The Argonauts 20th Anniversary Masthead. If you could do anything, what would you do? Bicycle-shaped kids, sphinx, bicycle ride across a river and around the world.
The sphinx asking a riddle: "If you could do anything, what would you do?"
Can you answer the Sphinx's riddle? In the hero's journey, the Sphinx was one of the threshold guardians. If you weren't prepared, you weren't allowed to pass. In some legends, if you fail the question, you get eaten. This metaphor reminds us that we have to be willing to change. When Scott asked himself this question — If I could do anything?— that led to the Aha! moment that inspired his journey around the world on a bicycle and has become a guiding philosophy ever since.

Introduction

Welcome. My name is Scott Stoll, and here:

I explore how to live a more meaningful and joyful life.

That’s my mission and passion. And I invite you to join the journey.

My life of adventure began with this question: If I could do anything, what would I do? It may seem like an innocent or obvious question, but to me, it was the most awesome (literally meaning: frightening and inspiring) question I had asked myself. This question drove me around the world on a bicycle. It is a question that never ceases to amaze me. It essentially asks: How can I live the best life possible? And to live the best life possible, I must ask myself: What is the meaning of life? And if life has a purpose (goal), how do I get there?

I believe we can all help each other on our journey through life, so I created this forum to share our hopes and dreams and pass along the boon of our adventures, like new ideas, lessons learned and stories of our common struggles.

Share the adventure

A fundamental principle I’ve come to believe is that everything is an adventure. Furthermore, when I traveled the world, I learned that, though I was a solo traveler, everyone I met was partaking in my adventure, and I was part of theirs. I realized my words and actions inspired others. And I learned that I could never have accomplished my journey without all the kind words and helping hands in return. When I teamed up with other people, not only could I go further and faster, but the journey became more joyful, and life became richer as our perspectives combined to paint a more complete picture of the world.

Here is how this website works:

  • Follow my adventures and misadventures and lessons learned. I am to make this fun and hope that you feel as if you are riding alongside.
  • Participate in the discussions. I welcome your feedback in hopes of refining the process.
  • Share your adventure. I’d love to hear about your dreams and adventures. Since 1999 — loooong before social media was invented — we’ve given hundreds of people a chance to share their stories. Please, visit our Guest Adventures for some inspiration and then send us your story.
  • Plan your adventure. I am slowly creating resources for me, you and everyone to make the most out of their life. For starters, I recommend you read: How to turn dreams into reality. And, then you can begin planning your own adventure.

That’s about all you need to know, but if you are interested in learning more about why I do what I do, please keep reading.


Why do I care?

Above, I ask a lot of big questions. On my journey around the world, I was surprised that I found many answers. And, when my trip ended, I was once again left asking: If I could do anything, what would I do?

This same question now had a much deeper meaning. The first time I asked it, I looked for external answers to the meaning of life, thus my bike trip. By the way, I think I did a pretty good job, but I also know I could do much better. And, I’m excited to find out what the next adventure and the next set of answers will be.

I view this website as an exploration of the world and an incubator of ideas, and I envision myself as a combination of Chief Exploration Officer (CEO), jack-of-all-trades, work-in-progress and guinea pig. Essentially, it will be a lot like my journey around the world on a bicycle. The journey was full of lots of mistakes and a lot of amazingness. If I am doing it right, I don’t really think my life will ever be much different.

How to turn dreams into reality: Dream It! Map It! Play It!

Visit Our New Kid-Friendly Website

Because I believe everything is an adventure, I created a kid-friendly website teaches kids (and adults) how to dream and how to turn those dreams into reality using our simple 3-step formula 1) Dream It! 2) Map It! 3) Play It! Dreamaplay is full of free, evidence-based resources for kids and their parents, teachers, homeschoolers and health care providers.

I plan to share my adventures and misadventures and lessons learned by creating lots of inspirational and educational posts. As my ideas graduate, they will become blogs and books or more. That’s how my website Dreamaplay, for teachers, parents and children came to be. And a lot of my lessons learned became the workbook Dream It!

I think the key difference to this website is that rather than me standing up on a pedestal to tell people how to live their lives, like so many lifestyle design blogs do, I invite people to join my journey. Through actual journeys, discussions, or just armchair travels, we can grow together. My end goal is to create a legacy that can outlive me, whether that be this website, my books, or simply my ideas becoming reality and helping to make the world a better place. One idea that I’m very proud of and that I believe will help you live your best life is my formula for turning dreams into reality.

I’ve never wanted to be in the limelight, but I genuinely believe that the new focus on my adventures and lessons learned will give you insight and help you live a more joyful life. So, for better or worse, I decided to throw my hat over the fence and use myself as the role model, work-in-progress or guinea pig, depending on your point of view and whether I succeed or not. I’ve always felt obligated to live the best life possible. And now, I have decided it would be my new challenge to hold myself accountable with this website as witnessed by friends and fans and strangers.

In a way, it will be like continually adding new chapters to my best-selling book, Falling Uphill. I like to believe that my stories are honest and refreshing compared to all the websites offering miracle cures, and all the social media influencers seemingly living perfect lives. For as long as I live, I hope never to have all the answers; instead, I hope to summit each peak of life and find many new adventures and misadventures lying ahead. 

Thanks for sticking with me. And I hope, once again, you enjoy riding alongside me on this adventure we call life.

Please poke around the new website, and let me know what you think. 

Tailwinds,
Scott


History of this website

This website goes way back to 1999. It was modeled after one of the first adventure stories in Western history: Jason and the Argonauts. Our website was a blog before blogs existed. We shared stories before sharing was a thing. We innovated new standards. We won a few awards along the way. And, we inspired thousands of people to follow their dreams. The stories they have told us about their courageous leap into a new life have been our greatest reward. Most amazingly, my dream to see people share stories of their adventures — in real-time as they happened — did come true. Here you can read the history of our old website and our original mission statement, which still remains much the same. I’m proud of what we had accomplished. We were true pioneers in what has become the world of social media.

Celebrating over 20 years online.

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