Portable = Permanent

I’ve bounced around a bit. Since college, I’ve lived in New Jersey, Washington, Arizona, and Maryland. Each move was a completely fresh start; I only knew one or two people (usually relatives) in those locations, and had to establish an entirely new group of friends each time.

Fortunately, I belong to a church which makes transitions incredibly easy. I immediately met people who shared my values, and my naturally garrulous, extroverted personality attracted attention. I was able to quickly establish friendships that were also meaningful and deep. It’s a gift and a blessing to have had such people in my life.

However, they didn’t always stay in my life. They moved, or I moved, or we simply lost touch because life gets busy. In such cases, I have always been adamant that our friendship is merely “on pause” and will resume whenever our paths cross again. I declare our relationship a “guilt-free zone” and command that neither party will feel any remorse or shame if we go months or years without contact. We shall always give one another the benefit of the doubt and assume a warm welcome awaits whenever we speak or meet again. I have had occasion to test that policy many times, and it is genuinely beautiful to reestablish relationships almost instantly, even after a prolonged absence.

Still, it’s not my preference. I would rather not go through that period of silence at all. I have good intentions and make occasional efforts, but staying in touch is real work. Social media lulls us into believing that relationships can be maintained by periodically publishing posts, but connection is certainly dulled over time if that is our only contact. Content is not a substitute for conversation! Talking to a friend feels good because there is an exchange of understanding and empathy; a broadcast is one-sided, and comments in response are barely an acknowledgement, not real engagement.

But how to better include these friends from years past in my current life? We’ve tried the Zoom calls, the round-robin emails, the visits that are too few and far between. It’s just not enough to feel like we’re consistently caught up. Since my business is LITERALLY to help adults nurture relationships, shouldn’t that also include friends who are far away?

I started brainstorming about how to create a virtual version of our in-person events. I already know that consistency, variety, and community are the keys to maintaining a strong friend group, and none of those are limited by geography. Some events, like cocktail parties and game nights, are remarkably easy to replicate on a virtual platform. Others, like high adventure and classes, are a little more difficult to do remotely. Still, the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that people need this—a real, viable method for keeping friends in their lives, no matter how their circumstances change.

Thus the Traveler Membership was created. Now, Adventure-Us hosts 4 virtual events per month in addition to our 8 in-person events. Travelers who live too far away to come hang out with us in town can still participate in our online offerings as well as any of our trips. It doesn’t matter what airport you fly out of if we’re all meeting in Iceland, right?

The Traveler membership makes it possible to meet and get to know people over time the same way you would standing right in front of them. The difference is this friend group is portable. If your work requires frequent travel, changing locations, odd shifts, etc., you might never have the opportunity to make new friends in real life. Instead of feeling isolated and helpless, join a community full of people who are actively seeking new relationships. We are a fun, quirky, fascinating, joyful bunch, and you will absolutely fit right in!

In addition to looking forward, the Traveler membership is also the perfect reason to look backward and re-engage with people you’ve been missing for a long time. Personally, I’ve reached out to friends all over the country to join Adventure-Us so this can be the thing we do together. There will always be a next time to talk already scheduled, so no one has to fear dropping the ball. I’ve dreamed of traveling with these people for years (and even sometimes succeeded), but now we have solid future plans (and more to come!).

Also, I love the idea of introducing all my old friends to all my new friends! You see, I’m awesome, so I attract awesome friends. Chances are, if we are friends, you are also awesome, and would therefore fit in with my other awesome friends. It’s inevitable!

As you can tell, I’m thrilled to offer this new Travelers membership, and I hope you’ll spread the word to your old friends, current friends, colleagues, network, and anyone else you encounter who needs this kind of anchor to their people!