ADVON.cc

ADVON.cc is closing its doors after a hard fought 18 months. Check out my post on LinkedIn for a more detailed description of why. Thank you to everyone who supported us! This has been such a rich experience working with such phenomenal people who really put their hearts into this company! The experience has been priceless. Failure isn’t easy and it’s never asked for, but man it is formative. I can honestly say that we put everything we had unto this.

I’m so glad to be married to Courtney Hull Lovelace! She encouraged me the whole way! We were so committed to this, that we didn’t even make a backup plan. It’s been fun spending the last few days coming up with new dreams together and exploring what could possibly be next. Life is a journey. A chance is a chance worth taking. I’ll strive to take the ADVON.cc mantra with me for the rest of my life: Be expeditionary!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jared-lovelace_the-bottom-line-upfront-is-that-after-working-activity-7113630055443951616-_0zh?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

ADVON.CC Epic Group Adventures Fund your travel. Join epic adventures. Challenge yourself by leaving your comfort zone and exploring the world. Experience the trip of a lifetime every time. Design or select from a wide variety of adventures: trekking, sailing, climbing, camping, backpacking, diving, snorkeling, vagabonding, langu

Leave home… return changed. Travel epic.

The Hero’s Journey - it is literally in the title - JOURNEY. They leave home, their comfort zone, or even their belief system/framework of normal. This departure into an unknown is an ACTUAL ingredient in the transformation process. Frodo Baggins (The Lord of the Rings), Walter Mitty (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), and just about every other protagonist that experiences meteoric growth…

If you wrote your arc, how would you picture the series of smaller challenges that bring you home vastly different than you currently are? Going back a step, what is the critical decision point where you decide to GO?

Push against all of the varieties of “luxury”. The difference between The Hero’s Journey and a story never told is that when faced with the opportunity to take the leap (Walter Mitty literally jumping onto the helicopter, Frodo volunteering to go to Mordor, etc) those who don’t go often never get the chance to see themselves a hero, or to be a part of legendary teams. Part I of the Hero's arc.

Expedition 001 - COMPLETE!

27:37 - “A tour guide is going to be an expert of the contextual knowledge [of a location] - an Expedition Leader is an expert in adventure… and at designing REAL experiences…”

We conquered Hadrian’s Wall. Check out a few highlights:

1. Mind-over-body experiences are necessary to build mental, emotional, and physical resiliency and fitness. Some of our daily “trials” at home really don’t seem so bad when your feet hurt from walking 20 miles in a day, your clothes are soaking wet after getting rained on for those 20 miles, you’re tired, your pack is heavy, and bugs are crawling over you while you sleep. If you’ve been there before - its important to re-engage and do it again, get another rep in.

2. Distance from our normal lives is required to see the bigger picture when it comes to ways to improve our lives. Time on the trail provided key ingredients (time, stimulation, distance) to work on big ideas and formulate goals that you normally wouldn’t have time to think about.

3. Boredom, ironically, is an amplifier for creativity. Jared has been working on a novel for 3 years. Normally, he has too many other ways to entertain himself when a moment of free time arises, but on the trail he was able to dive into the details of his book and progress the plot.

4. Adventure cannot coexist with scripted and choreographed travel plans that are designed to provide a guaranteed experience and manage every minute of your day. Expeditionary Travel requires thoughtful planning and preparation, but the mission is not to accomplish the plan. The plan was created to accomplish the mission. President Eisenhower (also Supreme Allied Commander during WWII) said: “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

Ep.2 Expedition Review & The difference between Tour Guide and Expedition Leader
https://open.spotify.com/show/53WfigW1ph6RhevkhcIS4c

Expedition 001 - COMPLETE! 27:37 - “A tour guide is going to be an expert of the contextual knowledge [of a location] - an Expedition Leader is an expert in adventure… and at designing REAL experiences…” We conquered Hadrian’s Wall. Check out a few highlights: 1. Mind-over-body experiences are necessary to build mental, emotional, and physical resiliency and fitness. Some of our daily “trials” at home really don’t seem so bad when your feet hurt from walking 20 miles in a day, your clothes are soaking wet after getting rained on for those 20 miles, you’re tired, your pack is heavy, and bugs are crawling over you while you sleep. If you’ve been there before - it's important to re-engage and do it again, get another rep in. 2. Distance from our normal lives is required to see the bigger picture when it comes to ways to improve our lives. Time on the trail provided key ingredients (time, stimulation, distance) to work on big ideas and formulate goals that you normally wouldn’t have time to think about. 3. Boredom, ironically, is an amplifier for creativity. Jared has been working on a novel for 3 years. Normally, he has too many other ways to entertain himself when a moment of free time arises, but on the trail he was able to dive into the details of his book and progress the plot. 4. Adventure cannot coexist with scripted and choreographed travel plans that are designed to provide a guaranteed experience and manage every minute of your day. Expeditionary Travel requires thoughtful planning and preparation, but the mission is not to accomplish the plan. The plan was created to accomplish the mission. President Eisenhower (also Supreme Allied Commander during WWII) said: “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

Hadrian’s Wall Update - In true infantry leader fashion - Jared leads out on a long walk. Through rain, over and under hill, with some breaks in the ruck sack recliner. The team is averaging somewhere around 17 miles a day. What are you doing this week? Consider this an invitation to take part in a long walk yourself - even something in single digit miles is an opportunity to mull over ideas you’ve set on your shelf… those big changes you’ve been considering. Rucking is great for that. The 'ol heel-toe express :)