About the author: Jess Spate is a climber, kayaker, surfer, and general outdoor sports enthusiast. She works as a sustainable business consultant for companies seeling everything from indoor fountains to base layer clothing.

1 Rock climbing

No huge and imposing cliffs near you? No problem. These days most climbers start off at an indoor rock climbing center and there are plenty of them. Almost every major city has at least one and some have half a dozen or more. Pretty much all of them cater to complete beginners so if you walk in off the street and say, err, I’d like to learn to climb please, you’ll be dangling from a rope before you know it.

Beginner climbing is very safe. When you start out there will be a qualified instructor with you at all times (ok, not all times- you’re still allowed to go for a pee on your own) and if you fall, you won’t fall far. Climbing ropes are a little bit stretchy so there is no sudden, jolting stop, more of a gentle bounce.

2. Surfing

This one only applies to people who live within an hour or two of the ocean, but there is some surf to be had on almost every coastline. It may not be 15ft perfect curls crashing on to golden Hawaiian beaches but that’s not really what you want as a beginner, because waves of that height will kill you dead. 2-3ft is the perfect beginner size. Find a beachside surf shop or a surf school and you won’t go far wrong. Some will let you hire a board and tell you to go to it, dude. Some will send you out with an instructor. If the surf is small they’ll probably give you a whopping big board and the big secret of surfing is that it’s actually not that hard to stand up. Staying up is another matter…

3 Slacklining

This is kind of like tightrope walking but the rope isn’t that tight. Or a rope. Head to your local climbing gear shop and either buy a slacklining kit (expensive) or ten yards of broad, flat climbing tape (cheap). Next stop, your backyard, the local park, or your favorite picnic venue. Sling the tape between two big trees about 2.5-3ft off the ground and tie it off as tight as you can. Get a couple of mates to help. The line should go ‘twang’ when you flick it with a finger.

Hey presto, your very own slackline. Use a friend’s shoulder to mount it somewhere in the middle and try to walk along. You will, undoubtedly, fall off, but that’s part of the fun and the line will dip down under your weight so you won’t be that far off the ground. Choose your surface carefully- soft grass is your friend. Advanced slackliners can jump up onto the tape, spin round, sit down and stand back up again.

4 Scuba diving

For this one you don’t need to be close to the sea. Most cities have a scuba club that meets once a week or more. Start off on an introductory course and your first dive will almost certainly be at the local swimming pool. There isn’t much to see down there except the occasional swimmer above you (resist the temptation to play ‘Jaws’) but the sensation of weightlessness and not having to come up for air is pretty nifty.

5Kayaking

If there is a body of water near you- the sea, a lake, a river, a reservoir, or even a swimming pool, there will almost certainly be someone not far from it who is willing to hire you a kayak or a canoe. They’ll also give you paddles and buoyancy aids or life jackets and quite possibly helmets. Flat water is pretty safe and it takes some effort to tip over a modern beginner kayak or an open Canadian canoe, so have no fear. Get out there and have fun.

About the author: Jess Spate is a climber, kayaker, surfer, and general outdoor sports enthusiast. She works as a sustainable business consultant for companies seeling everything from indoor fountains to base layer clothing.