April’s inspiration of the month was adventure, and we LOVED every second of it. I was particularly excited about a focus on adventure because I felt like it was going to get me out of Bari and back in the swing of the adventure-driven happenings that I was so used to in my previous ‘no responsibilities’-life. I grew up with an adrenaline-junkie as a dad, so I was racing cars at 16, jumping out of planes at 18 and pretty much dipping my feet into any adventure that presented itself in between.

Dirt Bikes?
Check. Pretty sure I was 12 - switched to the next gear instead of hitting the breaks, skidded on the dirt road, and ate it. Downgraded to the go-kart after that…

Paint Ball Gun Fight?
Yep – note to self: enjoy adrenaline, but paint ball guns HURT.

Jumping 20 feet in the air to the ocean?
This is like adrenaline 101. All you need is a ledge leading into the water, and voila: instant adrenaline. Pretty sure I’m on 100+ with this one.

When I turned 18, my dad offerred to take me skydiving. I figured this was the ultimate test: do I have the guts to jump out of an airplane? I nervously decided to do it - I figured, if my dad came with me… what was there to be scared of? I signed my life away, literally, and got into the plane with the five other daredevils. I kept waiting for the butterflies to come… If they didn’t come by the time I got onto the plane, it would definitely happen when I was in the air preparing to jump out. Nope. The pro-skydiver strapped to my back kept me calm - no need to worry when he has everything under control, right? I jumped, touched some clouds, spun around a few times, then enjoyed the leisurely parachute-guided ride down. Peace. Of. Cake.

When I touched the ground, I waited for my dad who jumped right after me… ran over to him and asked if we could do it again. Clearly I was on an adrenaline high. His response? “Ehh, I didn’t really enjoy it that much - the guy on my back was having all the fun. Had I gotten to jump alone, it would have been AWESOME.”

So, what’s the number one thing I’ve learned from my dad? Take adventures into your own hands, and do the things that scare you most.

I didn’t quite see the connection between my adventurous childhood and life here at Bari before this month, but who are we kidding? It’s the same exact thing. There’s an adrenaline rush that goes hand-in-hand with adventures. Your adventures are the things that cause excitement from within, that tempt you to jump blindly. Whether you’re dealing with the day-to-day of a passion-driven start-up or free-falling at 13,500 feet in the air…

So, what were my adventures this month? I was inspired, and might have gone a little adrenaline-overboard… Saturday motorcycle rides paired with Sunday hikes, followed by a weekend of filming for our newest adventure: BariTV.