Adventure Travel FAQ’s
I’m getting a lot of questions about adventure travel and whether it’s right for you. Many of you are intrigued but worry that you may not be able to handle the adventure once you get there.
That’s one of the reasons I rate every adventure for both difficulty and comfort level (including the accommodations), so you’ll have a better idea of what to expect before you book.
More about that later, but in the meantime, here’s the promised photo of me looking particularly fetching.
I may not look happy, but I was! I was absolutely exhausted and hadn’t been able to properly bathe for three days. Add in the wind whipping my hair into a tangled mess that no comb could conquer, and, well…this was the result.
It made that first shower the next day taste all the sweeter!
One of the unexpected joys of adventure travel is that it teaches you to appreciate life’s simple luxuries all over again—like soap instead of baby wipes. 😊
Don’t worry—you won’t always get this dirty on an adventure trip. But for some reason, I seem to have a special talent for resembling Pig-Pen from the Peanuts comic strip wherever I go!
In Today’s Bonus Adventure Travel FAQ Episode, We Cover:
- What my 1–5 difficulty ratings really mean and how to use them when deciding if an adventure is right for you.
- Why most adventures earn a “3.” A rating of 3 means that an average, reasonably fit person can successfully complete the trip, especially with a little pre-trip preparation. A 2 is relatively easy, while a 4 means you’d better plan on doing some training before you go.
- How to determine your hiking pace so you can judge whether you’ll be able to comfortably complete each day’s itinerary.
- My personal fitness routine. It’s actually pretty simple—but consistency is the key. I’m a firm believer in the tortoise rather than the hare approach. I can do these adventures without spending hours every day working out, and you can too! I’ll also share what I do when I know I need to step up my training for a more challenging adventure.
-
We Review the Four Ways to Adventure Travel
- Plan the trip yourself using my free Travel Planning Cheat Sheet and other resources.
- Take a self-guided tour through a tour company—you travel with your own group, but without a guide.
- Join a fully guided adventure, including the pros and cons of guided travel.
- Create a custom adventure tailored specifically to your interests.
I also explain how I planned (or didn’t plan!) the trips I took over the past year:
- France: Planned everything myself (what little planning I actually did!)
- Nicaragua: Guided tour
- Scotland: Self-guided tour
- Glacier National Park: Traveled with someone else who handled all the planning
We also discuss why people choose adventure travel and what makes these experiences so rewarding.
What’s Included in the FREE Travel Planner?
Each adventure episode includes a free downloadable Travel Planner. These guides are incredibly useful for planning a trip to the destination—even if you aren’t doing the exact adventure featured in the podcast.
Each guide includes:
- Average weather and the best times of year to visit
- U.S. State Department travel advisories, visa information, and safety resources
- Local currency information, a currency converter, plus notes on tipping and handling money
- Who the trip is best suited for: families, couples, solo travelers, friends, or custom groups
- Whether it’s easy to plan on your own or if I recommend using a guide or tour company—and my recommendations
- Budget rating: One dollar sign ($) for budget travel up to four dollar signs ($$$$) for more expensive trips. Many destinations can be enjoyed at different budget levels.
- Physical difficulty rating: 1–5, with 5 being the most challenging (most adventures are rated a 3, with a range of 2–4)
- Comfort rating: What type of accommodations and sleeping arrangements you can expect
- Languages spoken, how easy it is to travel without speaking the local language, plus a link to Google Translate
- Food and water safety tips
- Gateway airports and airlines serving the destination to help you find the best flights
- A link to compare travel insurance options so you can find the best coverage and value
- Packing lists and equipment recommendations
- Additional resources and links to help you plan your trip
The Four Ways Active Travel Adventures Helps You Plan
Podcast
Each episode gives you an overview of an adventure so you can decide whether it’s a trip you’d enjoy before investing time in planning it.
Website
The website includes photos and videos, the free Travel Planning Cheat Sheet, newsletter signup, links to my social media channels, my email, and information on how to listen to and subscribe to the podcast.
Newsletter
My free monthly newsletter includes all of the Travel Planning Cheat Sheets from the previous month’s episodes, along with corrections, updates, additional travel tips, and occasional travel deals.
Active Travel Adventures Facebook Group
Join our private FREE Facebook group to connect with fellow adventure travelers, share stories and photos, ask questions, and get travel advice.
This group is not for advertisers. That’s exactly why it’s private—we can have genuine conversations without being bombarded by promotions. Advertisers and spammers will be removed.
Finally, I have one favor to ask…
Please tell at least one friend about the podcast and show them how to subscribe!
Many people still don’t realize how easy podcasts are to listen to, and your recommendation helps Active Travel Adventures continue to grow.
Thank you!
Coming Next Week…
Next week I interview a hiker who has completed some of the world’s most spectacular trails. She introduces us to a hike I’d never even heard of—one she ranks among her absolute favorites anywhere in the world.
Even better, she says it’s easy and family-friendly!
See you next Thursday…
Adventure On!
(C) Active Travel Adventures LLC – All Rights Reserved
Podcast Transcript: Adventure Travel FAQs – Is Adventure Travel Right for You?
Prefer to read instead of listen? Below is the complete transcript of
this bonus episode of the Active Travel Adventures podcast. Kit Parks
answers the most frequently asked questions about adventure travel,
including how the 1–5 difficulty ratings work, the different ways to
plan an adventure, how to prepare physically, and why active vacations
are so rewarding.
————————————————————————
Adventure Travel FAQ’s : Bonus Episode : Here’s the podcast transcript
:
I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about these adventure trips
I’m talking about on the Active Travel Adventures podcast. I’m so happy
to heare you are intrigued and how many of you are considering this kind
of travel experience perhaps for the first time. Try it once, and I’m
betting you’re going to get hooked like the rest of us!
This is Kit Parks, and I’m the host of the Active Travel Adventures
podcast. Today I am answering the FAQ’s I’ve been hearing.
I know I’m not supposed to be releasing an episode until next Thursday,
but I thought it important to answer these questions as soon as possible
because they keep coming up so I thought I’d do this Bonus Episode.
The Question I heare the most: I’ve never gone on an adventure vacation
before. How do I know if I can do it?
Each adventure on the podcast has a difficulty rating from 1 ““ 5. Most
adventures we discuss will be a three, with the occasional 2 and 4.
1 ““ Sit on the bus tours. You are basically a slug. ATA doesn’t cover
these trips
2 ““ Very gentle pace with little elevation gain on a hike or trail. No
overly arduous days. If you exercise at all regularly, you can do this
trip with no problem. These trips will usually also be labeled
Family-friendly on the Travel Planning Cheat Sheets I provide for each
episode. All ages can do them. Often the day’s activity does not take
more than a few hours to get to the next destination allowing you plenty
of side trip time.
3 ““ Usually more difficult because of the time spent doing the
activity. Hikes may have 10-15 miles 16-24km (with the occasional
longer day), cycle trips may be over 50 miles/80km, and there may be
times of somewhat difficult ascents or descents. If you have good
cardio and do some pre-trip training, you’ll be fine. You will be
pooped at the end of the day, and your feet or other body parts will be
sore and tired, but you’ll be raring to go again the next day.
4 ““ Now we are getting harder. The days may be long and the trails
challenging. There will be difficult ascents and descents. You need to
train for these trips or you won’t have a good time.
5- Uber hard. ATA doesn’t explore these kinds of trips.
If you’re uncertain, start with a level two. Every vacation we cover
are all epic adventures, you just won’t be as tired at the end of the
day. Look at the daily itinerary and remember, you have ALL day to get
to the next destination.
Think about it this way: At home on my flat streets, I walk about 3.5-4
mph depending on how hard I feel like walking. On a trail, I may slow
down to 1.5 ““ 3 miles depending on the terrain.
So if I have a ten mile day, without stops and diversions, I can hike it
in 3.5 ““ 6.5 hours. If I have a leisurely breakfast and get on the
trail by 9, I have more than enough time for a nice lunch and can stroll
in long before cocktail hour. On average, a level two day, you’ll
probably be AT your destination midday, a level three you get there
before five or six, if not earlier.
Check out my tour company recommendation and go to their website to LOOK
at their itinerary. It will give you a really good idea of what to
expect so you can figure out if the trip is a good fit for you.
If you haven’t seen a picture of me, I’m certainly no gym rat. In fact,
I don’t even go to a gym. I’ve had the same nagging ten pounds I’d love
to get rid of, but obviously don’t hate it so much that I actually DO
anything about it.
Here’s what I do do: I try really hard to walk 40 minutes a day. Every
morning I am home, I do a speedy version of Rodney Yee’s AM Yoga
program, which is supposed to be 15-20 minutes that I do in about 7. On
Mon ““Wed-Fri, I do the following exercises which take me another 15
minutes:
Crunches: 30 each of five varieties Girly push ups from my knees : 30
Bat wind preventer chair dips : 30 “¦ feet on the ground, I rpop myself
up on a chair seat with my palms and then dip my hips towards the floor
and then using the batwing muscle, the tricep, I draw my body back up to
chair seat level. Bat wing preventer bench press: 30”¦ I have a YouTube
link on today’s show notes to show you how. If I put on a few pounds,
I’ll try to add some running for 30 minutes, but I say I’ll do it FAR
more than I actually do it. I have only run a handful of times this
year, but starting next week, well you know how THAT goes”¦ To prepare
for an adventure trip, I beef it up and instead of walking a couple of
times a week, I join the local rec center so I can use the treadmill on
an incline with some increasing weight on my back for a backpacking
trip, and will take longer walks when possible on the non-treadmill
days. I SHOULD do all of my walks all the time with my pack so my feet
and shoulders STAY used to carrying weight, plus this alone helps would
help me with those ten pounds. If I have a difficult trip planned, I
will be more thoughtful and consistent with my training so that I don’t
have injury worries and can concentrate more on the landscape and people
than my body. When I did my first long distance backpacking trip ““ a
two week section on the Appalachian Trail”“ I didn’t know what I was
getting myself in for, so I really trained hard. On the hike, I was
going to be carrying about 28 pounds, so over the four months I
prepared, I built my backpack training weight up to 36 pounds. When I
actually was on the hike, it was relatively easy for me because I had
gotten myself so fit and was really, happily over-trained. Contrast that
to my Scotland long distance day pack hike, I did not train at all. The
trail is mild so it would not have been a problem except I brought all
this heavy electronic equipment, and had NOT trained with any weight in
a pack, so even though I was day hiking and not backpacking, I was
actually carrying close to backpacking weight, and I injured my right
knee. This is NOT how you do this. I have learned my lesson and will
not get cocky again about pre-trip training. And time is not an excuse
anymore with today’s smart phone. You can work and train at the same
time. You can listen to podcasts or audio books while you train to not
only have the time whizz by, but improve your mind at the same time.
Make it a family event if you’re short on family time. Somehow we
ALWAYS find the time to so the things we really want to do, and we’re
always just too busy to do the things we DON’T want to do. You just
need to decide which is which and schedule your day accordingly.
Question: What are the difference ways to plan an adventure tour?
There are four main ways:
You plan and book everything yourself. My planner is super helpful here.
A self-guided tour through a tour company. You follow a pre-planned tour
where the chosen company makes all the arrangements for you, provides
maps, often luggage transfer services so you don’t have to carry so much
weight during the day, and are an emergency contact in case something
goes wrong. They are very economical and can save you a ton of time and
often money as they often use lodging you may never find on the
internet. They know of issues on the ground and can circumvent them for
you. For example, a main stop on the West highland Way had only one
inn, and it was closed for renovations. My tour company arranged for a
shuttle pick up and took me to a lovely town ten miles away and then
shuttled me back to my previous end point to continue my hike. How long
do you think it would have taken me to figure how to do all of that?
They give you the itinerary, maps, instructions and packing info, etc.,
but you do the trip all yourself without a guide coming along on the
trip. You can often customize a bit since your itinerary is not
dependent on others. You can add rest days or side trip days. This is
the same or similare trip, but now you have a private guide that comes
with you. You are in a small group with people from around the world
unless you book the whole group. The beauty of this is that it is not
only reduces risks of any complications, and when there are problems,
it’s the guides problem to fix it, and they have the local knowledge to
do so. HOWEVER, I have found that it is in solving the problems that
some of the most fun stories and memories come from ““ albeit its often
later. Its also easier to get to know fellow travelers from around the
world. This is a great option if you want a bit more hand holding until
you get comfortable adventure traveling, or if traveling in foreign
countries makes you a bit uncomfortable. A major benefit is that you
get to ask the guide all sorts of questions about the country that a
foreigner wouldn’t know, so you also get a cultural exchange out of it.
This is obviously a more pricey option. I did it this way in China and
the guide was such an important part of my experience. I do not believe
I would have gotten neare as much out of that trip without his knowledge
and interpretation of what I was seeing. On a guided tour you cannot
customize anything because the whole group has to have the same
itinerary. If you have a sizable group or plenty of money, the final
option is to do a completely custom trip. Your friends or family will be
the only ones on the guided trip. Depending on the country, you can get
affordable custom guided trips for even just a few people for a
reasonable price. In first world or difficult to travel countries, it
can get very pricey. However, if you have 8-15 people, there shouldn’t
be much price difference than a regulare guided trip.
In the last year, I planned my16 -venture trips as follows:
France: I was testing out unplanned independent long term travel. I
booked a 6-1/2 week to and from flight from Paris. Outside of seeing a
friend in Antibes and an American couple I was friends with who also
happened to be in France, the rest of the trip I planned as I went
along. If I liked a town, I stayed, and moved on when I was ready to go
to the next place of interest. Usually it would be someone I met who
recommended a place they had just come from or a nearby natural area I
could hike or bike that determined where I would go next. This was
great fun but comfortably uncomfortable as my normal heavy planning
personality had to be tossed out the window. I found I liked the
spontenaety, but I did come up with some rules I’ll go over at another
time. This kind of adventure trip gives you the most flexibility but
also the most problems and a few twitches, plus you spend a lot of time
figuring things out. I did have a blast and do recommend it if it suits
your personality, but it’s definitely not for everyone.
Nicaragua: A guided tour where I was acquainted with one person. I met
John several years ago at the Appalachian Trail Institute course, and we
kept up annually at Christmas time thereafter. Every winter he would go
on these epic hiking trips, so in our annual email I asked where he was
going this year. He said, Nicaragua, why don’t I come? Why don’t I
come, indeed? Everyone needs to learn that I take such invites
seriously and try always to say yes. I paid the money but barely looked
at the itinerary, and just showed up. This was a guided hike in a group
of a little over a dozen. I didn’t have to do anything but hike as
Roger planned everything and we had multiple local guides to assist us.
Very nice! It was on this trip that I met Jamie, a Scot, who invited
the group to his 40th birthday hike in June. I was the only one to say
yes, so off I went. Listen to Episode 1 for details on this Nicaraguan
adventure.
Scotland: I did a self-guided tour but I hired a company to plan the
itinerary, make the arrangements and transfer my luggage daily so all I
had to do was hike the 100 miles to the birthday party from Glasgow. I
did almost zero research before heading on this trip, so like Nicaragua,
it was great to be surprised everyday by what I encountered. When you
have someone else plan your trip you can get away with this because they
have smoothed out all the rough edges in planning things for you. You
can heare about this adventure in Episode 3.
Glacier National Park: This was a hybrid trip. Independent by most
standards, however I did none of the planning. I met a charming woman
when I was on the France trip. We bonded over dinner and became
Facebook friends. Six months later, she mentioned she was going to camp
and hike in Glacier for three weeks the next summer did I want to go?
Remember what I said about inviting me somewhere?! Of course I want to
go!!! She did all the planning for this one, so all I had to do was
hike. She lives in Wyoming so I flew there to start the adventure. On
the way to Glacier in Montana, we spent three nights staying with a
woman she had met on a rafting trip and had obviously become good
friends with ““ remember what I keep saying about quick bonds on the
trail???– We also stayed with her another two days on the way back.
That Montana woman and I became friends and now WE are going on a hiking
trip to Bhutan next spring with some people I met in Nicaragua. These
trips may these cool interwoven circles like a slinky that gets tangled
and interconnected. You can check out the Glacier adventure on episode
2.
I guess my point is, that depending on what you want to do and how much
you want to spend time planning what you want to do, and obviously your
budget, determines whether you want to plan a trip yourself, or use a
company. I like them all and depending on what I want to accomplish
determines which I’ll do. The more I travel, the more confident I get
in stretching the bare of my comfort level a little bit more ““ always
always always with grand results!!!
Like most of you, I get so busy, so now I am preferring to have someone
else plan for me, but if I just want to get away, I’ll do the French
trip way, but will know that I’ll waste a lot of precious time planning
things once I get there.
On the Travel Planner for each episode, you’ll see my recommendations
for whether you can readily plan the particulare adventure yourself or
if you should use a guide. I will recommend tour companies I know and
trust if you want to go that route.
One other thing about these Travel Planners I want you to know: I spend
HOURS putting them together to save each of you those same hours. It
has all the important links you need to plan your trip all on a two page
document that has working internet links to:
Weather averages and best times of yeare to go State Dept safety and
visa information Local Currency plus a currency converter and notes on
money & tipping in this destination Who is this trip best for: families,
couples, solo, friends and/or custom? Can you easily plan and execute
this trip yourself or should you hire a guide or tour company”¦who do I
recommend? Budget range : I give it a single dollare sign for budget to
four dollare signs for more expensive. Often you can choose the expense
level Physical difficulty rating 1 ““ 5, with 5 being difficult (most
are 3, but range 2-4) Comfort rating: what kinds of sleeping
arrangements can you expect? What languages are spoken plus a link to
Google translate Food and water safety Gateway airports and airlines who
service the main airport so you can get the best flights A link to a
site that lets you compare travel insurance options so you get the best
deal Packing list and equipment recommendations links Any other
pertinent links that can help you plan your trip
Even though these sheets are specific for the adventure we talked about
on the corresponding episode, actually they are great to use for entire
country trip planning. So if you’re going to Scotland, but not doing
the West Highland Way, you’ll still want these free planners to help you
plan whatever your Scottish vacation is, even if it’s not adventure
travel.
If I were you, I’d make up a folder called ATA A-T-A for Active Travel
Adventures in my email account and file the newsletters in there. You
get the travel planners automatically with each newsletter which I’ll be
sending you each month. That way you can use the search feature in your
email to find them by destination, activity difficulty level, etc.
Super easy! If you know you want to go, I’ve made them printer friendly
so they don’t eat up all your ink. And speaking of emails, I hate spam
and I hate when folks abuse me when I give them my email. I promise NOT
to do that to you or to ever sell your email address! In the newsletter
I’ll include the travel planners, any update or corrections, and some
travel tips and deals not on the podcast or on the website. I hope to
make it super helpful for you!
Another question I get: Why do people do these kinds of trips? I don’t
get it!
I’ve been recording some roundup interviews I’ll be releasing soon where
I ask that very question. On your limited time off, why would you go do
something for multiple days, where at the end of the day you are
physically beat, your feet are sore and you are seriously sweaty and
dirty when you could be sitting on a chaise lounge at the beach enjoying
an umbrella drink?
For me, it’s the personal challenge. I’ve never been in a situation
where I felt like I was so stretched to my limits that I wasn’t sure I
could endure. I have been really tired, even beyond tired, where my
feet were screaming after hiking all day. In Scotland, my right knee
was hollering every time I went downhill ““and it’s now better
halleluah- On my hardest day, I thought my endpoint at Drymens Inn
would never appear. The next day, while not fine, my new hiking partner
didn’t even realize I had a knee issue. In Nicaragua, I hadn’t had a
decent bath in days and the wind was blowing my hair in such a tangle
that I could no longer comb it. BONUS! That photo is this week’s
glamour shot on the website. I may not look happy in it, but looks are
deceiving. It’s one of my favorite photos and I look positively awful!
When this photo was taken, I was simply tired, and dirty – but happy.
There were times in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I thought I’d
never want to see another rock again, but here I am planning to go back
next year. Sometimes in the moment, under the physical stress, you
grumble, but surviving, – no that’s too strong of a word”“ enduring and
overcoming those obstacles, gives your self esteem a lift like few other
things can. You’re able to give yourself the proverbial pat on the
back. Well done!
And the stories! You get to relive your adventure for the rest of your
life. Unlike the pretty outfit or fancy new car, after a while, you no
longer care or appreciate it. But with travel and particularly with
adventure travel, you get to remember and appreciate them forever ““
perhaps even more so as your body slows down and you wistfully remember
when”¦
When you meet fellow travelers, part of the fun is in exchanging
stories, the universal language and bonding agent ““ oh, that, and
laughter!
Another thing I heare from adventure travelers about why they like it,
is the not knowing what will happen, That uncertainty is something that
most of us have very little of in our daily lives.
Again, none of the trips on ATA are crazy or dangerous. They can get
you out of your comfort zone which is a good thing, a positive and
growth enhancing thing.
One thing I want to do is to explain the four ways I’m trying to deliver
information to you:
The podcast is to whet your appetite in a small time commitment chunk to
see if an adventure is something you want to consider. I hope you find
them informative, inspirational and entertaining. This is something you
can digest while driving, walking, or doing a mundane task, etc. The
website has photos and videos of the adventure, plus the podcast
transcript if you want to refer back to something, or just prefer to
digest information visually. This is where you can also download the
Travel Planning Cheat Sheet. On the website there is a search bare to
help you find things and also a Podcast Episode directory of all the
back episodes. There’s a page where you can also see how to listen to
and subscribe to podcasts ““YOU HAVE SUBSCRIBED TO ATA HAVEN’T YOU???
You can also find links to subscribe to the newsletter, find my social
media handles or pop me an email”“ and I do love to heare from you with
comments and suggestions! While I’m thinking about it, if ever you tag
Active Travel Adventures, sometimes that name is a little long. May I
suggest we also start using the hashtag #A-T-A, ATA? The newsletter I
just went over. It has the nitty gritty details of how to plan an
individual adventure we discussed, or you can download each sheet
separately. A Facebook Group. I started it, but frankly have been super
busy getting everything up and running, but will begin moving forward on
that this week. It IS a private group ““ but don’t worry it’s free”“ I
just want to make sure it stays just people interested in adventure
travel and I want the prerogative to eject anyone who gets all salesy on
us. I want it to be a forum where folks can ask questions of each
other, and post photos of their adventures to inspire others. The group
is open, so just go to Facebook groups and search for Active Travel
Adventures and ask to join. Compared to the typical tourist, there
aren’t a lot of us out there, and I want ATA to provide a place where we
can hang out together to exchange notes.
I have gotten all off track. Didn’t I start with why people do
adventure travel? Yes the thrill, and the challenge, but also the
stories and memories which are unlike traditional travel. There’s also
a bit of bragging rights. You get to meet people from around the world,
and I also must say they are invariably cool people! You get to explore
new cultures and see places that you can’t get to unless you get a
little dirty, and that most people will never see. One often overlooked
benefit, is it can be a much cheaper way to travel if you are camping or
going self-guided. So many places I go, sometimes it’s cheaper for me
to travel than to stay home! And, it’s one of the few vacations that
you usually LOSE weight instead of coming home with an extra five pounds
attached to your hips. And, instead of coming home exhausted, you come
home exhilarated.
I want to encourage you to email me with any of your questions. I’ll do
my best to answer them either on a future Q&A episode or directly. I
want to thank all of you who have written. It’s great to open my email
box and see something from one of you guys instead of spam!
This week, I’d like to ask each of you to tell at least one active
friend about the Active Travel Adventures podcast to help spread the
word. You may have to show them how to download a podcast app and then
how to subscribe. Most people still don’t know how, so you’ll have to
teach them. It’s just you and me baby swimming against the tide and I
could use your help. Thanks!
Next week on our regularly scheduled episode, I’m interviewing a gal who
has done some of the world’s most populare hikes and she’s talking to us
about a trail I had never even heard about it. Plus, she says it’s an
easy but stunningly beautiful hike that the whole family can enjoy. You
don’t want to miss it! See you next Thursday. Until then, Adventure
On!