Defining Adventure Travel
What on earth is adventure traveling? A whitewater river trip? Bungee jumping in the Colorado River gorge? Attending a covert ops training camp to learn how to be a spy? Or could it be just walking along a quiet beach in some exotic locale?
Adventure is in the eye of the beholder – what you might define as an adventure would make someone else yawn. Or vice versa. A hot air balloon ride would qualify for some people, while nothing short of a trek through the Himalayas would do it for others.
The point is that you define your own ideas of adventure. Typically, an adventure travel vacation is one that removes you from your everyday, common, normal boring range of activity and places you in a situation or location that excites your imagination, gets your heart pumping, piques your interest, lights your fire, or otherwise turns you on.
Whether that’s following tornadoes in the Midwest, or going on a theatre tour of London is immaterial. It’s what you feel is an adventure – it doesn’t have to be in an exotic location – a tour of the witching sites in New England might qualify, or perhaps you’ve had a lifelong dream to go to Las Vegas. Of course, it can include exotic places, if that fits your definition of adventure. Fly to New Zealand to watch an eclipse of the sun – or go skiing in Chile in the summer.
Maybe you’ve always wanted to visit the pyramids in Egypt. Can’t afford to book a vacation there? Substitute it with a visit to the touring King Tut exhibit – it can give you a sense of ancient history without leaving your own backyard. Think of an activity – like taking a cruise to Alaska – or a place you’ve wanted to see – like Greece – and build your travel adventure around it.
Experienced travelers used to making their own arrangements will often research areas of the world or things they’d like to do using online resources – when they find a location or activity they’re interested in, they locate nearby hotels, book a flight and they’re on their way.
But what if you don’t have any idea what sort of adventure you’d be interested in? There are dozens of travel agencies that offer adventure travel packages. From themed adventures like scuba diving in Aruba to walking tours of haunted locales in Santa Fe, from a trip to monasteries in Tibet to a quiet retreat to a tropical island – someone will have a suggestion for an adventure vacation that fits your personal style.
You’ll need to make some advance preparations if your adventure includes travel to an exotic location - make sure your vaccinations are up to date, and check to see if any special vaccinations are needed, such as West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever, Polio or Malaria. If you’re planning a physically strenuous vacation – hiking through the Alps for example, make sure you’re in good physical shape.
About The Author: Rick Butts an adventure travel nut!
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