I was a Girl Scout leader for years. I took Scouts on dozens of fun trips but my part was counting heads and applying Band-Aids and filling in paperwork. A few years ago, I decided that it was time for the adults to have fun too. So, I e-mailed some friends explaining that I wanted to start an adventure club and asking them to respond if they were interested. Personally, I was surprised by the number of women who told me that they were too old for "that sort of thing"!
When I had about a dozen women I had a meeting -- involving a lot of wine and appetizers -- and proposed that we pick four adventures for the year. I told everyone that participation wasn't a requirement. Every activity should be an opportunity not an obligation so there shouldn't be any stress. We all agreed that we would limit the group to women -- no kids, no husbands, no significant others.
That was more than three years ago and the group has tripled in size. Friends invite friends, I still invite women that I meet along the way. I keep a master list of adventures but I don't limit our adventure list in any way. An adventure to one woman may be ordinary or scary to another so it's good to have a variety of choices. I do keep all of the suggestions anonymous (I'll never tell who wants to learn pole dancing!).
FYI, some of the women who told me they were too old are now the ones who lead the most adventurous trips.
When I had about a dozen women I had a meeting -- involving a lot of wine and appetizers -- and proposed that we pick four adventures for the year. I told everyone that participation wasn't a requirement. Every activity should be an opportunity not an obligation so there shouldn't be any stress. We all agreed that we would limit the group to women -- no kids, no husbands, no significant others.
That was more than three years ago and the group has tripled in size. Friends invite friends, I still invite women that I meet along the way. I keep a master list of adventures but I don't limit our adventure list in any way. An adventure to one woman may be ordinary or scary to another so it's good to have a variety of choices. I do keep all of the suggestions anonymous (I'll never tell who wants to learn pole dancing!).
FYI, some of the women who told me they were too old are now the ones who lead the most adventurous trips.
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