Tree Surfing.
During the school holidays, my family and I went tree surfing. It was an interesting choice by my husband, considering his and my daughter Addi’s irrational fear of heights. Nonetheless, the random day trip was an unexpected success.
If you aren’t familiar with tree surfing, it’s navigating your way between treetops on a mix of ladders, ropes, tunnels, steps, pulleys, skateboards and interesting apparatus. The ‘Enchanted Adventure’ featured five courses of increasing difficulty, each finishing in a giant zipline, bringing you back down to the ground (Where you either land on your feet or flat on your back depending on your agility and footing).
Even as someone who isn’t afraid of heights, this adventure was out of my comfort zone.
The saving grace was the harness. You are securely attached to a heavy-duty harness the entire time. Braving the tricky and wobbly obstacles is way less scary when you know the harness is there to catch you if you slip.
I reckon tree surfing is a bit like undertaking a new custom build or major reno. You might not be high off the ground like when tree surfing, but the emotional and financial stakes associated with the project are high.
So when navigating the high stakes of your home build or reno, what (or who) will be your safety harness?
P.S. Some Home Build Mentoring clients recently experienced a ‘harness-catch’ moment. They learned in their program’s ‘Game Plan’ stage that their desired home renovations would likely cost double their preferred budget. We explored the option of a single rather than double-storey addition, which not only accommodated the spaces they desired but also brought their brief back aligned with their budget. Can you imagine how different their renovation experience might have looked if they’d chased down their original intention?