The Art of Adventure Travel

What makes an adventure traveler different from any other kind of tourist?

On a whim, I searched for ‘adventure travel’ on Wikipedia today. Here’s what I found:

Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas, where the traveler should “expect the unexpected”. Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity, as tourists seek different kinds of vacations. According to the U.S. based Adventure Travel Trade Association, adventure travel may be any tourist activity, including two of the following three components: a physical activity, a cultural exchange or interaction and engagement with nature.

Way to take the fun out of it, eh? Of course, American Rambler Tours scores like gangbusters on all three components. But we’re not into statistics and scientific formulas. We think it’s more constructive to think of adventure travel as an approach — to vacationing and to thinking about travel.

“Adventure travel” is an umbrella term that can include any number of activities. You can hike through a forest, walk inside a volcano, climb up a mountain, or canoe down a river. It’s how you do it that matters. The art of adventure travel is what makes the difference between a walk in the woods and a life-changing experience.

Prepare
Adventure travelers don’t just expect the unexpected — we prepare for it too! This means getting sound and comprehensive information beforehand, planning the journey in detail and being well-equipped. We don’t confuse spontaneity or adventurousness with unpreparedness.

Seek
Adventure travelers aren’t just thrill-seekers, contrary to popular perception. We seek experience: we want to discover what happens in a certain situation or area or activity. We seek knowledge: we want to know who we are and how things work in these situations — whether it’s the skill of putting up a tent or the art of maneuvering a canoe. Finally, we seek wisdom: we want to think and live better through our knowledge.

Connect
Adventure travel is about making connections — with nature, with other people, and with ourselves. Naomi Shihab Nye said it well: “Even now, when skin is not alone/ it remembers being alone and thanks something larger/ that there are travelers, that people go places/ larger than themselves.”

Reflect
Adventure travel is not just a way of vacationing, it’s a way of thinking. It’s not only an awesome experience — it’s the knowledge we get, the connections we make, the memories we carry. It’s an opportunity to step outside our usual constraints and routines, discover new things and challenge our ideas. That’s the kick.

If these are things that interest you, you may already be an adventure traveler at heart.

What do y’all seasoned ramblers think? Did we leave anything out? What’s your idea of adventure traveling?