Jimmy Hardin

3 LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT ADVENTURE TRAVEL

I’ve said before…I never really considered myself an adventure traveler – even if by all accounts, hiking, kayaking and skiing featured prominently in my travel itineraries. I think I had my own perceptions about needing to be “hard core” to consider myself an adventurer. Of course now I know better.

While understanding the definitions and the type of adventure traveler can help you sift through the ever growing list of destinations and activities to consider when planning your next trip – there is an essence to adventure tourism that transcends any definition you might find.  Surrounded by individuals that live, breathe, eat and sleep adventure during my time at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Chile, I learned about the heart of adventure travel and helped me develop my own understanding. 

Adventure travel is about empowerment.

This probably won’t surprise anyone. But whether you are trying a new activity or packing your favorite gear, there is nothing quite like setting out to push yourself towards something that at times feels just out of reach. The type of adventure almost doesn’t even matter. The simple fact of seeing yourself in a new way as a result of an adventure – a perspective that could never been seen from the comforts of your home or office – makes you stand taller. You’d think I would have felt this sense of pride after major hikes or even after braving the front seat of a whitewater raft down the Snake River. But really, it was my first time paragliding – even though the activity involves little perceived effort – the simple act of allowing myself to soak up the air around me as we floated through the sky held up only by a parachute. By the time my feet eventually made contact with the ground below, I felt as if I was standing with more oomph in my step. 

Adventure travel promotes real experiences through immersion.

Trust me. You get to know people in very intimate ways on a new adventure. The conversations and interactions that take place with locals – from guides to the others in your group – are often what help make long lasting memories. Being totally focused in the moment takes away the superfluous layers that sometimes get in the way of connecting with others. Laughing when you fall (and hopefully get back up). Depending on your guide and following the bright colors of his jacket in zero visibility. Helping each other put on (and take off) crampons and safety harnesses. These are the things that form the glue that bond group members together. You might as well be family by the time you are done.

Adventure travel teaches us to choose must.

It is hard to miss the feeling that surrounds adventurer travelers. These are individuals who exude passion – for life, for people and for their environment. During the Adventure Travel World Summit, I was introduced to the work of “must versus should” by Elle Luna. This simple notion, of choosing “must” – and listening to our calling from within the depths of our soul – because that is where passion lives, is the common thread that binds adventurers. I spoke to countless people (or “Tribe members” as they like to call themselves) during the Adventure Travel World Summit, who believe with every ounce of their being in the power that comes from changing the way we travel to focus on local, authentic experiences that can only be found when you call yourself an adventurer. Unlike other types of travel, adventure tourism reminds us each day to choose must – to choose ourselves – to choose to live in the here and now.

Adventure travel reminds us of the most important life lessons.

Bracing myself against 60 mph winds on the low lying ridges of the Osorno Volcano, I was reminded of the absolute lack of predictability of life. Despite months of anticipation and bundle of affirmation that I’d tied up in the idea of reaching the summit – nature had a different plan for me that day. And though my story is one of woman versus nature, I listened in awe to adventurer Omar Samra – the first Egyptian to climb Mount Everest – whose expeditions helped him learn about letting go after losing his wife tragically, the lesson is the same. Because adventure travel teaches us (if we did not already know) to strive for goals while respecting the forces that surround us. Because it is only when we, as Samra says, “… let things go, they turn into light and go everywhere.”