14-year old Jeffrey has visited eight countries and many cities in his life, and we’ve all learned how to better travel and adventure with our neurodiverse family through his experiences. Several months ago, Jeffrey proactively took part in an eight-hour Pokémon Go event near home, planning and preparing for his day and coming home happy. From a parent’s perspective, it felt like serious progress. Q&A discussion with Jeffrey about the adventure follows:
Rocket Around Question: What kind of adventure do you like? Jeffrey’s Answer: Exploring things I haven’t seen before or finding new things.
RA Q: Why do you like that kind of adventure – what do you get out of it? Jeffrey: I guess I get a new idea of things.
RA Q: What would your ideal adventure be? Jeffrey: Finding something new – like a new continent or exploring it. I’d like to see what used to be Zealandia – which was the old land mass that includes New Zealand – it was taller than South America. (Note: “Zealandia…is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago. It has been described variously as a submerged continent, a continental fragment (or microcontinent), and a continent. The name and concept for Zealandia were proposed by Bruce Luyendyk in 1995, and satellite imagery shows it to be almost the size of Australia. A 2021 study suggests Zealandia is 1 billion years old, about twice as old as geologists previously thought. By approximately 23 million years ago the landmass may have been completely submerged. Today, most of the landmass (94%) remains submerged beneath the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand is the largest part of Zealandia that is above sea level, followed by New Caledonia… If classified as a microcontinent, Zealandia would be the world’s largest microcontinent. Its area is six times the area of Madagascar, the next-largest microcontinent in the world.”)
RA Q: If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Jeffrey: I’d like to go there and try to uncover parts of it – it’s sunken.
RA Q: A few weeks ago you went out for a full day for Pokémon Go event – how was that? Jeffrey: It was more of a digital adventure. It was fun – very entertaining because there was so much to do – we raided things with other people, people we didn’t even really meet, and the fact that we discovered new abilities, like new uses of old techniques – such as how many people you can invite to raid something with you.
RA Q: I was really impressed how you did everything you needed to do to get ready for the event: registered for the event, let us know you were going to do it, charged your phone and multiple external chargers, got yourself up in time to eat breakfast and pack three point peanut butter sandwiches, ask for some money to get drinks and snacks during the day, and coordinate with your friend, all before the event was supposed to start. What is it about that adventure that made you do all those things? Jeffrey: I think it was the free will aspect of it – you could choose your path – like going up a mountain where you can take multiple paths. The fact that I was in charge got me excited. I got more than 100 Pokemon that day, at the Go Fest – Rhydon, Nihilego, Xurkitree, Buzzwole, Pheramosa, Combee, Electabuzz, Magmar, Lunatone, Solrock to name a few of the species.
RA Q: Was there anything you would do differently next time, or anything you learned from it? Jeffrey: Next time I might bring a raincoat because it almost rained. I might have had to come home if it rained or go under a tree.
RA Q: You packed a bag before heading out for the Pokémon Go event – what did you put in there? Jeffrey: Portable chargers, lunch, a few more snacks, money, sunscreen.
RA Q: What kind of adventures that we’ve done do not like and why? Jeffrey: I liked CA, NY, London, and the Caribbean – I feel like there was more to do. I didn’t really like last year’s trip to Connecticut – we didn’t coordinate very well after my friend came to visit.
RA Q: What would make it better for you when we do family adventures? Jeffrey: Looking beforehand at the cons – the downsides – rather than just the pros – seeing what issues might arise and seeing if there is a way to avoid them.
RA Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say about why you like certain kinds of adventures and what kind of adventures you’d like us to do? Jeffrey: I think urban areas are more fun because we’re used to going to them, and in rural areas, it’s more fun if there are friends there – they can tell you what’s fun to do. We’re not as used to rural areas – that’s a different experience.