52 Comments   
Kimberly Hula is a self-declared eternal optimist. Which, we'd argue, you kind of have to be if you have a last name like Hula.

But it may explain why the 27-year-old grad student and Chicago native is the ideal ringleader for nearly 300 people who are contending with the ho-hum nature of everyday life by consciously stepping out of their comfort zones. On a weekly basis.

In fact, in the past nine weeks, Hula's "bunch of ragtag friends" from all over the globe have visited Korean bathhouses, had a push-up contest, made strawberry and champagne cupcakes, and fired handguns. And it all began with the library-sciences student's proposal: make 2010 unforgettable by committing to one adventure each week of the year.

In the days counting down to the big ball drop, Hula had faith that she could convince her friends to swap standard New Year's resolutions in lieu of this full-fledged campaign. She launched The Year of 52 Adventures, a blog on which she and (initially) just a few friends would list, recount and illustrate the details of their escapades.

The movement spread like wildfire. "Quickly, friends were telling friends were telling friends," says Hula. "I've reconnected with old friends and have strangers emailing me their greatest fears and plans to overcome them. People are looking forward to what's next. It's contagious."

She also shared how she got the adventure bug, where it's taken her so far and what she plans to do in the next 43 weeks ...

Lemondrop: So tell us what inspired the campaign.
Kimberly Hula: I first thought up the project when I was living abroad (as an English teacher) in Hiroshima, Japan. I felt so sheltered in comparison to my newfound, free-spirited buddies who lived life in the moment. I agreed to go on a river swim with them in a mountain village. There was a stone embankment and everyone was jumping off of it, into the river. It must have been 20 feet high. I hesitated, hemmed and hawed for a very long time. Finally, I climbed the embankment, faced my fears and jumped. That was the start of my love affair with adventure.

And what made you want to involve others in the pursuit thereof?
Thinking back to 2008, there was this promise of hope and change with Obama's campaign. But come 2009, no one really felt secure or happy with themselves. So, I had the idea that if every week would provide something crazy to look forward to, it might instill wonderment in people. And I thought that was oh-so-necessary.

Has an adventure you planned turned out differently than you expected?
The night before the Polar Bear Plunge (a winter event during which participants jump into the icy waters of Lake Michigan), I figured, It'll just be cold. But I was scared. You can tell! That's me, in the floral bathing suit, hanging back. My mom, who is a nurse, even told me I was going to die.

Then, I had an unsettling experience with an ex-boyfriend at a New Year's Eve party. I relayed this to my friend who was doing the adventure with me the next day. Even though I hadn't seen this friend in a long time, we had a fantastic moment. We promised ourselves that when we went to the water, we'd wash away the past year -- it was going to be a "baptism by ice." It really helped me reassess what had just happened. I could have mulled over what happened with my ex, but instead, I was able to find comfort in my friend, and the adventure became strangely therapeutic. These adventures, for all I can plan, they really do become their own beast.

What other adventures have you been on so far?
Aye yi yi! I read my poetry -- for the first time ever -- at a public reading; I had a very overwhelming session with a psychic (just to sit there and allow someone to presume they can read me is hard, because I'm such a controlled person); I took off my pants off on the T (subway) and was photographed in the Boston Herald bottomless; I went to New York to participate in a surprise adventure a la Surprise Industries. I ran a half marathon in Hyannis, on the water, in the freezing cold. And I created an "Adventure in Hairstyling" by calling salons and asking to be a hair model.

Kim Hula, founder of The 52 Week of Adventure Club, at a poetry reading.Have spontaneous adventures also occurred?
Yes, adventure finds you, too. I had a terrible date with a man who treated me pretty poorly. Usually, I would have writhed through it, then afterward, cried and blamed myself. But I decided to stand up for myself. It was super-empowering, even though it was hard. I made a point of telling him how disappointed I was and that I deserved to be treated better. His response was a total shock.

And instead of going home and queuing up sad songs on my iPod, I took a bottle of wine over to my friend Jane's house, and we had a really good time. Then I wrote about it, and it gave me great insight on the things we do when lonely. I concluded that I deserve more, and it became an adventure in abolishing insecurity!

What adventures do you have on the horizon?
I'm going to do a two-day overnight relay race along Cape Cod; zipline; participate in a Civil War reenactment; take trapeze-swinging lessons; sail; talk to someone I don't know in a bar; sing in the subway ... And there are adventures coming up that are really going to test my patience and my stomach. I'm going to go to the Insectarium in Philadelphia to milk or hold a spider, which is one of my greatest fears. That one still freaks me out. That, and getting my nose pierced.

What do you foresee happening after the 52 weeks are up?
In subsequent years, I'm going to change the theme slightly. For 2011, I'm thinking maybe 52 Random Acts of Kindness, and I want 2012 to be 52 Ways to Say "I Love You." We put a lot of derogatory weight on a given year. I'd much rather say, "This year of my life was spent in adventure," "This year was spent relaying love." There's so much play to be had.

How do you think your life has changed in just the last nine weeks?
Too often in the past I've been concerned with making other people happy, and with other people's opinions of me. This project has helped me to forward think on how to make other people happy and how to make myself happy. It's wild and a bit uncomfortable to change the way you see yourself, but because of it, I've been experiencing wonderful, lovely, insane things. So to that I say: Game on, giddy up!


Maressa Brown is is an assistant editor at First for Women. Her adventures include, but are not limited to, reorganizing her closet and baking lemon bars.


More on Lemondrop...
+Science Shows That Happiness Is Contagious
+ The 11 Saddest Animal Movie Deaths of All Time
+ 5 Books That Guarantee To Make You Happier
+ The Key To Surviving Divorce