Periodic Table of the Elements of Adventure Nalgene

One time when I was out trail running in the mountains and I got caught in a little wind and rain, and I started thinking about being out in “the elements.”

“The elements” being one way we refer to weather. There are many different definitions of “element,” and as I kept running, my face getting stung by wind-whipped raindrops, I thought about the definition that means “ingredient.” Like the elements of a good novel, or restaurant, or song, for example.

And then I started thinking about some of the elements of an adventure, or a good day in the outdoors: Trails, Sweat, Dirt, Rocks, Trees, Curiosity, Sunsets

The list got really long, and I started thinking about The Periodic Table of Elements, which I damn near had memorized during my high school chemistry class. What about making a “Periodic Table of the Elements of Adventure”? I bet I could think of 118 “elements of adventure.” 

So I sat down and started making a list. And then I drew a periodic table and tried to figure out where to put everything. It took a good chunk of a week to hand-draw it on my iPad.

I wanted to share it with people in a form that could go on adventures, so we put it on a Nalgene water bottle. If you end up with one of them, I hope it makes for some good conversations around campfires/backpacking stoves, at climbing crags, or at rest stops on hikes or ski tours.