Adventure Travel

Is Spontaneity Dead? Take Action to Revive Your Passport!

August 24, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

For some people, going on vacation generally consists of a little more than just packing up a few things, and going for a weekend trip. While that can involve going on a caving adventure or a nice long hike, this is considered extreme to some people.

If your past few “vacations” involved sitting in front of the television or going to the mall, you might need a wakeup call from your sense of adventure. The following is a reality check on what a vacation should have to keep things from going downright stale.

Get Off the Couch!

If you feel like you’ve been keeping your couch company, you really need to get out more. Rather like the start of any journey is a single step, the start of your amazing vacation involves actually getting off your couch for a reason other than going to the bathroom or grabbing a snack. When you get off your couch, turn off the TV and the lights. Now take a little walk and think about where you’d go if you could go anywhere in the world.

The funny part is, you actually can go anywhere. Traveling is cheaper than it was a few years ago—the airlines and hotels really want your business—and if you really needed to, you could get some quick cash from Plain Green Loans to pay for your expenses. You can be anywhere on Earth in just a couple of days. How can you not travel?

Skip the Tan Lines

Do you enjoy being naked? Of course, who doesn’t? So why waste time under the oppression of unnecessary clothing? Some of the best resorts in the world allow you to strut around wearing only what your maker gave you.

Seek out places where the words “dress optional” mean more than just choosing not to wear a tie. When you feel the sun on your back—hopefully wearing sunscreen—and the wind all across your skin, you’ll tingle in the best possible ways. Bring someone you’re really close to if you want it to be even better.

Reconnect With Your Lover

It doesn’t matter who you love. In most of the world, you won’t be judged as long as everyone is able to willfully and legal consent to… well, that’s your business. Reconnecting with your lover might involve nothing more than a stroll along the beach or through an especially majestic mountain path, or it could involve trying to rollerblade hand in hand through a Dubai marketplace or along the Great Wall of China.

If you think you have to do something lascivious to get your heart racing, think again. Some of the most exciting vacations are things you could guiltlessly tell a child or a priest all about.

Buy an Island

Believe it or not, you don’t really have to buy an island. However, a really fun thing to do when you get to an island is to scope it out as if you were planning to buy it. Throw a little swagger into your step and really dig into the island itself. Is this the kind of place you’d buy if you had the money for anything?

If not, what would you change if you could move mountains? Considering that you can sometimes buy an island for not much more than the price of a luxury home, you might even consider a vacation dedicated to checking out some waterway real estate.

Get Your Pulse Racing

Checking out the girls on the beach might be your idea of a heart-racing activity or it might not. But if all else fails, use your time away from home to get out there and sweat. If your natural avocation isn’t to just lay around in your daily life, go outside in your vacation setting and take a run or a swim. A little activity goes a long way.

Think of Fun

When some people see a cliff, they think, “I’d better not fall off of that.” When other people see the very same cliff, they think, “How can I jump off of that without dying at the bottom?” Still other people think, “Wow, I’d love to climb up to that.” They’re all looking at exactly the same place, they all see different things, and they’re all totally right. Your version of fun is as unique as your fingerprint, and it’s something to be celebrated.

There’s no shame in doing anything that you find enjoyable, even if it’s mostly just lounging on the beach with a good book or meditating in a temple.

Bringing it Home

Some people think that a vacation is all about getting great pictures to take home. While pics are fine, they’re not the reason you need to take a great vacation. You need to connect to your inner life force, and do something that’s exciting and different. You have but one life, and there are no redoes if you “forget” to live it the way you want to.

Filed Under: Adventure Travel

How to Have an Unforgettable Summer

July 28, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Summer lasts just three months. In those three months, you have limited time to actually get outdoors, spread your wings and create memories that are going to last the rest of the year. For those who spend the rest of the year planning or dreaming about summer, make sure every day offers a new opportunity. So go ahead and book your summer vacation with the money you have from your payday advance and enjoy the memories that will last you a lifetime.

Take a Road Trip

What used to be the all-American family vacation is now a must for young adults looking for total fun. Movies like “Due Date” take it to the extreme, but could there be anything more amusing than the road trip?

From the time you spend talking in the car to seeing the country’s best roadside attractions (think super-sized food statues or brooms that stand on their own,) something makes these trips amazing. Everyone should take a cross-country road trip at least one time in their lives, kids in tow or not.

Notoriously inexpensive (if you do not count the gas) these trips make the perfect choice for families on a budget or those college students looking for a cheap way to get to the beach. To pay for a road trip, rely on discount fuel, coupons, free meals or stays at motels and make sure everyone in the group is pitching in.

Book that European Vacation

Travel Europe. You can plan a cruise around the Mediterranean or plan to backpack your way through the Alps. Tour century-old castles, explore the most delicious French cuisine, and kick back in a vineyard in Italy, all within a few days. Europe’s passenger trains make touring the heart of the continent easier than you thought. See the great cities of London, Barcelona, Rome and Berlin.

Spend at Least a Week at a Beach

While the beaches along the Great Lakes are okay, it is best to head to the ocean beaches along the United States’ coastlines. With more than 12,000 miles of beaches along the coastline, there are definitely options to choose from, ranging from secluded romantic beaches in Hawaii to the most family friendly of locations, like Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head.

From the tip of Florida to the Maine coast, the Eastern Coastline is known for its affordability. Spending a day at the beach does not have to coast you anything. From Washington to the base of California, the western coast offers a peaceful ocean view and deep, blue waters.

Take Life into Your Hands with Roller Coasters

Summer is not complete without a day at an amusement park–or a week if you spend it in Florida’s numerous family attractions. Roller coasters are pushing the line. If you want the fastest in the United States, head to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, which travels more than 128 miles per hour. For one of the fastest, head to Sandusky, Ohio, for the Top Thrill Dragster, at a height of 430 feet.

Amusement parks entertain in other ways too. The food is as bad for you as it can get, which means it’s fantastic tasting. The shows are a bit corny, but they will make you laugh. You will be sunburned and love every minute of it.

Paying for the Trip

No matter where you head for summer fun, you will need to pay for your trip. Do so in every way possible since this summer you will want not to worry about money. Get donations from family and friends (tell them how hard you have worked towards it). Get donations from work, too, such as banking that vacation time and cashing out anything extra you can. Donations are a good route to take.

Slash Those Expenses

Another great way to save money for you unforgettable summer is simply to cut your expenses. Sign up the kids for free school day care programs and breakfast and lunch. Pocket that extra money for your vacation fund. Turn the air conditioning off and the heat down. Walk to the store for other necessities rather than using the in the car. Go with public television and get rid of the cable for a few months.

Be Creative with Sales Power

Look around your home. There are likely plenty of options for selling things. Start with your old valuables. To have an unforgettable summer, you need to get rid of those things sitting and collecting dust. Recycle that dead car for cash. Some companies will give you money if you just get the car onto the lot. Sell plasma or blood. Pawn other valuables so you can have more spending money.

Get a Second Job

To create the most memorable of summer vacations, you will want to eat well, play hard and pay for gas. A second job may be in the works. Get up early and deliver newspapers. Take on a part-time job doing delivery work. Find out if the local schools need someone to help with painting or janitorial work. Just take on extra hours or new projects at work. Get up the courage to ask your boss for a raise. Summer will be well worth it.

Making it Memorable at Home

While summer means going and doing, you do not have to be exploring the world to enjoy an amazing summer. Plan your summer around things at home too, in between those big vacations or those amusement park days. Why not visit the zoo.

Grab a few great books and plan to sit in the sun reading them. Take the kids to the water park or to the local swimming pool at least every week. Make Sundays the days you do nothing but sit around watching old movies with friends. Host at least one BBQ this year.

Summer Means Magic

For everyone who is looking for a way to relax and unwind, look inside. What is it that is going to make this summer unforgettable for you, specifically? In order to get through those cold, wet winters and the never-ending rain of spring, you need, and deserve, a plan for summer.

It starts with knowing what you want to do. Summer is not all about the home improvement projects or spending your days at work. Make it about those times when you can break away and simply enjoy your family and friends.

Filed Under: Adventure Travel, Destinations, Travel Tips

Hot Pots in Canada: The 411 on Location & Class

July 25, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

When it comes to relaxing and enjoying nature, few pastimes are as pleasurable as soaking in the Earth’s naturally created hot tubs. To add a bit of enjoyment to this luxurious activity and turn it into a full length morning or afternoon activity, do a small hike before ending up at the hot pot. Depending on the location and style you prefer, it’s possible to bring along a snack or even a full gourmet meal with cheese, crackers, and wine to accompany the main course.

Whatever approach you prefer – the bare bones ‘hop out of the car and into the hot pot’ style, or a slower technique in which you ‘earn’ the soaking through physical exertion beforehand, canada 411 has got you covered. Let’s take a look at some of the finest offerings and what makes them stand above the competition.

Ainsworth Hot Pots

Not far from Banff, home of the famous, outdoor-oriented Banff Film Festival, lies the Kootenay wilderness. You’ll have outdoor pursuits galore to get after in this region, and when you’re done, the Ainsworth hot springs will rival the best of what you’ve found in the wild. For starters, they’re located in the side of a mountain where the views will compare favorably to any hike.

Add in several pools and a stream-fed cold plunge, and the heart can keep pumping all day long, even while you’re (mostly) still! The ultimate gem is the 150-foot-long cave, artificially lit to keep it from turning spooky. Fear will be the furthest thing from your mind as you make your way to your favorite bend in this extended horseshoe shaped pleasure dome.

It’s like few other experiences you’ll find anywhere while offering the soothing experience of hot, natural, spring-fed waters. You can even visit in winter – there’s plenty of skiing nearby for daytime – and enjoy the change in atmosphere from windy and snowy to foggy and humid.

Fairmont Hot Springs

Internationally known and attended, these springs are the largest Canada has to offer. Not only are they huge, they’re odorless as well, which allows your senses to focus on other things. Perhaps you can tune in on just how swiftly the concerns of the office have melted away.

Or just gaze deeply and at length at the nearby Purcell mountains. No matter your previous concerns, they’ll fade, regardless of whether you choose the larger, public pools with their panoramic vistas, or a more intimate, solitary experience in the available private hot spring.

Located in the Columbia Valley, the resort that has been built around the Fairmont hot pots will cater to most every desire you can dream up, even as your body is soothed by the naturally heated waters.

Hot Springs Cove

Located on Vancouver Island, the surroundings switch it up from the previously mentioned mountains to a more placid ocean setting. But don’t start thinking there’s anything tame about Hot Springs Cove. For starters, this chunk of paradise can only be reached by air or by boat, which creates its own hard-won ambiance.

Once you’ve arrived, you’ll still have to ‘get there’ by taking a 2 kilometer stroll out on the boardwalk that leads right to this natural paradise. With multiple levels of pools feeding into one another, you can find one that suits your ideal temperature preference. Each higher pool has hotter water than the lower one as the Earth’s heating flows downward and cools by the time it reaches each pool.

Perhaps unique among the average hot pots, ocean waves enter the lowest two pools twice daily at high tide. This not only filters the pools, but also creates an invigorating sensation with the entry of each successive wave! Who needs an artificial splash pool when nature so artfully supplies her own?

Dewar Creek Hot Springs

Unlike some of the other offerings here, the Dewar Creek is a nearly complete wilderness experience. Not only is it more than 22 kilometers of driving from the last turnoff, once the auto is parked, it’s another 9 kilometers of hiking before the bliss is reached.

But relaxation is best enjoyed when led into and followed by some exertion, and the reward is that you just might have these hot springs all to yourself. When you’re seeking activity and solace, Dewar Creek hot pots offer both in abundance.

Harrison Hot Springs

Perhaps your idea of remote involves the ability to change channels on the television and do other things without much effort. If so, the Harrison hot springs might be just for you. As the centerpiece of a luxury hotel, there are many individual pools to choose from: 2 indoor and 3 outdoor. Each offers relatively rigorous temperature control to keep things pleasant.

Only open to hotel guests, the Harrison offers an air of exclusivity to compliment 22-hour-a-day access to the pools. Waterfalls, rock formations, and landscaped plants round out the experience, while mountains provide a phenomenal view in the distance.

CONCLUSION

Canada’s hot pots run the gamut. One thing is for certain; each provides a charm all its own, whether near a rugged mountain range, or resting on the shores of the coastal ocean waters. For hot pots as individual as you are, look no further than these chart toppers when you’re looking to soak in Canada.