Adventure travel involves pushing yourself past your limits in order to discover the wonders of the natural world. Examples of adventure tourism activities include climbing volcanoes, swimming in vast seas, and hiking icy terrains.
The benefits of adventure travel allow you to improve your physical and mental health. Engaging in challenging activities forces you to focus your energy on what you are doing at that moment. Ultimately, this helps relieve your overall stress levels.
Participating in adventure travel may seem intimidating to some, but that should not stop you. Try something new and do a mini adventure before planning your big trip. This way you can start small with low risk involved.
When researching your trip, decide what you want to do and where you want to go. There are various levels of difficulty you can choose from when deciding on a location and adventure. You can either take it easy or test your physical abilities.
Where are some of the best destinations for adventure travel?
Which adventure is calling you? Don’t let lack of experience get in the way!
There are no limits to adventure tourism, you can find adventure travel in most countries around the world. The first step to picking a location is to figure out what adventure you want.
Are you in the mood for exploring tropical islands or wintery landscapes? Try Costa Rica or Canada. What about hiking in a rainforest or at a beach? Try Brazil or Croatia. Once you decide, you can easily pick where you want to go.
Other countries great for adventure travel include Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Thailand, Italy, Iceland, Spain, Greece, Norway, and Peru. In any one of these countries, there are many benefits of adventure travel, but there are 11 benefits that are the most helpful.
11 benefits of adventure travel
1. Improved physical health
One of the biggest benefits of adventure travel is that it’s great exercise. Swimming, hiking, walking, and climbing let you see the world and get in shape at the same time. It is truly a win-win.
2. Positive effects on mental health
Exercise creates endorphins and endorphins make you happy. These wise words spoken by Elle Woods apply to adventure travel. Exercising and exploring new locations improves your mental health and makes you happy. This is one of the greatest advantages of adventure tourism.
3. Temporary escape from busy city life
Adventure travel can be a great way to recharge.
Living or visiting a city is amazing, but the concrete jungle can get tiresome after a while. With adventure travel, you can leave the loud noises and large crowds of people behind. Escaping the city will give you time to relax and connect with nature, something you can’t always do in cities.
4. Make new friends
Trying a new type of travel opens you up to meeting new kinds of people! Meeting new people along your travels is a huge advantage for adventure traveling. Right away, you have a shared experience with another person which can lead to a new friendship.
5. Opportunity to go on a technology fast
Use your time away to temporarily break away from the overuse of tech. Participating in adventure tourism allows you to relax and take a breather from staring at a screen all day. Also, while out in nature, you can rely on your own instincts and knowledge instead of the internet’s information.
6. Encounter new creatures and animals
Traveling to a completely different country could mean meeting new animals and creatures along the way. For instance, when in Australia, you can see koala bears and kangaroos in their natural habitat. Then maybe in South Africa, you can go on a safari where you will see lions, elephants, and giraffes.
7. Engage in meaningful travel
Think about combining an expedition with some volunteering.
Immersing yourself in your surroundings and the local culture is essential to engaging in meaningful travel. Adventure travel gives you this opportunity to be present because your full attention is required in order to participate in adventure tourism.
8. Learn about the environment
Going out into nature guarantees that you will learn something new when you explore. With adventure travel, you can discover for yourself the positives and negatives of changes occurring in different environments. While on an adventure travel trip, it is a great time to ask questions about the state of the environment and what can be done to protect it.
9. Satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment
Participating in adventure travel is no small feat. It can be physically exhausting and emotionally draining to go from the comforts of modern life to the rough and unruly nature. However, it will all be worth it when you feel that sense of accomplishment after completing several challenges and pushing yourself past what you once thought were limits.
10. Self-confidence is boosted
Going on an adventure travel trip not only brings a sense of accomplishment, but it also boosts your self-confidence. Succeeding and accomplishing goals is a fantastic feeling. Realizing you took a large leap, tried, and challenged yourself will make you feel more self-assured.
11. Become more independent
Let yourself be challenged and changed by adventure travel this year!
Traveling to new places has a multitude of benefits. It makes people become more independent, even if they are traveling with a group. For the most part, you form your own thoughts, gain new perspectives, and think for yourself while traveling. Adventure travel is no different. Going out to explore new terrains, cultures, belief systems, and so on slowly builds your confidence and your ability to be more independent.
3 adventure travel programs to get you started
1. Maximo Nivel: Volunteer Adventure–2 Weeks in Costa Rica
- Why? With this program, you can experience hot springs, volcanoes, jungles, and stunning beaches while exploring Costa Rica. Another option is to surf in Guatemala and climb the Pacaya Volcano. The third option is to explore Peru’s Sacred Valley and later see the iconic Machu Picchu region in the Andes Mountains.
- Where? Peru, Costa Rica, or Guatemala.
- What? Explore jungles, learn to surf, hike up to volcanoes and more.
- Read Maximo Nivel reviews
2. Natucate: Volunteering in South Africa: Protecting Endangered Wildlife
- Why? Escape from your daily life and see wildlife up close in Africa’s wild. This program gives you the chance to explore unique flora and fauna while out in South Africa’s or Botswana’s nature. On top of this, you will learn the basics of nature and wildlife in a beginner course offered on the program and help creatures in need.
- Where? Botswana or South Africa.
- What? Take an introductory course about nature in South Africa or Botswana.
- Read Natucate reviews
3. Experiment in International Living: Ecuador: The Galápagos Islands & The Andes
- Why? Study sustainability and explore the incredible biodiversity in Ecuador. See for yourself firsthand where Charles Darwin researched in the Galapagos Islands. This program gives you the opportunity to learn about wildlife and how to protect their environment. Also, you will be able to give back and engage in community service activities.
- Where? Ecuador.
- What? Community service, language learning, sustainability, and wildlife preservation.
- Read Experiment in International Living reviews
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Adventure tourism can be a meaningful experience!
Set sail with a trip of a lifetime!
There are endless benefits to adventure travel. It may even be the most meaningful opportunity you have ever experienced. Going on an adventure travel trip pushes you to become a better version of yourself.
The challenges you face may be physically exhausting, mentally draining, and downright frustrating, but it’s worth the struggles in order to end the trip with a sense of accomplishment and a fresh new perspective on different cultures.
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