Click here for Unexpected Adventures Part 1

Once you start Adventurizing your life, unexpected adventures start emerging from everywhere. As I continue shooting my Adventurize Your Midlife web TV series, I’m in an adventure within an adventure as I find other adventurizers who have their own stories to tell.  Some of the stories are part of the plan and others just happen along the adventurous way.

When we got to San Francisco, we drove to my old place to shoot the story of me leaving this city so many years ago. San Francisco. One of the most beautiful cities on the planet for a place so many hate. As we drove up Greenwich Street just below Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill, there it was my San Francisco flat. The place that kept me stuck for so long. The one big adventure I hadn’t taken was moving to a new city. I’d trekked across the globe but never trekked to a new life in a new city.

Suddenly I was overcome with emotion as I looked up at my quaint flat on my quaint and beautiful street.  I wasn’t sad because I missed my San Francisco life I was freaked out at the thought, “What if I never left? What if I was still living in that place?”  I was so grateful to have yanked myself from it. Suddenly I realized, everything looked the same. But I was different. This unexpected inner adventure made me feel alive and satiated. It’s the reason I adventurize in the first place.

The only regret? I wished I’d left sooner. Don’t get me wrong. San Francisco is still a beautiful city. Majestic hills, blue skies, panoramic views. But I love the fact that I left this gorgeous place for LA. I love my life in LA. In spite of the traffic. In spite of the smog. In spite of the constant crowds.

As the weekend unfolded, we ended up shooting a story we didn’t expect to get. And my friend didn’t expect to tell it. As he sat there across the table over dinner, he marveled at the fact that this was an unexpected life changing experience.

That’s the delicious thing about adventures. They can surprise us and thrill us making us discover new parts of ourselves.

It was a magnificent weekend. Mostly unplanned.  I almost didn’t go, wanting to put this off for awhile. And just like leaving my San Francisco life so many years ago, I’m really glad I took the adventure chance.

-Tracy Pattin

Tags: Adventures, Los Angeles, midlife adventures, over 40, over 50, San Francisco