1. Give yourself more planning time than you think you need. But also commit to a start date and understand that not everything will be ready by that point. It never has been, nor ever will be! The most important thing you need to do is step out your front door and get going.
2. Start saving now. Even if you all you know is that at some point in the future you would like an adventure, start saving now. Start a new bank account. Set up a weekly standing order, dropping  into it  whatever you can spare each week. Saving £20 a week will give you £1000 in a year’s time: comfortably enough money to cycle over the horizon for a month or two. Over time this method will build into a nice adventure fund.
3. Embrace the unexpected. Delays, changes of plan, visa problems and kit issues are part of all the best adventures. Try not to fret about them (much easier said than done, I know!) and accept that, in the end, these mishaps often lead to the best stories and strongest memories.
4. A key part of your behaviour when travelling is to be a bit of a chameleon. If you meet people who enjoy dancing on tables, get up and dance! If you meet people who get up at dawn for yoga and a swim in a lake, then jump right in. Try not to judge other people’s lives before you’ve tried them. This approach taught me so much when I cycled round the world.
5. Write a diary on your adventure. Even if you never write diaries. A notebook and pen beats a computer for this every time. As well as stories you’ll love to read again when you are old and the chance to sort your thoughts by getting them down on paper, the coffee stains and hand-drawn maps and impromptu shopping lists all add to the unique magic of an adventure diary. It will become a cherished possession.
6. Adventure travel often entails a lot of thinking time. It’s a great chance to plan for the future, of adventures to come, but also of plans for home. How you’re going to get round to building that shed, or making jam, or being kinder to your friends and family… These are good things to resolve to do, but try not to be too harsh on yourself when you return home and gradually realise that you are not now the perfectly organised, motivated, contented person you had planned to be! People often go on long journeys to escape real life or to solve real life. It doesn’t often work!
7. Take the least amount of kit you can get away with, and the most expensive you can afford.
8. A silk sleeping bag liner, a Buff, a Leatherman, a diary and a short Therm-A-Rest go into my rucksack wherever in the world I am heading.
9. Take lots of photos and write lots of words. But don’t inflict all of them on the world. Story telling is a powerful part of adventure for many people, but don’t feel you need to blog, tweet, post everything that happens. Edit your stories, pick only the best photos and post them at measured intervals. Less really is more!
10. And remember at times to ignore all the rules! Do that adventure that YOU want to do, for the reasons YOU want to do it. Don’t feel compelled to Tweet or write a book or write Top 10 List Posts about adventures. Do the adventure that excites you, do it as well as you can with all your heart and soul. And do it soon, before it is too late. Good luck!

This post originally appeared on the Red Bull blog