Adventure and Discovery

In my life it was always important to discover the world around me. When I was a child it was a great feeling to wander around new places I have never been before. Sometimes I roamed around with a friend or two, but most of the time I was on my own.

During my childhood I always lived in small villages surrounded by agricultural areas, fields reaching to the horizon. I just wanted to know what was lying behind these artifical borders. I found so many new plants, sometimes animals oftentimes - especially in the summer - many wild fruits which I harvested. Those were blackberries which taste best when they are really dark and nearly spoiled. Strawberries - sometimes from fields at night, so i could not even see what I was eating and unfortunately I always picked some half-rotten. But that was okay because they were free and I was on an adventure trip.

One of the most exciting experiences I had was with my father on our summer holidays at the baltic sea. We had a small canoe for two persons and we were paddling through the waves. The beach was pure and white with the shallow water reaching far into the sea. It was many miles far but the most part of it was prohibited. It was a military zone some decades ago and now they made it a nature reserve. Probably because they didn't want to pay the removal of ammunition remains. But again we wanted to know what was behind the "danger" signs. So we went by boat, paddling for hours until we reached a beach so beautyful and lonely - not touched by humans for many many years. There were platfish in the clear and shallow water and birds were singing in the trees that were growing directly behind the shore.

We went ashore and our feet touched the untouched. It was an amazing feeling like we did discover a new land.

This was probably one of the best moments in my life. I guess I love to sail and discover new places so much because it was always a great part of my young life and I want to feel another of these moments.

The most rewarding things in life always involve some risk. But what would life be like without this ambivalence. I guess dull and... lifeless.

What was your best adventure or your biggest discovery?