Yasmin knows that those feelings of wanderlust can be real. She shares a few simple tips to make our everyday life just as exciting (or nearly as exciting) as the Instagram feeds we follow.

Scrolling through my Instagram feed often leaves me feeling restless and agitated. I begin to have visions of leaving it all behind, despite literally living in a house that is the embodiment of #cabinporn complete with back paddock trail access to some of the best dirtbike adventures on the North Coast.

I envy these glossy young things with their hipster felt hats, plaid adventure jackets and faux­ Pendleton, culturally misappropriated blankets. Despite the fact that I too was a globe-trotting tart two years ago, in the back of my mind, the mountain is calling ALL THE TIME.

So to stop myself from booking the cheapest plane ticket to #thatwanakatree, I’ve come up with a few simple ways you can bring a sense of adventure into your everyday life that won’t break the bank and will level up your #liveauthentic credibility.

1. Solar Powered Fairy lights

I can’t imagine my life pre-fairy lights. I feel as though I went through the dark ages of humanity and was reborn into the renaissance with the soft glowworm twinkle of Bunnings fairy lights.

Seriously, put these things everywhere. Above your bed, all along your verandah, balcony, garden, kitchen, wrapped around your toilet, wherever. Fairylights take us back to a time when we worried less and still believed in magic.

They instantly transform a space and give it a feeling of escapism. It’s no longer your toilet, it’s your magic toilet unicorn that takes you all over the world on its shiny white porcelain back.

Solar-powered fairy lights need sun. Chuck the charger near a window and you’re good to go. The ones from Bunnings last for ages, are relatively cheap to buy and automatically turn on in low-light situations. Plus they are super long and you can easily take them down and take them with you on your next ‘real’ adventure.

 

2. Backyard Forts

For a really great #tbt moment, get outside into your yard (or for apartment dwellers, your lounge room will do) and build yourself a fort with blankets, pegs, pillows and sheets.

Building blanket cubby houses forces you to use your imagination and problem-solving skills to recreate that magic time in childhood where a sheet on a stick was a tent in the jungle and your fav toy was your Crocodile Dundee sidekick.

It’s a great way to ignite a sense of adventure because it takes a lot of courage to sit in a dishevelled sheet in your backyard with the neighbours wondering if they should call community services.

 

3. Fire

Nothing screams adventure in the ‘burbs like a fire does. It feels naughty and dangerous as you contemplate turning your sedate courtyard glow into a raging bonfire that burns the whole damn city down. Some people would call that Pyromania.

Let’s be honest though. We all feel that way because fire is primal. It’s been with us through all the ages of humanity. Staring into a fire takes you places that are like half-remembered dreams from our collective cell memory. It’s pretty powerful.

You can buy nice little burners from Bunnings or for the DIY’ers, make yourself a permanent fire pit. Autumn and Winter are the perfect seasons to sit around a flame with friends and mulled wine and frosty stars.

Read more: Camp Kitchen // Campfire Mulled Wine

 

Rewild Yo'self // Inner Self, Meet The Outdoors, Yasmin Maher, campfire, stars, astrophotography, night time, firelight

4. Candles

Candles are adventurous for the same reason fire is. If you don’t have a space where you can have a fire, candles are your next best bet. They change the atmosphere of any space and instantly make everyone look gorgeous in their selfies. A candlelit dinner on your loungeroom floor is the semi-equivalent to a bush bbq next to your tent.

A word of warning. Candles can and will burn your house down if you’re not careful. I did it when I was 18 at our house warming party in Newtown.

ALWAYS put something like a plate or large piece of foil under tea lights and never go to sleep with candles burning.

 

5. Take The Long Way Home

We often don’t realise how ingrained we have become in our routines until we change them. When you find yourself at home without remembering how you got there, you know it’s time to switch up your route.

Living in a city doesn’t have to mean you become a beige shrivelled version of your once rainbow self.

Once a month or every week, take a different route home from work. Turn left instead of right, go straight instead of left, take the bridge, not the tunnel.

Alternatively, go home via a park you’ve never visited before or stop at that shop you’ve always meant to stop at. Make a date with your partner at a random restaurant in and out of the way suburb and meet them there for #TGIF knockoffs. Get off the train or bus a stop early or late and walk. Appreciate people’s gardens along the way that you never noticed before.

Living adventurously is really just living with an awareness of the smaller, simpler aspects of life. The joy of friends laughing together after a good meal, the rain smell after a storm, chatting to the old man in his garden about his roses, the feeling of being content with what you have.

Sometimes, being adventurous is really just changing your perspective.

 

Mountain driving adventure in the Hunter Valley Yasmin Maher

 

Feature photo by @rubyclaireee