“PEOPLE like the idea of a massive adventure, but it’s really hard to make it happen.”

Even a thrillseeking professional explorer like Alastair Humphreys can see it’s not easy for most of us to drop everything and go on a round-the-world bike ride.

So he came up with the perfect solution — microadventures, small yet exciting experiences you can have while still holding down a 9-to-5 job or looking after a family.

“It’s stuff that anyone can do, whether they’re in the city or the countryside,” he told news.com.au

“Leave work and instead of going home to watch TV, head out of town by bike, train or bus and camp under the stars, with your phone turned off.

“When the sun rises, have cup of coffee, run back down, swim in a river (it’s good for the soul) and then bus back.”

His other ideas include running home from work, spending the weekend visiting somewhere new or heading to a new spot on the coast. And you don’t have to go far. For one microadventure, Alastair drew a circle with a 3.21m radius around his home, creating a 24km walk that introduced him to new places he had never seen before, right on his doorstep. On another, he walked a lap of the M25 motorway that encircles London.

His movement encouraging people to commit to one microadventure a month for a year has been a global success story, with busy office-workers, parents and city-dwellers sharing photos of their extraordinary adventures online.

“I thought about what I loved: a challenge, the wilderness, escaping the normal world. Adventure isn’t the elitist world it seems to be. You don’t need to be superfit, have expensive equipment or live near a mountain.”

Alastair’s website outlines everything you need to achieve a year of microadventure. He suggests starting small with a night camping outside, even in your garden. On Valentine’s Day, climb a hill and watch the stars and then build up to travelling further, swimming wild, taking friends on weekends away and trying to catch a meteor shower.

He suggests making a calendar, and buying a small amount of kit including a camping stove. He has even offered to pay for those who really can’t afford it.

“Once you realise how easy it is, you start doing bigger and bigger things,” he said. “It’s simple, fun and it breaks the inertia.

“You start thinking differently. It’s most powerful because of its simplicity.

“The challenge is to get people who’ve never climbed a hill and persuade them to try it. I think that’s when it can be most transformational.”

He’s now working on getting those who’ve felt the buzz to take the next step. His new book, Adventure 1000, suggests saving 20 pounds ($40) a week until you have 1000 pounds ($2000) at the end of the year to spend on an “epic adventure”.

Alastair’s project has not only attracted others, it’s changed his own mindset. “When I started microadventures, I loved wild, distant parts of the world and thought where I lived [just outside London] was quite boring.

“It made me look at my home area with positivity and fresh eyes. It’s quite a built-up part of southeast England, but if you look carefully, there are pockets of woodland and streams.

“On the night of the full moon, I took a walk in a field where I go running most days, and I realised the places I go every day can be wild and beautiful.”