On Saturday morning, I found myself delighting in a free breakfast (as any good student would do) and talking with they guy across the table from me. We covered the basics – the weather, how amazing the mangos were, etc. A few hours later, my new friend Neil Laughton was on-stage, talking about his various world records and expeditions to places such as Mt. Everest. Oh, and the various companies he’s founded on the side to pay for it all.

This episode was a typical experience at Explore last weekend, where many of the world’s greatest explorers mingled with bright-eyed students to share wisdom, ideas, and contact information.

As an icebreaker of sorts, delegates were asked at one point to write their dream expedition, irrespective of costs or practicalities, on the back of a card. The resulting work of art looked something like this:

And, zooming in a bit…

(no, that wasn’t mine).

Of all dream destinations, by far the most popular were space-based – the Moon, Mars, or the space station. On the one hand, this may come as no surprise; these are adventurers after all, and the most extreme location is often the most alluring. That said, I was actually pretty surprised that space polled so well. One of space’s greatest weakenesses as an adventure destination is the absence of human-based attractions: the wonder that comes with exploring a new culture, eating new food, or hearing new languages is unavailable. The preference of space among the “exploration elite” is a very encouraging sign – it suggests that at the cost of comfort and familiarity, we still clearly value exploration for its own sake.