About

We imagine ourselves as pretty regular people. This is critical to the whole idea of this website. There are no tricks. Yes, we’ve had good fortune, good support, but we’ve worked hard and kept our eyes on the prize. ExploreAgain is for everyone. If discovery was reserved to the special, this planet of ours would be in a dire place indeed. But we think it’s there for you too, and maybe this web page will help guide the way, if only in some minor entertaining kind of way.

The idea of this adventure and this blog has been sitting in my mind for a very long time, indeed, there are a few folders on my computer charting false starts over the years. The impetus behind it all is this: what do you do with this life after marriage, or kids, or the start of your career. Life is long. The next landmark is retirement then some time after that, death. Maybe a divorce and a second marriage in there, but that’s not something that you plan for. Either way, it’s a rather grim outlook. There’s a lot of time of just being and what I saw in my peers, in the media, the news, just about everywhere, was that people didn’t know what to do with it. All too easily, they abandoned the curiosity of their youth, the love for adventure, the interrogation of the status quo. We get comfy and close the doors and windows, stay inside with our familiar belongings and venture out now and then to a resort and that is that.

I get it. It’s time to be an adult. There’s work and obligations, and you’re more tired than you used to be. But what if we left just a little bit of space in our lives for dreaming, for curiosity, for pursuing interests for the sake of it, with (gasp) anything in it. Take an art course, learn about mushroom foraging, plan a round the world trip that might not even take. It doesn’t need to be big. This isn’t a blog that going to tell you to move out of the city to try your hand at homesteading. You don’t need to buy a sprinter van and convert it. You won’t need to quit your job or sell your children or really do anything all that different. You just need to make room for the possibility.

This site is named as it is, because I see it as a return to something we all possess, have experienced before in some form or another, but need to return to it from time to time lest we forget how. I think this is critical to a happy, healthy, diverse, and vibrant society. What you’ll find inside is how we challenge ourselves to keep discovering. Our path might not be for you, but we hope it provides a starting point for your own adventure. So give yourself permission to do something that’s not on the syllabus for adulthood. Look up, look out, and explore again!

Cast of characters:

Sarah: Let’s call her the head of the house. Grounded, hardworking, great with setting goals and seeing them out. 

Interests: Running, horses, reading, street meat, junk food, and cute fuzzy animals. 

Philosophy: What a shame to leave things, once started, unfinished.

Most likely to finish a marathon with a cocktail in her hand.

Ian: A bit of a dreamer. This is handy for maintaining curiosity and less good for putting up with careerism.

Interests: Movies, climbing, soccer, happy dogs, craft beer, and cooking. 

Philosophy: Give in to the absurdity of existence.

Most likely to keep the neighbours awake by thinking too hard.

Gidget: A tiny aging dog powered by puppy good looks. Good at running swiftly in tight circles, bad at taking proper walks. Strengths: cuteness. Weaknesses: loves too deeply.

Philosophy: No past or future, only laps to sit on.

Most likely to fall behind on a walk and discover a new family.