Adventurers are lone wolves, social misfits or even outcasts. Misunderstood by their friends and inept in their mundane existence, they tend to travel alone, romanticize the esoteric and only later realize that they are trendsetters. Occasionally, by choice or by circumstance, we find ourselves in the company of other adventurers, huddled in bomb shelters, squeezed into native huts or killing time in Central American jails. For a brief shining moment, we have found an equal, only to be dumped back into the real world, where most people think we're crazy.

The reality is that danger creates a special fellowship. You'll find instant camaraderie whether you are sitting around a small fire drinking bad cognac and discussing politics as the sun rises in an Asian jungle, or shivering in a mountain hut in Pakistan while arguing about the firing rates of automatic weapons. These serendipitous friendships under adversity create bonds and memories. It is not surprising that these adventurers would seek to re-create the boisterous warm feelings that many of them had around foreign campfires. Back in the real world, we do long for those clear, crisp moments when minds met and the world made sense.

Keep in mind that I believe in the words of Marx (Groucho, that is): "I would never join a club that would have me as member." But if you like wildlife and animals of the social kind, you may want to check out an adventure club in your neighborhood. There tends to be a liberal sprinkling of windy Baron Munchausen's complete with pencil mustaches and Faustian guts, as well as honest-to-goodness adventurers. In any case, the clubs can be an excellent way to learn about the world of adventure and the quixotic people that make it tick.

Be forewarned that each club has a unique personality. Many of the clubs demand that you earn your spurs before joining, some have a prepubescent abhorrence of females, and others are more businesslike and adopt the patina of adventure only as a decorating trend. Obviously, geographic proximity will dictate your choice, so it is up to you to inspect and decide. My personal favorites? I prefer the less arthritic and gravitate toward the scientific. The Royal Geographical Society is probably the best blend of historical and dynamic. There is a constant list of presentations and events that lean toward the scientific. If you prefer hanging out with aging astronauts or port-soaked big-game hunters, the American clubs may appeal to you. If you would like to cultivate a wider social circle, the foreign clubs may be ideal. If you would like to trade witticisms la Oscar Wilde, then maybe the Savage Club is for you. In any case, here are descriptions of clubs designed for fellowship among the adventurous.

The Adventurer's Clubs
These are clubs where kindred souls can gather to swap tall tales and compare adventures. The Adventurer's Club originated in New York in 1912 and was the brainchild of a group of 34 men, among whom were soldiers, sailors, hunters, trappers, explorers, travelers, journalists, authors and scientists. Their goal was to promote the exchange and dissemination of knowledge in the areas of exploration, geography and natural history, as well as provide a social center for adventurous types. Today, these antique clubs have a hard time attracting the new breed of eco-sensitive, bungee-jumping rock and rollers. The average age is 50 plus, but some young people are still attracted by the club's aura of history and tradition.
The concept of manly men surrounded by dusty trophies in creaky surroundings has kept these clubs alive and active. Within their confines, you can make such butch toasts as "To every lost trail, lost cause and lost comrade" or "To adventure, the shadow of every red-blooded man" without fear of ridicule. The original New York club spawned similar clubs in Chicago (1913), Los Angeles (1921), Copenhagen (1937) and Honolulu (1955). Although the Chicago club will boast they predate the New York club, they are essentially cut from the same cloth -- superannuated boys clubs where members can proudly display their trophies and tell tales of adventures past.

Here, members can attend or give weekly presentations of their most recent exploits. Presentations cannot cover subjects that are controversial, religious or political in nature. If you have just come out of the jungle and are looking for a little female companionship, you are definitely in the wrong place. The club is very politically incorrect in its very male membership but does hold Ladies Nights "occasionally."

To be eligible for active membership, you must prove you are a real adventurer, not just someone with tattoos and a devil-may-care smirk. You must show "competent proof" of having:

 • had outstanding adventure in travels off the beaten trail, hunting, mountaineering, aviation, sailing, diving, sports or similar activities;
 • held responsible positions in official expeditions and explorations, the results of which have been published;
 • taken calculated risks above and beyond the call of duty in military or public service;
 • achieved distinguished and outstanding success and recognition for your research and explorations in the fields of geography, geology, archaeology, anthropology, natural history and kindred arts and sciences.

The clubs generally offer active memberships, associate memberships and consular memberships, with fees based on how much money you are willing to contribute.

Membership to any level provides for visiting membership in the other Adventurer Clubs as well as the Savage Club in London and the Explorers Club of New York.

The Adventurer's Club of Chicago
300 West Grand Avenue, Suite 270 Chicago, Illinois 60610 (312) 822-0991
The Chicago club was started by journalist (Major) W. Robert Foran. He and a group of adventurers, big-game hunters and military men used to meet informally until 1911, when during a boozy meeting they decided to form a club and even came up with the motto "a hearth and home for those who have left the beaten path and made for adventure." It might have something to do with Foran having just returned from one of Teddy Roosevelt's big-game expeditions in Africa and feeling like he needed a permanent watering hole. In any case, the strangely nomadic club has occupied eight locations in its 83-year history. A real bitch, considering what a pain it is to move those shrunken heads, mounted trophies, stuffed bears, weapons, photos and other bric-a-brac that adorn the club.

Only 200 adventurous posteriors can be warmed by the clubhouse's fire at any one time. Both men and women (since 1989) are invited to an "exploratory visit." Membership is open to men and women. You simply write a letter to the president or drop off your application at the club.
The Chicago club prides itself on not having relaxed its membership standards and provides a rough but incomplete list of what they consider adventurous activities.

The list of adventurous pursuits that would qualify one for membership starts with "travel to remote areas not readily accessible by tour guides" and continues with hunting, fishing, photography (in remote areas) white-water rafting, ballooning, underwater activities, extended stays in remote areas and environmental testing, and winds up with archaeologists, treasure hunters and astronauts.

The board of directors will look for the element of risk to life and limb and prefers that your adventure be far from home and off the beaten path. They are open to new interpretations of adventure, so those four days you spent blindfolded, drunk, condom-less, and in heat in a Thai whorehouse may possibly qualify you for membership.

Once you have been initiated, you get to do silly, adventurous, manly things like "worship Wahoo," the household god, by donating to the baksheesh bowl (a charitable fund used for members in need), carry club flags to far-off places and then bring them back, and enjoy the hospitality of the Long Table, the lubricated fellowship at the "sign of the whale bar," and the general adventurous ambience of swapping yarns amongst the formaldehyde, rust and dust of an adventurer's club.

The Adventurer's Club of Los Angeles
2433 North Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90086-2541 (213) 223-3948
The Adventurer's Club of Los Angeles meets in downtown L.A. every Thursday evening. The spacious club boasts trophies that would dignify many museums. Members and guests gather at 6 p.m. in the club's dining room and engage in sprightly conversations over dinner. At 8 p.m. they convene in the central meeting hall where a featured speaker recalls his exploits in adventure, exploration, arts and science. Most of the presentations contain "off-the-record" and "behind-the-scenes" stories not covered in commercial presentations. Controversial and religious subjects are not presented in the weekly assemblies, and the "manly men" deign to hold Ladies Nights about six times a year. The hand of good fellowship is extended to visiting members of the Savage Club of London, the Explorer's Club of New York, the Adventurer's Club of Chicago, the Adventurer's Club of Copenhagen, the Adventurer's Club of Moscow and the Adventurer's Club of Honolulu.

Los Angeles Explorers Club
706 West Pico Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90015
A somewhat aging male-only and nomadic club of 200 male members, who recently voted down accepting women members 95 to 5. Unlike the grand New York Adventurer's Club, the L.A. club has kept its trophies and bric-a-brac in storage for years. The membership is diverse, and the meetings have included entertaining presentations by interesting people, such as Will Rogers, who spoke on the eve of his departure on his round-the-world journey. He died two weeks later, when the plane he was riding in, piloted by Wiley Post, crashed in Alaska. Dues are $150 per year; members pay for their meals.

The Explorer's Club of New York
46 East 70th Street New York, NY 10021 (212) 628-8383, FAX: (212) 288-4449
This club is 90 years old and a popular hangout for media types. The Explorer's Club was formed in 1904 by Henry Collins Walsh, when he invited a group of buds to create a club "to encourage explorers in their work by evincing interest and sympathy and especially by bringing them in the bonds of good fellowship."

The nonprofit club began in 1905, and the founding members consisted of an Indian fighter, museum curator, Arctic explorer, mountaineer, archaeologist, war correspondent and hunter.

What makes the Explorer's Club a must is the fascinating decor created by 90 years of collecting trophies and junk from around the world. The six-story 1910 town house with its magnificent library is an "in" site for parties in New York.
For those who do not live in New York, there are 27 regional chapters, seven of them in other countries (Australia, Britain, India, Norway, Poland and Western Europe).

The club likes to lend out numbered flags, so that you can take them to some godforsaken place on some harebrained quest, and then throw a party when you return the dilapidated piece of cloth.

They sponsor some expeditions, award medals (the Explorer's Medal) and provide local support to scientific and educational programs, all based on merit. The club publishes a quarterly journal and a newsletter and offers a 25,000-item library, a 500-item map room and historical archives.
Membership includes 3000 men and women, with 500 of them outside the New York area.

As with most of these clubs, to join the Explorers Club of New York, you have to have some type of experience in being "adventurous." Driving a cab in Harlem probably won't impress them, nor will big-game hunting trips, extensive travel without a scientific purpose or photography in remote parts of the world. But if you provide sponsoring letters, fill out the application form and fork over the hefty membership fee, your chances are good.

You can be a "fellow" if your exploits are published, or try for regular membership if you are modest about your exploits. In any case, it will depend on what the membership committee and the Board of Directors say.

Also available are student memberships (16-24 years of age, over 24 if you are pursuing a graduate degree), and corporate memberships.

Savage Club
1 Whitehall Place London, England SW1A 2HD (071) 930 8118
The Savage Club is one of the more unusual clubs for adventurers. It was founded in 1857 by a group of "merry fellows" at the Crown Tavern. Their quaint logo features a Plains Indian, but the club members do not know how the club and the members became known as "Savages." Some say it was a dead poet or a poverty-stricken journalist; others say it was a sick joke since the club consists mostly of men of the arts. The Savages are writers, doctors, lawyers, actors, musicians and artists. They welcome "solitary men or irrelevant characters, kind or quirky ones" and those who have "packed their accolades (but not their psyches) in their knapsacks and pursued in common cause the Savage fellowship."
The club has rules that must be obeyed. No guests may buy drinks, no one may enter the bar with an overcoat (the penalty is a round for all present), tipping is forbidden, and any member is encouraged to expostulate at the drop of a hat. The accent here is on being somewhat eccentric and entertaining.

The posh Savage Club is famous for holding one to two cases of bourbon requested by writer Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). When asked if he wanted to take the liquor with him, Clemens requested that the club hold on to it until his return. When a prewar visitor informed them that Clemens had been dead for quite some time, they said they were bound by duty to honor his wishes and to hold on to it until his return. The clubhouse and Clemens' liquor were destroyed during a WWII air raid, ending what could have been a long running joke. Why is the Savage Club a great adventurer's club? Well, there is a bald-pated dullness when surrounded by people of the same persuasion. How many big-game-hunting stories or eating-grubs-with-the-pygmy stories can you endure? The mix of intellectuals at the Savage Club encourages lively discourse and a chance to find an appreciative audience.

Joining is not as difficult as it may seem. The club welcomes applications from "gentlemen over 18 connected professionally with literature, art, music, drama, science or law in their creative and interpretive aspects, and to such other gentlemen as are deemed to have contributed to one or more of these disciplines." Attainment in hobbies, pursuits and other interests go a long way to impress the qualifications subcommittee. Two sponsors (both must be "Savages") are required to nominate a candidate. They must write a lengthy letter explaining why the candidate will make a great Savage. A resume, or curriculum vitae, along with a month-long probationary period are required.

The Royal Geographical Society
1 Kensington Gore London SW7 2AR (011 71) 581 2057, FAX: (011 71) 584-4447
Not technically a "club" but a vital social and scientific institution. The RGS was founded in 1830, with the goal of advancing geographical science and the "improvement and diffusion of geographical knowledge." The London-based society takes its mandate seriously, and although most Americans will remember the great expeditions of Sir Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke to discover the source of the Nile, few may know that they continue to send adventurous men to the far corners of the world.

Their focus today is a little more politically correct, centering on a range of environmental issues. The RGS welcomes any member regardless of nationality, etc. The only trick is you have to be nominated by other members and seconded by another if you wish to be a Fellow. The 12,000 or so members typically have academic qualifications or expedition experience or are widely traveled. It is somewhat difficult to be nominated as a Fellow (30 pounds per year-most are graduates and work in geographical professions), but there are also Associate Members (24 pounds), Educational Corporate Members (60 pounds) and Corporate Members (200 pounds).

Once you are a member, you can subscribe to the 164-year-old Geographical Journal, the largest circulation of any British academic journal. The rather staid and colorless journal is published three times a year and contains original research papers and important articles on geography. The monthly Geographical Magazine is more colorful and deals with more contemporary issues. There is also a newsletter that keeps members aware of upcoming events and activities in the RGS.

The RGS is headquartered in Lowther Lodge, a Victorian-era brick building across the street from Hyde Park and close to major museums. From the outside, statues of Shackleton and Livingstone peer around the corner from their niches in the walls. Inside, you find the exact kind of casual bric-a-brac you would expect to find in a house that has been storing other people's stuff for more than 150 years. Stuffed penguins are crammed in stairwells, portraits of the great explorers glare down on you, and there are more maps and books than you could possibly read in a lifetime. The library holds more than 150,000 books, periodicals and reference materials; the Map Room is stacked floor to ceiling with over 850,000 maps, globes and atlases. The Picture library has an excellent but somewhat confused selection of period photographs. The Archives holds the crown jewels of the RGS, the personal papers, diaries and observations of the world's great explorers. The RGS continues to sponsor expeditions and organize major field research programs.

There is also an excellent Expedition Advisory Center that is invaluable for anyone considering traveling the hard way or desiring to meet up with other like-minded people. The 15-year-old EAC is open to all and has assisted more than 500 expeditionary teams in providing training and advice to primarily university-level groups. Their impressive publications assist adventurers with tips on everything from the fund raising phase to gaining a publication contract for expeditions.

On the social side, activities surround the ongoing lecture program. RGS holds regular lectures on subjects as diverse as screening adventure films to nuts-and-bolts presentations on geomorphology. There is daily lunch, cocktails are served before and after lectures, and events can be held at the Society's headquarters.

The Expedition Advisory Centre
Royal Geographical Society 1 Kensington Gore London SW7 2AR (011 71) 581 2057,  FAX: (011 71) 584-4447
Not a club or even a place where more than five people can sit down at one time. The EAC's home is in a crowded set of offices about the Royal Geographic Society's headquarters in London. They do a yeoman's job of single handedly running the only support group for expedition planning.
The Centre provides information, training and, most importantly, encouragement for anyone planning an expedition overseas. Their cumulative knowledge and vast contacts can help you decide which type of flashlight works best underwater, the best place to buy snake venom antidote, or even if there are other equally eager folks who want to join on. Nobody at the center writes checks for great ideas or does any work for you, but they can point you in the right direction and show you how and why expeditions are funded.

There is an annual program of meetings that brings seasoned pros together with fresh-faced explorers. In November there is an expedition planning seminar that generates enough enthusiasm to send anyone to the North Pole. For Americans the major source of help is the list of publications that pack years of solid experience into a bookshelf of manuals.

The Centre keeps a list of people who are interested in joining expeditions (people with medical and multidisciplinary scientific skills are most in demand; photographers and folks who just are looking for something to keep them busy are the least in demand).

If you would like to get the latest prices and listings, just send a fax to the address above and request a list of publications (you can use your credit card and there is a discount of 10 percent if you order more than 3 to 9 copies of the same publication, 25 percent if you order more than 10 of the same one).

There are books on fund-raising for expeditions, joining an expedition, writing expedition reports, reference sources, expedition field techniques on collecting and studying everything from meteors to reptiles to people and handbooks on expeditions to polar, tropical, desert, underwater, underground and rain forest sites, and their expedition yearbooks detail the various expeditions the EAC has assisted or kept track of.