Thorpe - 52 new things : the least famous Nick J. Thorpe in the world and his journey to conquer the boredom of modern life

W E LIVE in the age of the grand idea. Until a couple of decades ago the only people who could really make their big ideas happen easily were those with enormous amounts of hereditary money or sponsorship from the Royal Family. Sir Walter Raleigh, he of the New World fame, was an aristocrat and politician, while Sir Ranulph Fiennes, arguably the greatest living explorer today, had inherited his fathers baronetcy before he was a year old. Occasionally an industrious individual would work hard enough to make their idea or invention hit the big time, but in general the privileged few won out over the common many. But all that has changed now. The combination of globalisation, cheap travel and the digital revolution has made it possible for anyone to pursue their idea anywhere in the world, and Instagram the hell out of it while doing so.

This very modern phenomenon has democratised adventure, and led to a new wave of explorers and risk-takers. People have skateboarded across Australia and cycled over the Andes; theyve motorcycled across the Arctic and ridden horses the length of Africa; celebrities have completed 43 marathons in 51 days while teenagers have sailed around the world; theyve even driven a black cab from London to Mongolia (okay, that was me). We live in the age of extreme ironing and nettle-eating, space skydives and Alpine wingsuiting. Nothing is off-limits. The point is that it has never been easier to challenge yourself and achieve the previously unthinkable.

But actually, something strange is beginning to happen. People are starting to shun these adventures and shy away from new experiences. It seems that with all this opportunity and excitement comes an enormous sense of pressure. Im sure this is undoubtedly amplified by social media and its crack-like ability to make people broadcast absolutely everything about their lives with a false spin. Such is the pressure on people to seem like they are living their lives and having a brilliant time that apparently more and more of us are doing the complete opposite and shunning not only social media but the liberation and excitement of exploration and new experiences.

I think the problem is that anyone under the age of 40 has grown up in the knowledge that the world has never been more accessible, and adventure has never had more potential. However, both are achingly just out of reach for many of us, meaning people still have to save for months and years to pay a travel company to take them on a tour of Antarctica or to see the orang-utans in Borneo. Sure, it is an amazing, sometimes life-changing experience, but it takes years to achieve, and can often come to dominate leisure plans. The age of the big idea was meant to open our minds and change our lives, but it has actually had the opposite effect.