Like many young people today, you may be taking a different approach to spending your disposable income. While your parents may have fixated on acquiring expensive electronics, ostentatious automobiles, or coveted collectibles, your generation is more interested in acquiring experiences and creating memories. When it’s time to plan your vacations, you want to do more than visit a theme park or spend all day poolside at a resort. You’re interested in being active and living an adventure, and there are plenty of good reasons why.
Whether you choose to go kayaking, hiking, rafting or engage in another thrilling physical activity on your vacation, opting for adventure has a lot of benefits. One of the best may be that excitement can be more effective at reducing stress than the usual relaxing vacation. Once you’ve returned from a week of hang gliding or spelunking, nothing you face at work will seem as challenging. Adventure trips also are a great opportunity to learn new skills and perhaps even discover a new passion you’ll follow for the rest of your life.
When you go on a trip designed for typical tourists, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the impression that everything is somehow fake. From carefully choreographed itineraries and over-chlorinated swimming pools to the old-timey storefronts of a certain “happiest” place on Earth, so much of the standard vacation experience feels artificial and unnatural.
In contrast, an adventure excursion puts you right in the middle of nature itself, where no two experiences are ever quite the same and you’ll never know what to expect. When it’s over, you’ll feel that you’ve accomplished something breathtaking and physically challenging rather than just being passively entertained. You can cross a vacation adventure off your bucket list and treasure memories that will last a lifetime.
The best souvenirs aren’t tangible. When you take time off, would you rather remember parking lots, long lines, and room service bills or do you want something more — something that will change you forever? The accompanying checklist describes some of the most compelling reasons why an extreme experience may be right for you.
