Understanding
Adventure Travel
by
M. Ellis
"What,
exactly, is Adventure Travel ?"
In
many ways, coming up with an adequate answer to that question
is like trying to explain the concept of infinity. But I have
reached several conclusions that should lead you down the right
track even though you may find the answer rather elementary.
If
we follow the dictionary, the two keywords involved - adventure
and travel - are easily defined. The term travel is a concept
that needs no introduction to anyone, but adventure, alas, is
not as straight forward and hence involves some cognitive elements
of perception.
In
other words, the term adventure can mean different things to
different people depending on their very own perceptions and
taste. A trek in the country side might be a form of adventure
travel to some, but to a mountain climber, it is nothing more
than a walk in the country side!
As
poet Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "It is not length of life,
but depth of life (that counts)...". So life is as you
make it and see it really. You can choose to keep is simple,
or become repetitive, boring and common, or you can make life
and see it as a grand adventure in itself.
Applying
this same concept to travel, we can keep it simple, repetitive
and common, by following the masses and going to the usual big
cities such as London, Paris or New York - or we can make something
which for us is extra ordinary, and have an Adventure Travel.
The choice, as always, is ours to make.
Are
we getting anywhere?
For
some, Adventure Travel equates to grabbing the whitewater kayak
and heading down to the river, or securing a bungee cord to
your ankle and jumping off the bridge. To others, mixing with
the local culture up the amazon river in the tiny villages there.
If
you ask a punter at the Rio Carnival why they are there, chances
are they will tell you, for the Adventure of it. Ask a diver
why they choose to dive and you will get a similar answer. Ask
someone following the Inca Trail and again they will most likely
tell you for the Adventure or it. If you asked me when I was
about 10 why I climbed the hill and climbed over the fields,
knowing I shouldn't have, while my mum sunbathed unknowingly
at the beach, I would have told you "for the adventure"
Floating
in the clouds in a hot air balloon is an adventure. So is a
cruise to the exotic Galapagos. But even whisking the family
away to a nearby theme park can be an Adventure to some. To
some, a truly grand adventure involves viewing wildlife or spending
time camping under the stars. To others, an escape to gambling
world Las Vegas makes their adrenaline flow, and brings the
Adventure demon inside them to life.
Adventures
come in all shapes and sizes. Big and small. Soft or hard. There
is no limit, no rule.
Hopefully
by now you are getting it. An adventure, whether passive or
active, is the difference between common and uncommon; between
normal and beyond normal. Try camping out in a spooky cemetery
at night and tell me afterwards that, that was not an adventure!
Or go visit the Pyramids of Giza, and tell me you havn't been
fantasizing about our ancient past.
Simply
put, an Adventure Travel is really discovering what turns you
on the most far within your soal. Adventure Travel is only limited
to your very own imagination and physical constraints. It doesn't
matter if your sense of adventure is walking through an unexplored
path between the fields behind your house, or if you climb Mount
Everest. Adventure travel is what you make it - nothing more
and nothing less.
WishToTravel.com
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About
the Author
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