Whatever Happened to Adventure?

When we were kids, the world was a frontier waiting to be discovered.

We crawled into creepy tunnels without hesitation, convinced they were secret passages to another world. We climbed trees like explorers scaling distant peaks. We turned back gardens into battlefields, reenacted scenes from our favorite movies, and became cowboys, Indians, spacemen, pirates, or whatever else our imaginations could conjure. A stick was never just a stick – it was a sword, a rifle, a magic wand, or a steering lever for an intergalactic ship.

Everything felt possible. Everything was exciting.

But somewhere along the way… we lost it.

As we grew older, that sense of wonder – the craving for mystery, adventure, and make-believe – slowly faded. We stopped pretending. We stopped exploring. The woods became just trees. The tunnels, just drains. And the legends? Just stories.

Where Did It Go?

What changed?

Why does it feel like so many adults no longer have the same spark, the same excitement for the unknown?

Part of the answer might lie in how society teaches us to grow up. We’re told to focus on reality, to be “practical,” to prioritize logic and responsibility. There’s little room for dragons, ghosts, or treasure maps in adult life. Certainty becomes the goal, and imagination is quietly pushed aside.

But that love of the mysterious – that wide-eyed curiosity – isn’t childish. It’s human. We were born to explore, to wonder, to ask questions we can’t always answer. Yet somewhere between school runs, job deadlines, and social obligations, we’re taught to trade curiosity for convenience.

And then there’s fear.

Not the kind we had as kids – fear of the dark or monsters under the bed. But fear of being wrong, of looking foolish, of being judged. It’s easier to say “that’s all nonsense” than to admit we don’t really know. Admitting that a myth, legend, or paranormal story could be true is uncomfortable, even threatening to our ordered view of the world.

So we dismiss it.

Ghosts? Fake.
UFOs? Lies.
Mysterious creatures? Folklore.

We tell ourselves there’s a logical explanation for everything – and if there isn’t, it’s probably not worth thinking about.

But Why Should We Stop Asking What If?

Because that’s what adventure is. It’s not knowing for sure. It’s asking questions without guaranteed answers. It’s being open to the possibility that the world is still strange, still mysterious, still full of things waiting to be discovered.

Think about it: we explore other planets but ignore the mysteries in our own backyard. We marvel at CGI monsters but mock real stories of the unexplained. We chase digital simulations of adventure while the real thing slips quietly out of reach.

We’ve become so distracted, so overstimulated, that we’ve forgotten how to be bored. And boredom, once upon a time, was the breeding ground for imagination. It’s where stories came from. Where ghost hunts began. Where we climbed trees just to see the world from a little higher up.

Stop Being Mood Sinkers

Let’s be blunt: stop being mood sinkers.

Stop acting like joyless know-it-alls who scoff at everything that doesn’t come with footnotes and peer-reviewed sources. The world is weird. And that’s what makes it beautiful.

You don’t have to believe in every story or sighting, but you can stop being so miserable about it all. Let yourself wonder again. Let your mind play. Let your heart leap at the idea that maybe – just maybe – there’s more going on in this world than we understand.

Stay open to the impossible. Embrace the ridiculous. Ask what if? more often. You might just rediscover the part of you that once turned a drainpipe into a dragon’s lair, or a foggy night into a ghost story.

The Spark Is Still There

The good news? That spark never really dies. It just gets buried under the weight of modern life. And with a little effort, we can find it again.

So, take a detour through the woods. Listen to a ghost story and really listen. Watch the stars without checking your phone. Read a local legend. Ask what if? more often than so what?

The world is still full of wonders – we just need to remember how to see them.

Because adventure hasn’t disappeared.

Some people have just forgotten how to look for it.

If you are still reading, why not watch our video of the Boggart of Union Buildings and ask yourself, What If?

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