I started  an adventure club  in early 2012. I called it “Rita’s Adventure Club”. It was a one-person club. Minimal rules, no membership dues. Just me and whatever whim appeared to me at a particular moment. Adventure time!

My definition of an adventure – doing something (hopefully different) that satisfied these 2 very important requirements:
1) got me out of my head and 2)  got me out of my very comfy home. After so many years of going non-stop – marriage, kids, owning a home, working part-time while getting a Bachelor’s degree, working full-time while getting a graduate degree, go back to school for a Graphics Design certification, travel, other people’s issues, my issues, on and on and on and on – I was tired and was getting burned out. My mind was racing 24/7.

The turning point came in 2008 when I get laid off  from my job as an analyst for a financial company. While looking for another job (at a time when no one was hiring because well, the country was full-on in a recession) I was forced to simplify my life. My husband no longer had to tell me to “just relax. BE!” I was forced to relax and “be” times 100. And I learned to love it.

For hours, I’d stare out of the window into our wooded backyard, finally able to appreciate the hummingbirds humming, the tons of leaves and needles that fell from the oak and pine trees that enclosed our backyard, and the family of deer who liked to eat the Tiger Lilies and assorted  tulips we planted years and years ago. I started reading again. Tons of books. I rediscovered my love for Fantasy and Sci-Fi. I started writing again. I watched TV. I took long walks in the park. And I enjoyed staying home. Even after I started working again in early 2009, I pretty much maintained my love of home and hearth.

Fast forward to post New Year 2012. I was talking on the phone to a friend, who I talked to every four-or-so months.  It was the standard “Hey, what’s up?” convo. Two minutes into our conversation, it hit me: NOTHING new was ever up with me! I was like “What the what!?!” How is this possible? Cold dread washed over my body. I was so happy being in my head, I was discovered that I was disconnected from life. So, soon after I started my own adventure club.

Members: unlimited