ABSTRACT
So then, what is an adventure? The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘adventure’ as ‘a chance occurrence or event, an accident; to risk oneself; to venture’. Adventure learning concerns itself with the latter of these: ‘to risk oneself, to venture’. Adventure can be considered as an undertaking possibly involving danger and unknown risks. To encounter danger means to expose oneself to the possibility of injury, pain, harm or loss; unknown risk means the nature of the danger is unidentified and the extent is undetermined. So, danger relates to the size of the possible harm (which may or may not be physical) and risk is the probability of that harm happening. These two are variables, shaped by your own perceptions, which may or may not be accurate, but are very real to you. Adventure is therefore created through your mental image of what may happen to you if you try this venture and how likely it is that your envisaged consequence(s) may occur. Some people enjoy the thrill of possible harm and actively seek to maximise both danger and risk; others seek to minimise them. Most of us exist somewhere along a middle route, pushing the boundaries of our existence a certain extent every now and again, but not too much.
