Type Two fun is a relatively new concept to me. I’ve always loved it, I just never knew what it was. Heck, I never even knew that an actual fun scale existed. A scale that covers not just Type 2 fun, but also Types 1 and 3.
“It’s so much fun having fun!”
-Matty
This quote has always stuck with me. It was said by someone in college while partying, and when he was at—or very near—the point of being blackout drunk. Hey, don’t judge. It was a college party!
I’ve found myself saying it numerous times over the years, but it was always while enjoying some form of Type 1 fun.
So what is this fun scale? And what about the types of fun found on it?
The Fun Scale, as interpreted by me…and the person I hired to bring it to life for me in this nifty little graphic!
Type 1 Fun
Type 1 fun is the most common of the three.
Quite simply, it is any fun that is fun while you’re actively having it. It’s fun that you’re sure to enjoy while in the moment.
This can be anything from snowboarding, to sitting on the beach with your friends, playing catch with your dad, taking a nice hike, or playing a game of bingo.
You’re having fun, you enjoy yourself, and everything goes well. You might not win that game of bingo, but you still had fun playing.
Effectively, you don’t want it to end because you’re having such a good time, and then when it does end, you’d be up for doing it again.
Type 2 Fun
“I feel like I’m about to die.”
-Me
Type 2 fun hits different. Type 2 fun isn’t fun while it’s happening. It’s usually pretty much miserable. You may not start out seeking this type of fun, but when it begins, you wish you were anywhere else.
Then, after the fact, when it’s all over and you begin to look back on the experience, you see it in a different light. You look back on it fondly and see it as something fun that you’d like to potentially do again. Basically, it’s fulfilling in the long run.
Classic Type 2 Fun activities include things like alpine climbing, running an ultra marathon, ice climbing, and trekking through difficult conditions. Or even a plain old hike that was so steep that it became painful trying to make it up, only to leave you with aching, lactic acid-ridden legs for the next week
Of course, you can set out seeking Type 2 Fun right off the bat. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “seek discomfort” more than once in your life. It’s the same thing. With certain activities, you just know going in that things are going to be miserable. You’re uncomfortable, but the payoff after it’s over is all you need.
When you’re tired and everything hurts, but you only have time for a ten-minute nap before breaking camp.
My favorite experience with Type 2 Fun
While I have partaken in many Type 2 activities over the years, the best example of Type 2 Fun that I’ve ever experienced was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Particularly summit night. It was miserable. I was freezing, tired, exhausted, and loopy from the thin air.
The full quote from above, which I said as I reached the summit is actually “I made it. Uhuru Peak. I feel like I’m about to die.”
I don’t think that was much of an exaggeration. My head throbbed, my body was in pain, breathing the thin air while exerting myself was difficult, and I was in the early stages of acute mountain sickness.
Yet, at the same time, reaching the top after that battle was one of the most cathartic experiences of my life, and I absolutely can’t wait to experience something similar once again. I crave that moment. In fact, I’ve just recently begun researching alpine skills courses with my eyes set on Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, Mont Blanc, and a fourth mountain which I’m going to keep under my hat for now.
Even though I hated summit night – I even wrote an as-yet-unpublished blog post about things I took issue with – I can do little now but look back on it fondly.
Type 3 Fun
Type 3 Fun is the boogie man. It’s agonizing, and it isn’t fun at all. You hated it while you were doing it, looking back, you still hate it and you never want to go through anything like it again.
There was no excitement of anticipation for this activity, and there is a constant sense of doom hovering over everything.
Injury is likely, it can be life-threatening, dangerous, and potentially require an emergency rescue.
Good examples of this would be a catastrophically failed polar expedition, a shipwreck while trying to sail across the Atlantic, being lost in inclement weather, and walking across a room of Legos with bare feet.
Yeah, none of this is fun at all. So why even call it the third type of fun? Well, often the fun in this comes from the story and relaying it to others. Provided you survived… I mean come on, telling people about the time you were shipwrecked is a pretty cool story.
An emergency medical evac on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The Other Levels of Fun
On the traditional scale, created in the 1980s, there are only three types of fun. The scale was created with three, and it has existed with three ever since. So three it will remain, in my opinion, at least.
Of course, there is always someone out there trying to reinvent the wheel. They feel the need to relabel Type Two Fun and Type Three Fun as types three and four while introducing something different for two… because math nerds say so, and because they know better than anyone else.
Others use a more nuanced approach with levels like 1.5… something which is fun and difficult, but not as extreme as something like Type Two Fun.
I don’t ascribe to either of these.
Fun is Subjective
One thing to remember is that fun is completely subjective. Take seasoned alpine climber Andrew Hughes for example. He has climbed all seven summits and is now attempting to reach both poles. This would complete what is known as the Explorer’s Grand Slam, something only accomplished by around seventy people in history.
He probably wouldn’t even blink at my Kilimanjaro Type Two Fun experience. Though I do know that he ascribes to the concept of Type Two Fun. I’ll give you one guess as to where I first heard the term. I also have him to thank for my burgeoning interest in alpine climbing and mountaineering.
“There exists an explorer within us all. Anyone who is willing to seek out the unknown and new knowledge, explore the depths of one’s own life, and push the perceived limitations we place on ourselves is an explorer of “self” taking part in the greatest expedition of all…the living of one’s life.”
– Andrew Hughes
What type of fun is your favorite? Do you have any experiences with type two fun? I’d love to hear your opinion and experiences with the fun scale!
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Fun little read.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! I’ve been getting asked what type 2 fun is quite a bit lately lol
Thank you for the Type 1 time I had reading this post :).
One Type 2 moment I had a few years ago was when my then travel partner and I accidentally took our rental car (a newer Ford Escort) onto Hagerman Pass* in Colorado. Instead of taking the “other” road that would have brought us back to lodging HOURS sooner (he would have made that distinction if he had looked at the map I showed him before we started our off-road adventure).
*Hagerman Pass is a destination for off-roading 4×4 people, and has been the topic of many a magazine article. Street cred to the Escort on this particular day. Also, pretty sure we made it to the continental divide, but I was too busy thinking we were dying (I’ll have to go check my photos).
Anyway… thought we were going to die. Some almost impassable spots (boulders, streams over the road, and again: Ford Escort), snow at the top that had thankfully been recently cleared. I’m glad I always have granola bars on me at all times (they saved my life, I think)? Extra perk: we stopped at the ranger’s cabin in the middle of the woods (he looked confused, guess not many people stop by) to ask for directions back to the correct road to civilization.
The whole trek took a few really bumpy hours. Didn’t die though. Always bring granola bars! And I’m sure the undercarriage of the car was scraped, but nothing a little car wash can’t buff out, right?
Ahh glad you made it out okay! I’ve been in a few wrong locations with the wrong type of vehicle so I know how dicey that can get. Always a good idea to have some emergency snacks with you while you’re traveling!
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