DON'T JUST GO ON VACATION, HAVE AN ADVENTURE.Byline: Judi Dash Special to the Daily News Nearly 30 years ago, an upstart little company called Mountain Travel took its first group of intrepid outdoors folk trekking 18,000 feet up to the base camp of Nepal's Mount Everest. These young rough and tough vacationers were perfectly content with rustic camping and basic gruel gruel a mixture made of ground feed mixed with water. , and expected little more out of their trip than to make it to the top and back, propelled by their own muscular legs. Three decades and some 5,000 adventure outfitters later, everyone it seems is seeking an active vacation An active vacation is a vacation that is built around some physical activity or set of physical activities. Examples include hiking, cycling, and mountain climbing vacations. of some sort and few are content with the rewards of simply making it there and back. They must also be enlightened and entertained, returning with their minds as stimulated as their bodies. They want good food (wine would be nice, too), comfy beds and a wake-up call that's not too early. They also might want to bring the dog - an option available on Europeds' new weeklong Doggie Walks amid the farmlands and medieval castles of France's Dordogne or Provence regions. And, while foot travel remains a key player in the adventure vacation business, these days it is far from the sole means of movement onward and upward This article has multiple issues: * It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by citing reliable sources. * It reads like a personal reflection or essay. . The 1998 travel year brings cycling excursions in China with Backroads, horseback trips across Florida with Royal Palm Tours, tribal village visits by sailing tall ships in Canada's Queen Charlotte Islands Queen Charlotte Islands, archipelago of several large and many small islands, off the coast of W British Columbia, Canada. The main islands are Graham and Moresby. Masset on Graham Island is the main settlement. with ElderTreks, a 1,000-mile run down Mexico's Baja Peninsula in off-road racing Off-road racing is a format of racing where various classes of specially modified vehicles (including cars, trucks, motorcycles, and buggies) compete in races through off-road environments. North America Off-road racing began in the early 20th century. cars with Wide Open Tours, ice breaker explorations of Alaska and Antarctica with Quark Expeditions, motorcycle safaris through southern Africa's wildlife parks with Tours for Africa and elephant treks and mountain biking mountain biking Sports medicine A sport in which participants use specialized bicycles to navigate rough, steep trails covered with unforgiving rocks Injury risk Concussions, fractures, death. See Extreme sport, Novelty seeking behavior. in ancient Gorkha, Nepal with REI. Also on a roll are in-line skating jaunts through the Netherlands, Minnesota, Northern California's wine country and rural areas around Washington, D.C., with Zephyr Zephyr or Zephyrus: see Eos. In-line Skate Tours. If those trips sound too down to earth, maybe you're a candidate for Space Adventures' zero gravity zero gravity n. The condition of apparent weightlessness occurring when the centrifugal force on a body exactly counterbalances the gravitational attraction on it. flights out of Moscow in cosmonaut cosmonaut: see astronaut. training jets - with real space ``cruises'' being presold presold Of, relating to, or being a new security issue that is sold out before all the specifics of the issue have been announced. In the case of a bond issue, this term usually means that sufficient orders for the issue have been placed before announcement for an anticipated 2001 to 2003 departure. Not just for tough guys Meanwhile, back on Earth, scrappy little Mountain Travel is now Mountain Travel/Sobek, the largest adventure outfitter in the world, with more than 100 excursions worldwide. And brawn brawn n. 1. Solid and well-developed muscles, especially of the arms and legs. 2. Muscular strength and power. 3. Chiefly British The meat of a boar. 4. Headcheese. is no longer required to get into their action. The company's trips this year range from not-so-demanding family-oriented natural history cruises in Ecuador's Galapagos Islands and Alaska's Inside Passage to a moderately challenging sea kayak A Sea kayak or touring kayak is a kayak developed for the sport of paddling on open waters of lakes, bays, and the ocean. Sea kayaks are seaworthy small boats with a covered deck and the ability to incorporate a spraydeck. and hiking expedition in Greenland and a killer trek in Peru's Cordillera Blanca The Cordillera Blanca (Spanish for "White Range") is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. It is part of the larger Andes range and includes 50 peaks over 5,500 metres (0 ft) - the Himalayas of South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . Mountain Travel/Sobek is not the only adventure outfitter that has seen the commercial wisdom of offering trips with fewer physical demands. This season TrekAmerica, a longtime leader in challenging expeditions for the young and fit, launched a less vigorous collection of excursions under a new company wing called Footloose foot·loose adj. Having no attachments or ties; free to do as one pleases. footloose Adjective free to go or do as one wishes Adj. 1. . ``One day during a planning meeting, we looked around the room and realized many of us baby boomers See generation X. were too old or just not in good enough shape to do our own tours,'' said North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. sales manager sales manager n → gerente m/f de ventas sales manager n → directeur commercial sales manager sale n → Jeff Hall. ``We created new trips that eliminated some of the sweat and added hotel stays to camping nights, and Footloose was born.'' A 10-day tour from Denver to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. includes hiking at the Arkansas River, Rocky Mountains and Grand Canyon National Park, whitewater rafting and Navajo-guided horseback riding in Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. A three-week cross-country swing from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to Los Angeles includes whitewater rafting and hiking in Tennessee, swamp tours in Louisiana, country and western dancing in San Antonio, and a little risk-taking: bungee jumping, parachuting or casino hopping in Las Vegas. Transportation is by 11-passenger van - the maximum number of guests. Challenges for women and seniors While some boomers may feel the need for more slack in their track, women and older folks, who at first tippy-toed into the softest adventure sphere, are feeling their oats oats, cereal plants of the genus Avena of the family Gramineae (grass family). Most species are annuals of moist temperate regions. The early history of oats is obscure, but domestication is considered to be recent compared to that of the other and demanding more challenging trips that rev up the body and mind. Rainbow Adventures, one of the country's veteran purveyors of trips for women only, has just launched its Born to Be Wild series of adventures because, says owner Susan Eckert, ``our repeat guests want more challenges and have gained the confidence to know they can do more.'' Among the options are a 10-day horseback riding excursion in Iceland, a 10-day whitewater rafting and hiking trip in Chile's Patagonia, and a 16-day walking safari among mountain gorillas and chimpanzees in Uganda. Saga Holidays, which caters to travelers over 50, has launched the Road Scholars program for clients who want more physical activity as well as an educational and cultural bent. One of the most intriguing programs for this year is a 10-day murder mystery tour in England, following in the steps of Agatha Christie, Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper, name given to an unidentified late-19th-century murderer in London, England. From Aug. to Nov., 1888, he was responsible for the death and mutilation of at least seven female prostitutes in the East End section of London. , Inspector Morse, and other British who-done-it figures, with lectures by top British crime writers. An 11-day program journeys to the Navajo country of Arizona and New Mexico, following the literary trail of the popular southwest mystery writer Tony Hillerman. Short trips, big punch Limited time need not hold you back from the great Out There. Just eight days gets you a cycling and hiking trip through Nova Scotia's farm country and seaside villages with Easy Rider Tours, while you'll need just six days for REI's mountain biking trip amid the peaks and valleys of the Lake Tahoe region. Six days also nabs Backroads' hiking and cycling excursions through Switzerland, its cycling excursions through Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. It runs for 469 miles (755 km) through the famous Blue Ridge, a major mountain chain that is part of the Appalachian Mountains. , or a hiking trip through Massachusetts' gentle Berkshire Mountains, with stays at swank country inns. Backroad's six-day cycling and hiking trip along Oregon's stunning Pacific Coast packs a wallop of diverse environments into the journey, with detours to fishing hamlets, inland redwood forests and the Three Capes - rugged wooded promontories that jut deeply out into the ocean. A mere four days will buy you a cruise with daily rain forest hikes along Costa Rica's Pacific Coast with Wildland Adventures. Or, for a quick lift, take REI's five-day learn-to-climb course on California's Mount Shasta, learning the fine art of picks and ropes ascending snowy slopes - frozen over even in midsummer. The theme's the thing Action and avocation are being jointly pursued in innovative new ways this year. Butterfield & Robinson's new Movable Feast tours, led by cookbook author Sarah Leah Chase, combine nine days cycling through the rich culinary centers of Italy's Tuscany or France's Provence regions, with demonstrations at cooking schools and famous kitchens, gourmet dining, visits to regional markets and haute picnics. B&F's cycling trip on the island of Nantucket, Mass., takes in local breweries and wineries, and includes instruction in seafood basics from oyster shucking to throwing the perfect clambake. IST Cultural Tours' two-week exploration of Argentina and Brazil moves to a samba and tango beat, tracing the roots of these genres through the two countries, taking in performances and wiggling through a lesson or two. IST's two-week historical, religious and archeological exploration in Israel and Jordan brings participants to Israel in the middle of the country's 50th anniversary celebration, marked by cultural festivals and a nationwide spirit of rejoicing, despite ongoing strains in the Middle East. Van Gogh Bicycle Tours is building its eight-day July jaunt through The Netherlands around the sizzling siz·zle intr.v. siz·zled, siz·zling, siz·zles 1. To make the hissing sound characteristic of frying fat. 2. To seethe with anger or indignation. 3. North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in The Netherlands. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it's being held in Rotterdam. . Participants pedal through small towns, seaports and farmlands before winding up in the Hague for the huge annual three-day festival, which includes 700 performances of jazz, as well as blues, gospel and soul. While Africa means observing wildlife to most folks, Mountain Travel/Sobek focuses on tribal dance masks on an 18-day photo safari to West Africa's little-visited Togo, Benin, Burkino Faso and Mali. Participants attend village religious ceremonies, shop at bazaars rich in tribal handicrafts, and explore voodoo fetish fetish (fĕt`ĭsh), inanimate object believed to possess some magical power. The fetish may be a natural thing, such as a stone, a feather, a shell, or the claw of an animal, or it may be artificial, such as carvings in wood. markets that feature all manner of animal and mineral magic makings. family that plays together Family trips have increased tremendously, with expanded emphasis on intergenerational in·ter·gen·er·a·tion·al adj. Being or occurring between generations: "These social-insurance programs are intergenerational and all bonding in the great outdoors. The Sierra Club's six-day nature-appreciation adventure based at the rustic Clair Tappaan Lodge in the Sierra Nevadas is just for grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl and grandchildren, while a six-day canoeing, cycling and hiking trip in Florida's Myakka River Park near Sarasota welcomes entire families (minimum age 6). Roots & Wings Excursions, which specializes in intergenerational travel, offers a five-day train trip with hiking in the Grand Canyon for mothers and adult daughters, a four-day mother/daughter antiquing and quilting quilting, form of needlework, almost always created by women, most of them anonymous, in which two layers of fabric on either side of an interlining (batting) are sewn together, usually with a pattern of back or running (quilting) stitches that hold the layers excursion through Ohio's Amish country, a four-day Civil War educational stay at Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields for fathers and sons, and a four-day father/son learn-to-sail program in Annapolis, Md. The whole family can learn to sail together in a weeklong Annapolis program. Spaced-out adventures If all of the above seem too mundane, here's something almost out of this world. Wanna-be Star Trekkers can make like Capt. Kirk and take a Space Adventure at zero gravity in a Russian IL-76 MDK MDK Mandrake (Linux distribution) MDK Mix Development Kit MDK Murder Death Kill (game) MDK Moo Duk Kwan (Korea martial arts school) MDK Mujhse Dosti Karoge , a modified jet used by the Russian Space Agency to prepare cosmonauts for space travel. Participants are whisked to Moscow for these weightless flights that bear a price tag of $5,500, not including air fare. For a heftier $11,900 sum (still no air fare), you can journey to the edge of space aboard a Russian combat MiG 25. Crave the real thing? Hurry, hurry and beam over your $6,000 deposit for Space Adventures' bonafide 30- to 90-minute suborbital suborbital /sub·or·bi·tal/ (sub-or´bi-t'l) infraorbital. sub·or·bit·al adj. Situated on or below the floor of the orbit of the eye. n. space ``cruises,'' for which the enterprising booking agents are now taking reservations on a first-buy, first-fly basis. Departures won't be for another three to five years, the company estimates, when the full cost will zap you some $75,000 to $100,000. But, hey, you can abort (1) To exit a function or application without saving any data that has been changed. (2) To stop a transmission. (programming) abort - To terminate a program or process abnormally and usually suddenly, with or without diagnostic information. your mission at any time - for a $1,000 cancellation fee. Booking your adventure Prices are per person, double occupancy, and usually do not include airfare. Children's rates usually are less. Backroads: (800) 462-2848. 13-day China cycling trip departs Oct. 25. Price: $3,593; six-day Virginia cycling trips depart May 24 and 31, June 7 and 14, Sept. 20 and 27, and Oct. 4 and 11. Price: $1,395; six-day Massachusetts hiking trips depart Sept. 6, 13 and 27. Price $1,695; six-day Oregon cycling trips depart July 19 and 26. Price: $1,455; six-day Switzerland bike trips depart July 12 and 19 and Aug. 2, 9 and 16. Price: $2,395. Butterfield & Robinson: (800) 678-1147. Nine-day Movable Feast cycling trips depart May 16 and 30. Price not yet set. Dates and prices for Movable Feasts in Tuscany, Italy, and Nantucket, Mass., have not yet been set but are expected to be during the summer and fall. Easy Rider Tours: (800) 488-8332. Eight-day bicycle trips to Nova Scotia depart July 19, Aug. 8. Price: $1,450. ElderTreks: (800) 741-7956; eight-day sailing trips in Canada's Queen Charlotte Island depart May 23, June 9, July 25 and Aug. 11 and 27. Price: $1,725. Europeds: (800) 321-9552. Seven-day Dordogne, France, Doggie Walks depart May 19, Sept. 26. Provence Doggie Walks depart June 14, Sept. 1. Price: $2,200. Footloose: (800) 221-0596. Ten-day Southwest trips from Denver to Los Angeles depart May 9 and 30, June 20, July 11, Aug. 1 and 22, Sept. 12 and 19 and Oct. 3. Price: $679. Three-week Southern Trail trips from New York to Los Angeles depart April 16, May 7, June 4, July 2, Aug. 6 and 27, Sept. 17 and Oct 8. Price from $967. IST Cultural Tours: (800) 833-2111. Two-week Argentina and Brazil trips depart April 4, Sept. 12, Oct. 10 and Nov. 7. Price $4,995. 16-day Israel and Jordan trips depart May 16 and Oct. 17. Price: $4,945. Mountain Travel/Sobek: (800) 227-2384. 11-day Galapagos trips depart throughout 1998. Price: from $2,995. Seven-day Alaska cruises depart June 21, July 3 and 8 and Aug. 1, 6 and 14. Price: from $1,790. 17-day Greenland trips depart July 31 and Aug. 13. Price: from $2,990. 15-day Peru treks depart May 2, June 6 and 20, July 11 and Aug. 1 and 22. Price: from $2,195. 18-day Western Africa trip departs Feb. 14. Price: from $2,290. Quark Expeditions: (800) 356-5699; 11-day High Artic Canada & Greenland trip departs Aug. 17. Price: from $6,595. 31-day far side of Antarctica trip departs Nov. 19. Price: from $18,495. Rainbow Adventures: (800) 804-8686; 10-day Chile trip departs Feb. 27; Price: $3,595. 10-day Iceland horse trip departs Aug 7. Price: $3,795. 16-day Uganda trip departs Oct. 6. Price: $6,795. REI: (800) 622-2236: 16-day Nepal trips depart March 20, April 10 and Oct. 16 and 30. Price: $2,050. Six-day Lake Tahoe cycling and hiking trips depart June 21, July 11 and 28 and Oct. 12. Price: $1,025. Five-day learn-to-climb programs on Mount Shasta begin June 22, July 6 and Aug. 17 and 31. Price: $850. Roots & Wings: (800) 722-9005. Mother/daughter trips: four-day Ohio Amish country trips depart May 14 and Oct. 15. Price: $495. Five-day Grand Canyon train trips depart May 7 and Sept. 11. Price: $995. Eight-day tour to Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Savannah Savannah, city, United States Savannah, city (1990 pop. 137,560), seat of Chatham co., SE Ga., a port of entry on the Savannah River near its mouth; inc. 1789. departs April 24. Price: $1,695. Father/son tours: four-day tour to Gettysburg, Pa., and Antietam, Md., depart April 17 and Sept. 4. Price: $795. Four-day learn-to-sail trip in Annapolis, Md., departs June 19. Price: $995. Weeklong family learn-to-sail trip departs June 27. Price: $1,395. Royal Palm Tours: (800) 296-0249; eight-day Florida horse treks from Jensen Beach on the Atlantic Ocean to Fort Meyers Beach on the Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east depart April 18 and Oct. 17 and 31. Price: $2,270. Saga Holidays: (800) 621-2151; 10-day England mystery tours depart April 20, May 11, July 6 and Oct. 5. Price: from $2,299. 11-day Navajo-land tours depart April 9, May 7, Sept. 17 and Oct. 1. Price: from $2,299. Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club : (415) 977-5630; six-day Sierra Nevada grandparent/grandchild trip departs Aug. 2. Price: $370. Six-day family trip in western Florida departs April 5. Price: $425 plus canoe and bike rental. Space Adventures: (888) 857-7723. Zero Gravity flights out of Moscow (price: $5,500) and Russia MiG 25 flights (price: $11,900) are scheduled year-round. Tours For Africa: (216) 327-6664. Guided 10-day Getaway through South Africa's game parks on BMW motorcycles departs Sept. 1. Price: from $1,680. 23-day motorcycle expedition through Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia departs June 14. Price: $5,750. Van Gogh Tours: (800) 435-6192; eight-day Holland bike trip departs July 5-12. Price: about $1,700. Wide Open Tours: (800) 225-7505; six-day race-car tours in Baja, Mexico, depart year-round. Price: from $895. Wildland Adventures: (800) 345-4453. Four-day cruises in Costa Rica depart year-round. Price: $895. Zephyr In-line Skate Tours: (888) 758-8687; seven-day Netherlands trips depart in May, August and September. Price: $1,665. Dates and prices for California, Minnesota and Washington, D.C., trips not yet set. - Judi Dash CAPTION(S): 4 Photos, Box Photo: (1--4--Color) Vacations for thrill-seekers include, clockwise from top right, Wildlife Adventures' four-day Costa Rican cruise and rain-forest expeditions, African safaris, Oregon cycling trips with Backroads, photographic expeditions to penguin country and Space Adventures' zero-gravity flights out of Moscow. Box: Booking your adventure (See Text) |
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