Hello! So, would you sooner stay at home and be safe and warm, or risk it all and go adventuring? The definitions of each are as follows. Staying at home means you’re in the vicinity of your house and do the things you do before returning home. Going adventuring means you set off into the world, with little thought to where you’ll end up or what you’ll do when you get there.
Preparation Time
Staying at home requires only a small amount of preparation if any. You’ve probably already got a comfortable chair, a PC, a few snacks, some socks, a job/house/bank account, etc. All the things you need to live your life are right there. Ok, maybe not all the things, you might want a stupid inch TV/indoor pool/robotic butler, but mostly things are looking good. When comes to this task, you’re done.
When you head off on an adventure, because of its very nature you don’t know what to expect. Which means you have to take all the stuff you think you’re going to need to cover all eventualities. Of course, if you have a general idea it will lighten the load, you probably won’t need your snowshoes if you’re going up the Orinoco. Then again, it does snow in Venezuela, so who knows? If only there was such a thing as Swiss Army shoes or tents. It would be so much easier to carry a few multi-use items and just whip out the tool you needed as quick as a flash.
I’d say this point goes quite easily to Staying Home.
Travel Arrangements
Generally speaking, staying at home requires very little in the way of travel. You might have to go to work of course, but you’ve probably done that a million times and so it’s not really a problem. By that I mean arranging the travel is not a problem, the actual commute might be a nightmare, especially in a modern city. (You should work from home like I do, it’s great! (Cancelling smug mode…)) And you probably also know where all your family and friends live, so no problem there.
The romantic view of going adventuring might be just to head out, but at some point, you’re going to have to decide where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. In some parts of the world, you can just throw on your trusty backpack, lace up your hiking boots and off you go. Unfortunately, the UK is an island, so we can’t walk anywhere exotic from here. Wild, windswept, isolated, yes, exotic, not really. You could head to the airport and get on the first random plane, that might work.
I think Staying Home takes this point as well.
Enjoyment
Humans are hard-wired to seek fun, even if at times life, experience and poverty block that need. Even the dourest human should have fun sometimes. Staying Home gives you access to all the things you consider enjoyable (I’m assuming here, but if not, why?) Whether that’s collecting porcelain ferrets, rebuilding rotary engines or knitting bobble hats for the neighbours, you have everything you need for said enjoyment right there.
When adventuring, any fun you have will have to be spontaneous and locally sourced. The choice of activities might be wide, but generally, falls into three categories; social stuff like singing around camp-fires, physical stuff like climbing up/down/into something, and, of course, humanity’s favourite, er, let’s just call it intimate relations. There’s also travelling and sight-seeing and waiting (for transport/public officials/strange toilets you’re not sure how to work.) but we’ll count those as part of the adventure.
This one is a little closer, but I think Staying Home just sneaks ahead.
Survivability
Ok, sure, people do die in their own homes, and not just because they’re old, sick, or careless. But generally speaking, we spend more time at home than anywhere else, so when it comes time to rage into the darkness the chances are you’ll be in your house, probably in your bed. Nothing wrong with that, of course, it beats many of the alternatives and is my personal favourite.
When you go off adventuring, the choices are far more varied, exotic, and on the whole, painful. There are diseases, falling and cuisine-based hazards, all manner of crawling, flying, swimming beasties who will suck your blood, lay eggs in your guts and pass on incurable diseases. Then there’s transportation, civil uprising, criminals, dodgy water heaters, and warning signs written only in a language you don’t speak.
Definitely a point for Staying Home here.
The Human Spirit
Staying Home is fine most of the time. It’s safe and relaxing, comforting, familiar, and most of the time leads to contentment. It’s affordable, (within certain parameters) where you keep your loved ones and your collection of vintage steam irons, (or whatever is your preference for collecting. For me it’s books, dragons, books, dice, and books about dragons.) But it’s easy to get into a rut, doing the same old thing every day. Never moving out of your literal comfort zone isn’t good for your spirit.
Adventuring can be scary, and expensive, and threatening to the health. This depends on what you mean by adventuring of course. Going to New York is a huge adventure for some. For others, mainly those who live there, it’s not so adventurous. Other people travel to exotic places and do exotic things and live among the natives wearing nothing but a gourd. Whichever is the one for you, it will lift your spirits like nothing else.
Some points here for adventuring I’d say, probably four, if I’m not mistaken.
The Best of Both Worlds
Is there something that blends both of these things into one, taking the safety of Staying Home with the joy of adventuring? Well, you could read a book, play a video game or a Tabletop Role-playing Game. There’s so much variety you’ll always find one you like. It’s not the same as doing it for real, but on the plus side, it’s not the same as doing it for real. The choice of destinations is limitless, the company is excellent and you won’t pick up any parasites. Surely it’s better than sitting motionless in front of yet another program about celebrities you’ve never heard of, arguing about some nonsense, and being force-fed adverts for things you can’t afford?
I think this one will have to be a draw.
Overall then, we have a draw! We can’t all be billionaires with private jets, some of us have to stay behind and feed the plants and water the pets. For those of us who have to do that, it’s nice to get out sometimes, to a whole other world filled with possibilities.
