The Many Faces of Adventure
Adventure is an expression of self-identity. A man of shorter stature, made up for this many times over by his commanding presence and easy confidence, has been guiding NOLS courses in these mountains for almost 15 years now. His deadpan humor, I-can’t-tell-if-you’re-joking-or-not sarcasm, and sagelike knowledge have led him through a 50-day traverse of the Himalayas from Pakistan to Nepal, up the towering mountains as part of multiple first Indian ascents, and now he guides newcomers across the glaciers he knows so well. In every village, he knows people, smiling and waving and introducing them to everyone. For him, adventure is purpose – he spends his days as a NOLS instructor, founder of an ice-climbing festival, and personal guide – the glue which bonds his passion for the people, place, and teaching new explorers to experience alpine adventure safely and with the respect the local ecosystem deserves.
Adventure is a medium for community. A friendly, ever-smiling product designer by profession and poet by passion, the Londonite was somehow always stocked with snacks not included in the rations, a gift he shared widely. Having designed everything from medical devices to social innovation handbooks, his passion for environmentalism, experiencing nature, and deep love for his family and friends shines through in his work and interactions with everyone. For him, adventure is a medium of connection, whether with his sister whom he loves to hike with, to the outdoors, or to the responsibility he feels to the world.
Adventure is a muse and a companion. With an easy laugh and an unrivaled appreciation for beauty and a challenge, he was known as “the guy who was good at everything.” A photographer and documentarian by trade, his love for the outdoors was palpable, in both attitude and creativity. This trip was nothing new – he had grown up in the mountains, and he was accustomed to camping and cooking and living out in the wilderness. For him, adventure is a canvas for creativity, a way of reconnecting with his childhood, rediscovering the adeptness he had outside the comforts of society, and rediscovering what and who he truly cares about.
The rope connecting us all went taut as we inched across the glacier, a human chain navigating the maze of crevasses beneath the towering Himalayan peaks. With each step, something shifted in my understanding of adventure. For my brother and me, adventure had always been an activity – something to spice up summer days or break the monotony of routine. A new surf break. A hike to find a new ski line. A day hike. But here, roped to seven others at 18,000 feet, adventure revealed itself as something far more profound: not an escape from life, but a medium through which to live it more fully.
The Adventurer’s Spirit
Why was our motley group one of the most remarkable, passionate, and caring communities I’ve ever known? What is it about people who choose NOLS adventures, who choose the wilderness, that make me love and appreciate them so much? Part of the answer lies in self-selection: a person who chooses NOLS, who seeks out time in the wilderness, shares many of the values that I care about. Over 40+ day trip, we realized that there are three essential qualities that reflect these values, which define the “adventurous spirit.”
- The Power of Collective Surrender
The first is what I’ve come to call “collective surrender,” a precondition of showing up in the Delhi airport. Faced with -15°C nights, 80-pound packs, and the raw power of the Himalaya, we had no choice but to surrender to our group and the mountains’ terms, giving up the comforts and norms which govern our daily lives. Adventurers – people who choose to surrender these things – are, by doing so, showing that they value the lessons, experiences and relationships that come from the weeks devoid material comforts, in extreme conditions. They each believe, as we do, that in surrendering the ordinary, we can create space for what makes each of us extraordinary.
- Confidence
The second is a heroic self-confidence. From our own experience, it’s scary to step away from family and friends and society and technology and work and life in general to instead live in tents where your breath condenses and freezes during the night and leeches slither through the grass you camp on. Throughout the trip, be it through dragging two loads of gear each through feet of snow or being vulnerable about your fears or open to asking for help, it became blatantly obvious that adventure requires a unique confidence in yourself and your skills, a willingness to try new things and push yourself physically and mentally. When someone to seek out adventure as a hobby or a career, they exercise this unique confidence, a dauntlessness that they see and appreciate in others.
- Introspection and Reflection
The last is a deep commitment to introspection. Thriving in any team, much less one in which you need to entrust life and limb, requires one to be introspective and pursuant of self-betterment, cognizant of their own strengths and places for growth. To keep our group united, every team member strove to recognize their shortcomings and actively worked to complement their strengths with the strenghts and weaknesses of other, a community that is more than the sum of its parts. Both technically and personally, each team member actively sought to connect with their best selves, complementing our small community, an unit of strength in an untamed wilderness.
Whenever we rotated tent or cook groups, we each wrote down six pieces of constructive criticism for each member including ourselves. Together, we shared our reflections, appreciating each person’s successes and locating places in need of work. At first, it was difficult for me – hearing what I took as “failures” made me defensive – but I quickly realized alongside everyone else that it was one of the most valuable aspects of the trip. The wilderness, with its stark simplicity, creates space for the constructive, self-reflection, and through sharing and the resulting collective self-discovery, each of our teammates demonstrated the value of engaged self-awareness.
We were limited by weather, terrain, and our own capabilities. We could only move as fast as our slowest member. We shared every discomfort: the cold, the altitude, the physical strain. Yet within these limitations, we discovered each other. Stripped of society’s usual masks and habits, we made space for our true selves, offering our best to each other.
Adventure as a Life Lens
As I return to Portugal and prepare for our next adventure in the Alps, this new appreciation for adventure will guide me forward. Adventure, for me, is no longer about breaking up an afternoon, escaping routine. It is much bigger, more profound, meaningful and necessary to me. Adventure is my touchstone for living intentionally – a medium through which to I will continue to cultivate creativity, self-awareness, and meaningful connections.
The crevasses we navigated, the passes we crossed, and the challenges we faced together taught me that adventure isn’t just what you do – it’s an approach life. Whether climbing in the Himalayas or beginning a new service project, adventure cultivates the values of collective surrender, confidence, and introspection. In other words, adventure is a medium for becoming person you want to be, present, while stripped bare of material comforts and surrounded by people who empower you to do so.
This transformation in perspective is perhaps the most valuable lesson from our forty days in the mountains. Adventure, as we initially anticipated, isn’t an escape from real life – it’s a lens that brings life’s most important elements into sharper focus: community, purpose, growth, and the courage to pursue the best in each of us.
– Ryan Growney
About Our Gap Year Journey
We’re Ryan and Thomas Growney, twin brothers and co-founders of Service Academy.
After graduating from St. George’s School in Rhode Island, we’ve embarked on a gap year to explore how different cultures approach problem understanding, community engagement, service, and social innovation.
Our journey will take us to various countries, including South Africa, where we’ll participate in the Tilting Futures program, and the Himalayas, where we’ll be joining the NOLS for a high-altitude mountaineering challenge. Throughout this year, we aim to challenge our assumptions, broaden our perspectives, and gather insights that will help us enhance our approach to social impact back home.
Ryan is particularly interested in scaling service initiatives to develop young leaders, while Thomas focuses on the personal connections and community belonging that service creates. By sharing our experiences, we hope to contribute to a broader dialogue about service, mentorship, community engagement, and cross-cultural learning.
We invite you to follow along with our journey, engage with our reflections, and share your own insights about service in diverse contexts.
Together, we can work towards creating more meaningful and impactful youth service ecosystems that benefit both young people and their communities.