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, ART 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?

My best childhood memory is sitting round a bonfire toasting marshmallows, but not for the reasons most people remember.

I wanted my marshmallow to toast first so I put it right in the fire. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t work, the marshmallow just completely burnt and tasted like soot. Being a typical four year old I threw a hissy fit and my Dad gave me his first marshmallow to shut me up.

I have no idea why this memory sticks in my head above all other but it makes me smile. I really didn’t deserve my Dad’s marshmallow at all. I just love the idea of unconventional parental love or maybe just my Dad knowing what would shut me up so we could get on and enjoy the holiday.

National Park Week 2009, April 18 to April 26, is currently underway – and unless you’re a dedicated environmentalist who likes to hug trees, you probably didn’t know that. Even though Macy’s paired up with the National Park Foundation to promote America’s natural heritage, (donate to NRF and you’ll get storewide discounts), this year’s festivities are flying well under the radar, as usual. No worries, though… we’re here to fill you in on all that’s happening.

Along with April 22nd’s Earth Day festivities, national parks across America are using the spotlight to entertain and sneakily educate folks about the environment. On the menu? A bunch of free events, like bird walks, film screenings, and beach cleanups. A hefty hodgepodge of kid-friendly National Park Week activities are on the schedule as well, so for National Park Week 2009, Junior Ranger Day is the highlight. That’s when children from around the country gather together to make ropes, tie knots, watch puppet shows, craft Native American necklaces, and even hang out with search and rescue dogs.

If National Park Week has come to a park near you, now’s the time to get out and see Mother Nature in all its glory, especially if you’ve got little ones in tow. Hint: this is great timing for a National Park family vacation!

Perhaps the biggest lesson National Park Week has for us all is that we should stop to smell the roses every day, not just on Earth Day in 2009. One arbitrarily chosen week out of the year will soon be forgotten, and we’ll be left with the exact same world when it’s all said and done. Take more than a moment to appreciate the National Park experience! Why not support the NRF with a whirlwind tour of America’s top parks? Trust us, you’ll find lots more to do on an American Rambler Tour than craft Native American necklaces. Like caving, riverboarding, mountain biking, and whitewater rafting.

If you’re tied down with work or school, or you’re just plain lazy, you can donate money instead.

Top 10 National Parks (according to AskMen.com)
1. Yellowstone National Park
2. Yosemite National Park
3. Glacier National Park
4. Zion National Park
5. Grand Canyon National Park
6. Rocky Mountain National Park
7. Acadia National Park
8. Death Valley National Park
9. Denali National Park
10. Badlands National Park

Photo by JulieB1975

Today’s edition of our National Park Week coverage features one of two collections of natural wonders in northwestern Wyoming: Grand Tetons National Park.

The Grand Tetons is a super-park of sorts: the final combination, in 1950, of land and six glacial lakes set aside by Congress in 1929, the Jackson Hole National Monument declared by FDR in 1943 and a 35,000-acre gift of Mr. John D. Rockefeller Jr. A Rockefeller Highway connects the park to nearby Yellowstone but Grand Tetons itself draws around 2.5 million visitors each year for good reason.

 

From bald eagles to pronghorn elk to bison, many of the nation’s most majestic creatures swoop, soar and butt heads amid 13,000-foot glacier-covered mountains and 200 miles of hiking trails. You can boat and fish on one of 10 pristine lakes (which mirror the mountains on clear days), raft the Snake River, climb 13,770-foot-high Grand Tetons and watch the sunset further dramatize the breathtaking landscape.

 

We kick off our Mountain Madness tour with two days of hiking, swimming and white-water rafting in this idyllic setting and always leave wishing we could have stayed longer.  Stresses of the job, we guess.  For more info on our wildly popular Mountain Madness click www.americanramblertours.com/yellow.htm.

Ok, I’m a sucker for the travel section of newspapers and websites. The pictures are so perfect, wherever that is, you want to be there.

Few do this better than the New York Times. I’ve been paying close attention to the Times lately. Recently, there was an article that caught my eye for a different reason. Here’s how it opens: “To lure elusive customers as the recession deepens, travel companies have tried spicing up package deals with free upgrades and spa treatments. They’ve offered to match competitors’ pricing with money-back guarantees, and they’ve done away with cancellation charges and booking fees. Now, after exhausting marketing gimmicks and slashing rates to the core…” you get the picture. 

So the world's most famous newspaper has joined the rest of us in realizing that a vacation needn't cost a lot to be an experience you'll not soon forget. All of the sudden, with the economy in the crapper things like yak milk enemas and cucumber body wraps and shark skin dermal abrasions suddenly sound excessive. Really? I mean if someone offers to scour my whole body with sharkskin or whatever I might consider it, but to pay for it? Truly, you’ll do much better with us. No need to upgrade, no booking fees, no yak’s milk squirted into your private places. Just an amazing trip with fun people.                                                                        

Here’s the link to the article I quoted above:

 travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/travel/12pracopaque.html

Here at American Rambler Tours we think about the world a lot. Maybe it comes from spending as much time as possible out in the open, under the clear blue sky -- it has a way of making you consider things, take stock, come up with ideas. We're young, we have these tours, and most of us have other desk jobs. We understand deadlines and pressure and deliverables. But most of all, we understand the need to get away.

So we spend a lot of time thinking about what makes us want to get away. What is the missing ingredient in our work-a-day lives? In other words, what would make for a perfect vacation?

Nature, yes. After being chained to the desk all year round, who couldn't use some leg room? Some face-to-face with a huge red cliff? Connecting with some greater force or just coolly considering if it exists.

New people, check. A conversation that isn't about work would be nice. Talking to someone who doesn't already know you and have his or her own concrete ideas about you -- it's a very liberating feeling. Finding out about new places and languages through these new friends, and all of it over a campfire cookout? Heck yes.

And you're not an ordinary vacationer. You're here looking for adventure. Not just Facebook photos but memories. Finding out your strengths, conquering your fears, and everything else that goes with being in the great outdoors. So here's what we think -- about you and us and others like us.

What we're missing is spontaneity!

It sounds simple, even obvious. But think about it. How many things do you do that you don't have to do? How often are you surprised, by yourself or your surroundings? We would all like a change, some adventure, a new discovery, and yet we keep putting off taking that trip we've always wanted because we're too busy or too lazy or too single. Well, no more! Whether your friends won't come along, or your budget only allows for shared vacations, or you just want to be out sweating it out with others -- you've come to the right place.

If not now...

This isn't exactly a trip for old people. And in a few years from now, you'll have families and houses and real commitments. Your priorities will be different and so will your vacationing needs and limitations. You'll go on timeshare vacations and family packages, from a wifi hotel room to a wifi beach. And not that all that isn't good in its own time -- I'm psyched about the wifi myself -- but we need to look back on our twenties and laugh and cry and remember the new people we met and realize that we can still call those old friends up.

The Perfect Vacation

The perfect vacation... it's such a nebulous term and it's what we're all looking for. Yet we plan and itemize each moment of our vacation till it resembles any other day, with no room for surprises or spontaneity. Where's the fun in that? Where's the room for discovery!

Okay, we're twenty somethings, not stupid twenty somethings. American Rambler Tours understands the need for planning -- that's why we plan the tour, and very carefully at that. That's why you have to book in advance and let us know how to make your arrival as comfortable as possible.

But we also want freedom, within and without a group. Which is why every day of the tour is designed to be flexible. At every step of the way you have the freedom to branch out and do your own thing. And you always have the group to come back to and connect with.

So: try spontaneity. Alone or with friends, take that vacation you've always wanted to. Stop just reading about it.

See you under the clear blue sky.

    I'm going where there's no depression

    To a better land that's free from care

    I'll leave this world of toil and trouble

    My homes in heaven I'm going there

                                            Traditional Folk Song

Welcome! This is the muscular beating heart of American Rambler’s website (well, it's our blog), where you can find out the skinny on just about everything you need to know about us. If you’ve found your way here it means you are probably an American Rambler veteran. Or maybe you have heard a friend talking about their trip. Either way, here you are. It proves 1. you have good taste, 2. you are adventurous, and 3. you love a bargain.

You don't need to go to heaven to get to a better land. We'll show you the way. Recession? What Recession?

Ok, maybe you aren’t as wealthy as you used to be, but you aren’t working any less; you still need a vacation. And what a vacation. Check out the site, the new season is about here and there are plenty of options to choose from that won’t bust your budget. Call it a pork free vakay.

An American Rambler isn’t a sightseer, snapping pictures from an air-conditioned bus, stocking up on Slim Jims and navigating nasty bathrooms at a truck stop. Feh. You come with us you will get wet, dirty, you will sweat and you may even have to dodge horse poop. And a bathroom with a great view of the stars.

So listen, check out the site, look at the pictures, map out one of the trips to places you’ve always wanted to see, doing things you’ve always wanted to do. Check back often because we’ll be giving you updates. Ramble on.

Hey-ooooooooo

Ok.  First blog.  Good deal.  If you are reading this you oughtta know that American Rambler Tours provides small group adventure tours right here in the good ol' U. S. of A.  Now that its April, summer vacation time is quickly approaching.

We make it affordable and fun for you to experience outdoor adventure.  You already know what whitewater rafting is, hiking, mountain biking, etc.  But have you heard of riverboarding?  Canyoneering?  Caving?  http://www.americanramblertours.com/adventure.htm  You don't have to spend alot or do major planning to try these sports.  Take a trip with us and we'll open your eyes to small group adventure.

The season kicks off in May and goes strong through the summer with the last adventure tours wrapping up in October.

-Desert Dan