Endgame Service - Restoration of the soul and perspective

Endgame adventures is always in a state of becoming.  There is no arrival.  The journey never ends.  The endgame is the understanding that there is no end.  As the company evolved we added a service component to have a positive impact on the communities where we travel.  We are their guests and appreciate their contributions on this journey of transformation.  On a recent surf adventure in Nosara, Costa Rica we traveled down the road to Playa Garza to deliver Easter gifts, play games, and plant trees at the local elementary school.

 Adventure travel takes a toll on even the most seasoned of travellers.  A day of exercise, surfing and just being in a foreign country is exhausting.  Tired and exhausted I pushed the group to do one more activity, the service.  I don’t think a person in the van was happy about driving into Playa Garza to plant trees after the exhaustive day we just experienced.  However, once we got there the energy intake far exceeded the energy expenditure and led to this renewal that is hard to put into words.  In his book “Social Intelligence”  Daniel Goleman explains the impact of mirror neurons.  The observer imitates the emotional state of the the person being observed as though he or she was experiencing the same emotional state.  This is where I believe that service is just as beneficial to the one delivering it as the one receiving it.  I can tell you firsthand that at the end of the night when we were doing highs and lows that everyone of the adventure travellers put their high as helping those kids at the top of their list that day and maybe even for the trip.  Observing kids receiving unexpected gifts and helping adults beautify a school they care about is priceless.  Dream Big. Train Hard. Never Settle.

Searching for that moment in Adventure Travel - Nosara, Costa Rica 2014

There are so many unforgettable moments in adventure travel. Endgame Adventures was recently in Nosara, Costa Rica. We were coming back from a service project bringing Easter presents to the local elementary school and Veronica, our Service Coordinator, asked us if we wanted to go to the beach to see the sunset.

There was this hesitation in the truck. Our group of adventurers had been charging hard for four days of travel, surf, service, teaching and writing our college application essays. We were tired in our bones. I imagine in that moment all of the adventures wanted to go back to the hostel and go to sleep. I certainly did, but my protest was silent. Our guide made the decision for us. The campers and I were too tired to question the offer. As we walked on to the beach we saw the most beautiful sunset; I have never seen one like it. More impressive than the sunset was the reaction from the participants and everyone whom was on that beach. The connections among us rippled through everyone. Connected by the awe of the moment. Connected by the being. Really cool.

Obstacle course racing with Endgame Adventures

Why run 12 miles and navigate obstacles where you have to pay money to endure physical hardships? There is a good chance your calf might cramp to the point where you have to sit on the ground in agony for 5 minutes. You might be so cold in the arctic enema that it will take you 2 or 3 attempts to get out and then you'll shiver for the next hour. The mental side is even more arduous.  When the Endgame Adventures team ran Tough Mudder in Central Florida on November 2nd, I personally was in unknown territory.
I never realized that one obstacle was navigating through a winding 50 foot dirt tunnel underground in complete darkness. I struggle with claustrophobia. This obstacle really tested my limits. The Endgame Adventures philosophy is to run into life not away from it. We want to safely test the unpredictable nature of life. Paradoxically for this event we had to sign a death waiver.
The unknown will either tear your team apart or create an unbreakable bond. At mile 3 one of our runners sat down and couldn’t move. He didn’t sleep well the night before and failed to eat breakfast. His energy system was shutting down. I was stunned by this. He was one of our more athletic participants and he had been training with me in prep for the race. However, the whole team immediately rallied.
One of our fellow team members ran and got him bananas. Random strangers offered energy bars. Its pretty cool to witness the human bond when you're in the middle of nowhere and exhausted. This is just one example of psych energy you get from your teammates. You are inspired in so many little ways. Someones face as they crawl through mud with strings hanging that can deliver a shock, but they keep on crawling anyway. Having a teammate help you over a wall.
Something I will never forget happened on the last obstacle called Everest. Everest is a quarter pipe that is coated in mud and grease. You sprint up it and when it becomes vertical you jump and try to catch the lip with your hands or the hand of a teammate so they can pull you up to the summit. Well, I'm the last one at the event and also the slowest, heaviest, and oldest on our team. It was raining and I could barely feel my legs. I felt slow and as I jumped for the lip one of my teammates grabbed my hand. Communication happened in our eyes. I could feel my eyes saying don’t let go as I saw his eyes screaming I have to let go.  I was too heavy for him, so he let me go.
Instead of sliding on my stomach or back smoothly. My body rolled sideways and I landed on my shoulder and then my head. My shoulder hurt and I wondered if I had a concussion. I was seeing stars. I got up off the ground and started asking myself really weird questions in my head. What is my wifes social security number? What is my mothers maiden name? I was attempting to self diagnose a concussion. I was dinged but fine. I fell more gracefully from the top 3 more times and each time a couple of things happened: More of my teammates assembled at the top to catch me and more of the other mudder participants stopped to watch the Endgame Adventures team. On my fifth attempt my teammates caught me and I felt at least six hands hoisting me over the top. The crowd of strangers went crazy. That’s the kind of moment I live for, and I want everyone that goes on an Endgame Adventures trip to experience. At Endgame Adventures you will never sign a death waiver, but you might be asked to sign an agreement to live a full life contract.
-Rob Biasotti- Chief Visionary Officer

The Philosophical case for Endgame Adventures

Have you ever thought about what it means to be?  What are you?  Are you an IQ?  Are you the number of likes you get on a Facebook post? Do you become your occupation?  When we think about life this way we have lost the meaning of being.  When we decide to live an ordinary life and follow the conventions of others we forfeit our being.  We become unauthentic people.

We hide behind these conventions because we think they will protect us. Time flies not because we are having fun but because we are busy identifying our being with objects. What kind of car do you drive? Iphone or Droid? Mac or PC? We all agree that the acceleration of time is not a positive thing, but I think that most of us secretly like it. It’s the busyness that protects us from the truth. At the very end when it’s too late we can look back on our life and rationalize that we never had a choice to begin with. We followed the conventions and this it where it led us.

Somewhere deep down we know that is a self-deception designed to make us feel better. It was better to wrap ourselves in the warm blanket of conventions than to come to grips with the fact that our existence is finite. Our life was a blur and then it was over. We embrace the blur because the truth is too much to face. The saddest part of this premise is that subconsciously we don’t even think about it. It’s a forgetfulness. The world neither elicits awe from us or enthralls us and the painful truth is that we have forgotten that it is supposed to.

Endgame Adventures strives to make sure that every participant experiences their being as pure astonishment. It’s crystal clear. No distortion. Not forgotten. It’s what you will marvel at as you look back. Experience the sound of silence in a desert canyon. Come up for air after being in the washing machine of a wave. Don’t look back and say oh well. Let nature in the form of a mountain or ocean reveal itself to you on its own terms in a way we can never manufacture with technology.

Because we have a limited time we need to discover who we are in the context of our environment. We can make a difference. That’s why Endgame Adventures is my life work. If someone can see beyond the conventions and objects and become a truly authentic person than Endgame Adventures has achieved its mission.

One authentic person can transform the world.

-Rob Biasotti-Chief Visionary Officer

How to Stay Excited About Your Travel Path (cont'd)

Last week I shared 5 tips to help you stay in love with traveling after a long, hard trip. Here are 6 more that I think will be useful:

6. Work on a post trip activity.

• Photobook
• Pinning a map
• Scrapbook
• Get a scrolling frame to keep memories going
• Hang pictures
• Add to a travel journal
• Edit your travel videos/photos

7. Lock in your travel experiences

Cook yourself a meal you learned about on your trip. Create a playlist of all of the songs you learned about along the way. Share both with friends.

8. Clean up physically and mentally.

Have a free day planned. Allow yourself to relax. If your trip has been a long one, treat yourself to a relaxing day to get your head back to reality. Could be drinks with the guys or girls or just cooking a meal at home and relaxing on the couch. This will keep you moving forward and looking forward to what is next, feeling fresh.

9. If possible, take time away from those you traveled with.

Introverts and extroverts have their strengths, but become ambiverted (enjoying solitude as well as time with friends) and you’ll have it made. The silence you hear when you are finally alone, really alone, is priceless.

10. Ignore your bag for a few days or a week.

Don’t unpack right when you get home. It’s the last thing you want to do so...make it the last thing you do.

-Supervising Educator Hunter Cambon

How to Stay Excited About Your Travel Path

Use the following tips to stay in love with traveling after a long, hard trip:

1. Re-booking Straight Away

If you can afford it, do it. Not that you have to have all of the money at once, but at least mark a trip on your calendar. If you don’t, you’ll put it off like everything else. Maybe just book a reservation on a hotel or book a ticket to your destination. This way you have something in the pipes to look forward to and something to work toward.

2. Map out a trip

You can work on creating itineraries to keep on file. It is always entertaining and challenging to map out the best trip possible. Start a file for your top 3 destinations and begin the research now. It makes life easier later on and keeps you stoked on your passion for travel.

3. Plan a meticulously vague trip

Once you’ve selected your locations you can start to actually plan the details of the trip. This will ensure a comfortable place to stay, a full stomach, and a more manageable transition from destination to destination if traveling long distances. But, if you’re interested in authentic experiences and meeting the people who will change your trip (and maybe your life) allow flexibility. Take recommendations for restaurants from locals, veer off the beaten path, and find what you didn’t know you were looking for.

4. Enjoy the anticipation.

Converse with others that are going on the trip or have already traveled to your destination. Start a group text or group email and keep everyone in the loop. Sparks will fly, ideas will be shared, and the anticipation will build. The anticipation is what travel is really about anyway. It’s great to look forward to a trip. 

5. Give yourself some wiggle room upon return.

Needing a vacation from your vacation is cliche for a reason. Traveling can wear you down and why should you return to work looking like you’ve just exited the Congo, Heart of Darkness style, when you can confidently walk in looking more like Indiana Jones. Give yourself a day for recovery, maybe even two.

Check back next week for 6-10!

-Supervising Educator Hunter Cambon

The Power of Multi-Colored Gummy Bears

So I decided I was going to snowshoe the White Mountains in New Hampshire during December of 2008. I got lucky because it was the most intense snowfalls on record that year. I had decided to bring my 11-year-old son with me. I may have implied that he was 13 when we signed up, but as someone dedicated to adventures I thought this exaggeration would be worth it.

The hike from Crawford Notch to the Zealand Falls hut is about 8 miles. You complete it with a group of about 20 hikers and 2 guides. As soon we began the hike off the main road, Johnny and I began to fall behind. About 30 minutes into the trek one of the guides stopped the group and came back to speak with me. His name was Anthony and he told me that John and I would have to go back to the lodge because we would not make the hut by nightfall. I pleaded with him and was met with a firm no. I offered him $200 and still he said no. After more pleading, he conceded that if we didn’t make one of the checkpoints by a certain time we would have to turn back.

The group split up and Anthony stayed with John and me. The mountains were beautiful. That hike is where I learned that no matter how tired I was it was critical to keep my head up to enjoy everything around me. Anthony prompted us over and over again to look up because as we grew tired are eyes would drift toward our feet.

To be completely honest, John and I only made it on time because of Anthony’s coaching. Making it was such a confidence booster for John. He was feeling so pumped when we got to the hut. That night I encouraged John to eat as much as possible knowing that we would need all the energy possible to snowshoe out the next morning. Like a lot of fatherly advice, it fell on deaf ears. He barely touched his plate.

On the way out the next morning, John and I were so cold and the gear immediately started weighing on our backs. When we stopped for lunch and took off our gloves we couldn’t feel our hands. John was a trooper; even though he was tired he kept up. Throughout the entire experience, Anthony made only one mistake. As we made our way out of the forest and onto a side road he announced we had a made it. John interpreted this as the hike being over.

However, we were still about a mile from the main road. As we continued to walk, John grew more upset that our journey was not over. At some point he sat down in the snow letting the wind and snowflakes swirl around him. He announced that he was not going one step further. I was attempted every motivational angle from my years of parenting and coaching. Nothing worked! Things began to escalate between us when I felt a hand on my chest.

Anthony gently pushed me aside and asked to speak to John privately. Anthony didn’t say a word to John. He took out a Ziplock bag from his backpack. The bag contained 7 gummy bears and ¼ stick of a Hershey’s chocolate bar. As John began to eat the gummy bears one by one I could see him becoming energized. It was like watching a glass being filled. By the time he got to the candy bar he was on his feet. He powered his way to the main road. When we got to the heated van we were beside ourselves because they had hot chocolate waiting for us. The feeling of accomplishment was palpable. It is a moment I will never forget and an
adventure I was happy to share with my son.

All it took to get John on his feet was a handful of gummy bears. What would it take to motivate you when you’re on your last leg?