6 Ways to Find Adventure While Working 9-5

Pippa thought starting full-time work in the city would kill both her free time and sense of adventure. Little did she know it’d open her eyes to a whole new way of living.

Blazer on, boots polished, ID lanyard at the ready. I’ve just started my first big-girl, full-time corporate job, and I’m nervous. How on earth can I keep my spirit alive when I’m spending most of my day sitting at a desk and staring at a computer screen?

Working in the city – not quite a mountain sunrise but still a good view!

Spoiler – I now love working 9-5.

I never saw myself as an office job kinda person. 

Not because I don’t like sitting at a desk and getting shit done – in fact, during uni I found nothing more satisfying than spending a long, productive day at the library.  

Nope, I was scared of the monotony. Having the same schedule every week and feeling like I need to organise my life around work, rather than work around my life.

However, I’ve been working full-time for four months now, and I love it. 

Read more: Working 9-5 – How Did I Get Here?

Maybe I’m still in the honeymoon stage (who knows what I’ll be thinking when it’s winter and the only sunlight I see is through the office windows), but regardless, I’m excited to see what lies ahead. 

Also, everyone’s life is different, and I can only speak to my own experience. So, if you’re reading this thinking ‘There’s no way I can do that’, that’s ok too! There’s no right or wrong way to do life, but hopefully, this gets you thinking about some fun ways to add the outdoors into your daily routine.

5 Things I Do to Keep My Sense of Adventure Alive While Working 9-5

1. Maximise My Commute

This isn’t exactly a new concept, but sometimes all you need is a little push to get started.

If your commute takes an hour each way, that’s ten hours a week – more than a full day of overtime work. Making your commute a fun (and ideally active) part of your day means you start your shift feeling good and arrive home feeling even better.

Swap the car for a bike, and you’re not only reducing your carbon emissions, you’re also getting a workout and extra sunshine time. What’s not to love? I ride to work as much as possible, and notice my mood improves heaps compared to when I take the tram (unless the weather is seriously grim).

Read more: A 4am Rollerblading Commute to Work

Gotta love a good, sunny bike commute!

Another alternative to taking the train is checking how long it takes to walk instead. Living in the city, there’s often not a huge difference in the time it takes to walk somewhere compared to taking public transport. Even if walking takes an extra ten minutes, you’ve used that time to up your step count, breathe in the fresh air, and haven’t cursed once about the bus replacements.

If incorporating active time into your commute isn’t realistic, try to spice it up with a fun podcast instead! I’ve heard We Are Explorers has a good one…

2. Make the Most of Working From Home

I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home a couple of days a week. Here are some things I do to try to make the most of it:

Use the time before and after work (which would typically go towards making myself look presentable, packing lunch, and commuting) to do something fun. For example, once a week my housemates and I set an early alarm and go for a sunrise swim. It’s a bit of a shiver-fest coming into winter but also a massive mood boost for the gloomy months. Packing a hot flask of tea is a game-changer too.

Sunrise swims with my housemates – pretending we weren’t absolutely freezing

Another thing I like to do is use that extra time to prepare/reset after a weekend microadventure. If I need to dehydrate a meal for an upcoming trip, I try to cook it in the morning and chuck it in the dehydrator before work starts. I’ll check it throughout the day (standing up regularly is good for you!), and by the time I finish work, my meal is ready to scrape out of the dehydrator and into my hiking pack.

During my lunch break I’ll usually try to do something fun, ideally outside. This includes anything from going for a walk or a run, lying in the sun and reading a book or starting a craft project. There are so many possibilities! 

Finally, setting up an outdoor desk for nice days makes for the best working space ever.

3. Plan Fun Weekend Microadventures

What’s the point in working all week if you don’t get to have a bit of fun on the weekend too? It doesn’t have to be expensive or a huge challenge; sometimes all you need is a little dose of nature to help you reset and feel revived.

Read more: Work 9-5? Here Are 5 Tips to Help Get You Camping Every Weekend

Weekend trip to Mt Feathertop

I know of an outdoor publication with all sorts of suggestions for epic weekends spent in nature! Check out the Explore map for all the best hikes and microadventures around Australia and New Zealand.

Since starting work, some of my fav weekends away have included hiking the Crosscut Saw and camping at Vellejo Gantner Hut, the Razorback Trail at Mt Feathertop, and surf trips along the Great Ocean Road.

Another weekend away on the Crosscut Saw

4. Keep Trying New Things

It’s a concept that’s been doing the rounds on TikTok – your perception of time slows down when you have unique experiences.

If you’re doing the same things day in and day out, it’s no wonder the years feel like they’re flying by. Comparatively, it can feel like a lifetime has passed if you spend a month solo travelling.

While this concept may not be backed by science (yet), it doesn’t detract from the message; it’s important (and fun) to keep trying new things. Variety is the spice of life, as they say.

Trying ocean kayaking

This year, I decided I wanted to get into open-water swimming. I found some friends who were also keen, and we’ve been slotting in swims together, before and after work, as well as on weekends. 

My partner has a kayak, so we’ve also started paddling together, exploring the bay and jumping in the chilly water with our goggles on to see what sea life we can spot.

I’ve been trying to get creative – organising arts and crafts nights with friends, starting new projects, and I even signed up for life drawing classes in the city after work. I’m also setting aside time in daily life to read more. I’ll often head out to a sunny patch of grass in the city during my lunch breaks when I’m working from the office.

It’s also fun to have a challenge or a goal to work towards. Like most of Melbourne’s population, I decided to sign up for a marathon this year, and have started planning weekends away to fun trail running destinations to keep the training exciting.

Experimenting with lino printing

I’ve also tried out a couple of new run clubs since starting full-time work, either slotting them in before the morning commute or joining ones that run after 5pm. Run clubs are especially great during months where the nights are longer, so you don’t end up jogging through the dark streets by yourself.

There are so many fun new things to try!

 5. Don’t Let My Annual Leave Build Up – Use It!

I don’t see any point in letting annual leave build up (unless, of course, you’re planning a big trip). For me, the time is worth so much more than being paid out for it at the end of my employment.

Read more: 4 Ways to Make More of Your Time Off Work

I just returned from two weeks hiking the Larapinta Trail in the Northern Territory. A group of friends and I managed to coordinate our time off to line up this trip, and it was the best refresh possible. Two weeks with no phone reception, no access to the outside world, and one simple goal – get to the next night’s campsite. It was such a nice break, but also made me appreciate the comforts I have in daily life (showers, food with different textures, different clothing to choose from).

Another way to do it is to give yourself a bunch of long weekends! A Friday of leave here, a Monday off there. Just one extra day in the weekend can expand your adventure horizons significantly and inspire you to tick off those trips a bit closer to home that feel like too much effort for one night out of the city.

Why wait? Annual leave is there to be used, so make the most of it!

6. Rest!

I wrote this guide and was following it – until I crashed. Yep, rest is necessary.

Sometimes, I just need a weekend to chill on the couch, clean the house, meal prep, or have a proper sleep in. Giving myself space and time to reset isn’t an unforgivable crime. I can’t have fun if I’m running on empty.

Read more: Even Explorers Need a Break – How to Avoid Adventure Burnout

What are you waiting for?

Living the corporate life can be an Explorer’s dream, it just takes a little bit of motivation and organisation. But if you’re going to be doing it for the rest of your life (or at least a solid chunk of it), now’s the time to start!

Of course, everyone has different responsibilities, and I’m privileged in that I only have myself to look after, I enjoy my work, and it’s very flexible.

Regardless, I hope you can incorporate at least one of these tips into your life. You know what they say about all work and no play… so don’t forget to keep things interesting!

Other Unique Ways to Keep Adventure Alive

• 7 Things I Learnt Living Without Technology for a Year
• I Went Wild Swimming Every Single Day For a Year – It Changed My Life
• 4 Ways To Make The Most Of Your Time Off Work
• 7 Ways To Make Your Adventure Really, Really Boring (and 7 Ways To Make Sure It’s Not)