There are some people who like to spend their holidays chilling out on a beach and sipping cocktails. But there are others who are yearning for adventure when they travel. They want to break out of their everyday routine, get the adrenaline pumping and come home reinvigorated from an out-of-the-ordinary experience.
The globe is brimming with options for those wanting to inject a bit of adventure into their lives.
Water experiences
If you’re intrigued by marine life, perhaps exploring the world’s oceans will clear your head. Getting your diving license and immersing yourself in some iconic sites (such as Hawaii, the Galapagos Islands or Tahiti) might get your blood pumping.
Alternatively, you may prefer to stay on top of the water. Avid surfers make regular pilgrimages to Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa (one of the world’s best surf breaks) or the iconic breaks in Bali.
Hiking and cycling
A hike is a great way to challenge yourself while drinking in a new environment. You can hike Switzerland’s Bear Trek, take a helicopter ride and do a glacier trek in Alaska or the Canadian Rockies, or traipse around New Zealand’s South Island. Perhaps you’d like to head to Nepal and conquer the Annapurna Circuit – it runs through ever-changing scenery from lush green foothills to stark, rugged landscapes, some of the deepest gorges on Earth to soaring snow-capped mountains.
Alternatively, road cycling might be more your speed. Switzerland is a particularly great place to explore on two wheels. You can connect more closely with the country’s dramatic landscape than car touring allows, yet you cover far more ground with greater ease and speed than you can on foot.
Extreme experiences
There is adventure travel and then there is extreme adventure travel. The experiences you can have around the world are as adrenaline-packed as you can handle: zip lining, bungee jumping and skydiving, gorge swinging, ultramarathons, cliff camping and lake-bombing – the list goes on.
New Zealand is just one destination that offers extreme experiences for all levels of adrenaline junkies but there are plenty more locations to visit to get your blood pumping.
Snow experiences
Whether it’s New Zealand, Japan, Europe or North America, there are some incredible locations around the world for a little action on the cold white stuff.
Wildlife experiences
Encountering exotic animals on holiday can be a breathtaking experience. You could visit Churchill, Canada (otherwise known as the polar bear capital of the world), go dog-sledding around the Arctic Circle, ride horses through Patagonia or take part in an ethical elephant encounter in Thailand.
Or maybe a safari is just what the doctor ordered. Comprising 1.5 million hectares of seemingly endless savannah, Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania is home to two million wildebeests and hundreds of thousands of gazelles and zebras, who make their annual migration to Kenya’s Maasai Mara every year – one of the world’s most incredible natural phenomena.
Exploring the Kinabatangan River in Borneo is another great adventure. There is nothing like seeing wild pygmy elephants, orang-utans, proboscis monkeys and more while cruising along in a small tin boat.
Explore natural wonders
Go beyond your own backyard and see why so many of these natural wonders are on people’s bucket lists.
Perhaps you’d like to explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, take a trip through the swamps of New Orleans, ride through Canada’s Rocky Mountains by train, marvel at the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, get off the beaten track in Patagonia or watch the sun rise over Cambodia’s unbelievable Angkor Wat temple.
