About

I got the idea of the Adventure Monkey while on a long bicycle ride. I was considering the simple needs (at an instinctual, animalistic level) that must be met for us to live happy, fulfilled lives. No forebrain or higher level human psyche to get in the way. We tend to forget or repress these simple needs and desires because we live in a logical forebrain dominated world. I found myself seeing these inner needs as little monkeys, cute yet destructive. If you don’t feed your inner monkey, he becomes hungry and will surface himself in many destructive ways. He becomes an overbearing gorilla.

There’s more than one monkey inside of us. Much like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, I see monkeys instead of a dry, dusty hierarchy pyramid. A few that come to mind right away are the Love Monkey, the Spirit Monkey and the Adventure Monkey. If any one of these monkeys doesn’t get fed it gets hungry and becomes irritated, antagonizing the other monkeys inside of us. It’s not hard to think of a family member or friend that didn’t (or doesn’t) get their Love Monkey fed. It affects their lives in a negative way. I may refer to other monkeys, from time to time, but this blog is dedicated mainly to the Adventure Monkey inside of us.

We all need adventure. The Adventure Monkey is inside of us all. Without feeding our Adventure Monkey we get at the minimum restless and at worst clinically depressed. Some people feed their Adventure Monkey with daredevil X-game type of adventures. Some people fill it with travel. Others with meeting new people or raising a family. There is an unlimited number of ways to get our adventure on. If we don’t, we end up with a stale, tasteless and boring life that lacks the excitement we all crave. Ever feel that way? It’s because your Adventure Monkey is hungry or worse yet, starved.

In times of old, when we grew our own food and hunted our meals, our Adventure Monkeys were always satisfied. Life was an adventure if we liked it or not. The Adventure Monkey inside of us was beneficial for our survival. It got us to hunt, socialize, explore, invent and protect our ourselves. Today, the cubicle lifestyle does not provide any adventure or physical activity. Our Adventure Monkeys are screaming for some nutrition. We need adventure in our lives!

Working my day to day office job was boring me to death. Office politics irritated me. Meaningless small talk annoyed me. Futile work assignments drained me. In the cubicle world, there is nothing “real” to fight for so we make up stupid, idiotic things to worry about.

I started to feel useless, tired and depressed. I came home and was tired. I would watch people do cool things on television. I was tired of watching people do great things as I sat there doing nothing. My Adventure Monkey was starved!

When the weather turned, I started bicycling again. I was really enjoying the freedom and relaxation of a nice cross country ride. I found myself challenging myself, going farther and farther each ride. My mind would clear and I would reflect and learn while on a long bicycle ride. I didn’t feel depressed. I felt as if I was accomplishing something great on these rides. I was feeding my Adventure Monkey. It made me feel better and my mind began working better.

I found that my mind clears and I begin to learn new things while riding long distance. By pushing myself physically, I have been able to free myself mentally. I believe that bicycling has mind altering capabilities. My bicycle rides have become my anti-depressant medication.

I am also a photographer. I have been since 1990. I grew tired of weddings and portraits. On another bike ride, I decided to retire from that type of photography and focus more on selling fine art canvas prints. I found meaning in recording images from the adventures I found on my bicycle. I enjoy doing project photography too (for commercial purposes). I have started carrying my camera on rides and now my Adventure Monkey and Creative Monkey work together. I have to keep them fed or I am just not a happy guy.

So there you go. That is how this blog got started. It will evolve and adapt to how things change in my life. I will write about cycling, photography and everything in between. I will talk gear and answer questions anyone has. Hopefully this will blossom into some workshops or photography bicycle tours. Who knows? Just make sure to feed your monkeys.