Well it's certainly an adventure going to my local Waitrose. It's the whole world in miniature the moment you arrive in the car park. Aggressive, thrusting, out-of-my-way, important-person-coming-through individuals scattering pedestrians like confetti as they try to park their BMW X5s in spaces designed for 60's Minis, elderly couples arguing in the aisles over whether to buy the Merlot or the Chardonnay, children throwing tantrums because their sibling's pony is better than theirs and "nouveau pauvre" widow(er)s trying to keep up "standards" but who would be better off shopping in Lidl. The only thing I haven't seen is people turning up in their nightwear - you have to go to Tesco's for that.

Tongue in cheek (and class warfare) aside, the whole concept of "adventure" in the way it's used at present doesn't sit that well with me. It comes at it from the wrong end. Adventure now seems to have become something that can be packaged and sold, something marketed at people who want a bit more than the usual "fly and flop" two weeks in the sun but don't want to put the effort in themselves to arrange it. I don't particularly want an "adventure" when I head off somewhere on a bike (or any other form of transport), I want to broaden my horizons. I'll decide for myself whether what I do / did qualifies as adventurous or not.

What I have noticed is a kind of "grade inflation" that's crept into travel (and diy travel in particular) over the decades. Your fellow "adventurers" are harder to impress than they used to be. That's partly because expanding commercial travel has made it easier to access remote areas of the planet - you can get "there" now overnight with a glass of champagne in your hand whereas it would have taken months and a few tropical diseases on the way not that long ago. Dr Livingstone anyone? The barriers to going rtw on a bike (for example) these days are not so much the "there be dragons" worries about the unknown that people faced in the past as issues with finance, red tape, family, giving up career / job etc. You could argue that a good part of the adventure happens before you even start the engine.

Anyone going to the Adventure Travel Show in London this weekend?