Being a kid again: Cave Clanning in La Perouse, Sydney

When you travel, you see the world through the eyes of a child

- Brazilian friend in Portugal

Welcome to Imaginationland...

For me the best part about traveling is novelty. Its exhilarating being in a foreign environment where everything feels new. Its like being a kid again, having that sense of discovery and play. As we grow and get accustomed to routine we become weary of the world. We recapture our child-like wonder when we travel and take on new pursuits. Ultimately what it takes is a shift in thinking. The marvels of nature and the awesomeness of people has always been there, we just had to seek it or see things through fresh eyes.

The view from Henry Head

I recently did some urbex (urban exploration) with CouchSurfers around La Perouse & Henry Head bunkers. Though I've urban camped and explored abandoned spaces before, I would consider this my first full urbex experience. We explored the disused military sites scattered around the nature walk that skirt the NSW Golf course. I had punk rock friends who were part of the cave clanning community years ago but had never gotten around to joining them. My friend later told me the space we visited was used for the annual cave clan awards night.

Find more photos from 미쉘sam's Flickr page

The experience was heightened because it was shared with 3 fellow noobs, save for the Smartphone GPS most of the exploration was trial and error. One of our cohorts had never even heard of Urbex but was intrigued enough to give it a shot. Through her time teaching in Japan she had grown to appreciate nature with her side trips around the Country, as we got to know each other we realised we knew the same person. She was penpals with my cousin who also teaches in Japan, I joked that our mind's eyes might have been referencing the same Facebook photos of his. Another small world moment of synchronicity.
Its worth noting that my two other partners were involved in Gaming and Quantum physics, the twin subjects of my current project. "We're all connected maaaaan".

The best part of the outing was the imagination we injected into the experience. It was like a quest, we each got to display our specific attributes of height, balance and flexibility to progress. We pretended people in the distance were our future selves and that the island was inhabited by dinosaurs. The most thrilling episode was when the helicopter of the neighbouring hangar took flight, it felt like we were at Area 51. Interestingly the chopper never blasted away, instead it circled the grounds with its menacing spotlight. We hid like fugitives baffled as to what its intentions were.

Close Encounters...

The night was capped off with beers at the Maroubra beach Rock pool. It was a fun day recapturing the play of childhood. Comedians Pete Holmes and Zach Cregger discuss being childlike and how we should give ourselves permission to play more:

VIDEO: You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes - Zach Cregger on being a kid again

You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes #76 - Zach Cregger on being a kid again
ZACH CREGGER: (1h 04m) I am spending all day mobbed with children and its the best. I forgot how effortless... it is insane. Everything is fun for them, they're not jaded at all. Its crazy. I can't believe I used to be like that!
PETE HOLMES: We all were like that. I just talked to Duncan Trussell about this on his podcast, kids have an open heart...

Find previous Pete Holmes podcast references below:
- Pete Holmes collection: Adjacent experiences
- Zach Cregger: Being a kid again and the power of "play"
- Matt Besser: Travel coincidences and Counting the serendipities
- Duncan Trussell: Traveling, living the dream and remembering it
- Kyle Kinane: Being excited everyday
- The Sklar Brothers: Performing, possibly failing - That's living the dream
- A question answered with a quote: Comedy Podcasts

Have you ever done Urbex? When was the last time you captured that child-like wonder?