some purpose. But, after a while I realized that you don’t need to step very far from your home’s front door to discover new-ness. Adventure doesn’t even require that you leave your bedroom.
Open a book. Talk to a friend and there you’ll find a vast open territory. Are you antsy for something different in your life? Stuck in a rut? I’ve been there, and now, too, I get bored easily. I want more.
Then, I stop and listen. There is a sense that you can discover a great many things when you look closely at things. And, that’s what I tried to do as I headed out on my journey to nowhere.
Adventure is quiet, and so is electricity
As I floated past the trees, I heard only the wind and the rustles of leaves below my rolling monowheel. The electric motor pushed me onward as the lithium polymer battery slowly released its energy. In the machine I trust. I had faith it would carry me the 30 or so miles I think it could go before dropping me on my face.
What about the photos?
Of course, I stopped when a photogenic scene emerged. Pulling off to the side, I laid my vehicle against a tree. Snatched my camera from the bag, flicked the switch, and composed a few shots. Following the rule-of-thirds, I placed my subject (the path) below the lower horizontal line.
Shooting with a fast lens (a 90mm f2.8 macro) I played around with the depth of field. Who knew you could take nice landscapes with a telephoto macro lens. For this outing, I only had this one focal length. It would have to do!
And, what you see is what I got. The colors on this pleasant afternoon were sublime. The orange, the green, oh my words fail to describe what the images show.
This is adventure
On a day like this, a two hour glide through the neighborhood on a local path brought me some amazing images and a few new insights into how adventure isn’t too far away. Just go outside and take a walk.
You don’t need to go anywhere in particular. Bring a friend and amplify the experience. I found a perfect moment in this solo glide through nature. The decisive moments came upon me one after another as I discovered a few photogenic spots.
And, there you have it. Adventure happens without a destination.
Final Word
When I arrived home, I plugged my electric unicycle back into the wall. The battery drained to nothing. Of the eighty or so exposures my camera memory card held, I only kept 6 images. And, if you noticed, there aren’t any other people in my photos.
Well that’s because most of the time, they were photographing me while I rode along on the electric unicycle. What a sight I must have been cruising along at 15-20 mph. Maybe next time I should wield a selfie stick like a jousting knight. Though I might poke someone’s eye out….
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