10 Timeless Travel-Adventure Books That Inspire a Lifetime of Exploration

 

10. Into Thin Air - By John Krakauer

Despite being a true story about a misbegotten group of tourists attempting to climb the summit of Mt. Everest, John Krakauer’s book often leaves even fine novels in the literary dust. The story he tells rises, like the great peak itself, slowly, and then builds to a remarkable climax. Each of the characters is brought alive by Krakauer’s careful and detailed descriptions as they make their way upward; their backstories carefully tossed like seeds throughout the book so that when the climax (or multiple climaxes) arrive, the effect is horrifying, sad, exhilarating and satisfying all at the same time. The research Krakauer did to write the book places him in the pantheon of great narrative non-fiction writers like Tom Wolfe and Truman Capote. If you haven’t bought it, do so now and enjoy every minute. On Barnes & Noble.

9. Seven Pillars of Wisdom - By T. E. Lawrence

In this book T.E. Lawrence, the inspiration for the epic David Lean film Lawrence of Arabia, relates his own rise among the Arab tribes to help overthrow Ottoman rule during World War I. It’s an astounding story and whatever you may say of the outcome, it stands as one of the most remarkable military and human tales of the 20th century. Lawrence describes his role in what he called “a procession of  Arab freedom from Mecca to Damascus;” a series of battles that changed the face of the Middle East and helped meld tribes into the nation states we know as the Middle East. The experience tried his own mental and emotional mettle as he endured torture, thirst, horror and personal loss as well as military success. His writing, which can occasionally be overly dramatic, is also moving and eloquent. “For years we lived anyhow with one another in the naked desert,” he writes, “under the indifferent heaven. By day the hot sun fermented us; and we were dizzied by the beating wind. At night we were stained by dew, and shamed into pettiness by the innumerable silences of the stars.” The story does not digress; it is detailed, realistic and unflinching, and it pins you to each page like a spell because the cultures, climate, locations, politics, dangers and remarkable characters are unlike anything the world ever seen. On Amazon.

8. South - By Sir Ernest Shackleton

In 1914, veteran adventurer Ernest Henry Shackleton set sail to anchor his ship Endurance on the ice of Antarctica and then walk the length of the new and unknown continent, a feat that had never been accomplished or even attempted before. He dreamed that fame and fortune would follow. He was right, it did, but not for the reasons he thought. He failed at his goal, but then went on to lead one of the most remarkable rescues in the history of human adventure. Shackleton’s team was undone before they began when ice floes destroyed the Endurance and forced them to abandon it. Though they unloaded provisions from the ship, they were without shelter, limited food and nowhere near any sort of help. For  nearly 17 months they trudged across ice floes, hauling three lifeboats with them until in April 1916, Shackleton decided to plunge the lifeboats into the sea and sail for some spit of land. Five days later they found Elephant Island, a place never inhabited by humans. It was the first time the 28 men had stood on solid ground in 497 days. But Elephant Island was hardly a safe haven. On April 24th, Shackleton set out with five other crew members into the open sea with one of his 20 foot boats. The other two he left with the remaining crew. They promptly flipped them over into makeshift cabins where the 22 men planned to live until rescued.  For 800 miles Shackleton’s little lifeboat fought heavy seas, frigid cold and Force-9 winds. Yet, somehow, after 18 days at sea, Shackleton and their skiff made it to the island of South Georgia. But they had arrived on the opposite side of help. So with two other crew members, Shackleton spent the next two days crossing the island’s treacherous landscape until at last he found a whaling station. From there, after several failed attempts, he managed to get back to Elephant Island on a tugboat to rescue the remaining 22 men. When he arrived August 30, 1916, in the dead of the astral winter, every one of them was still alive.  This story doesn’t carry the elegance and force of a masterful writer like Saint-Exupery or Ted Simon or John Steinbeck, but it doesn’t have to because the story itself is so remarkable. Drama is on nearly every page, and you can’t help but want to know, how will they make it! And the photos that accompany the book are remarkably stark and beautiful. (You can buy an e-book version of this book with original maps, pictures and drawings for $2.99 at our Vagabond Adventure store.

7. The Great Railway Bazaar - by Paul Theroux

The 1970s were a time when baby boomers were growing into adulthood and some of them did not want to spend their days in faceless factories or corporate offices. That included Paul Theroux who decided to travel from London across Europe, through the sub-continent, down Southeast Asia, then circle back to London by way of Japan and and the length of Russia, all by train. He wrote The Great Railway Bazaar in 1975  when travel books had a dirty name, and along with Bruce Chatwin and Ted Simon brought back the thrill of new cultures and dangerous deeds like Patrick Leigh Fermor and Richard Halliburton did when they mastered the form in the 1930’s and 40s. Theroux is a writer with guts and a remarkable eye for the significant detail. The pages of this book bring the story alive with beauty and insight and absolute honesty. He never shies from the truth as he sees it, which can be brutal, funny, surprising and moving, the very elements you want to see in any story. On Amazon.

6. Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors - By Piers Paul Read

British writer Piers Paul Read’s Alive is one of the most riveting escape and rescue stories yet written. In some ways it surpasses Ernest Shakleton’s South. In 1972 a jet with 45  members of an Uruguayan Rugby team and their families and friends crashed in the Andes mountains. Sixteen people, traumatized and injured, somehow survived, but their prospects for living very much longer were long. They faced temperatures well below zero at 11,000 feet with little food. The two and a half months the group lived together created a crucible out which extraordinary decisions were made. They survived storms, frigid cold, an avalanche, and the anguish of losing so many loved ones by creating a miniature social system that was an object lesson in human in courage, determination and the finest in human behavior. Daily duties were divided, and food was rationed, including the grisly decision to eat the bodies of the crash victims, often members of their own families. There were squabbles and deep concerns over the eating of the victims of the crash, and not everyone pulled their weight, but the system worked. In the end, the group agreed to increase rations for two leaders, Roberto Canessa and Nando Parrado, so they could attempt to hike out of the mountains and save the group. For two weeks, carrying make shift sleeping bags and gear created by the survivors, they scaled a 15,000 foot mountain peak and hiked for ten days and 38 miles to the valleys of Chile where exhausted they finally found help. Read tracked down the survivors when the world heard their story and interviewed all 16 in immense detail. He toyed with fictionalizing some parts of the book (he was a novelist, former writer for the BBC and the Sunday Times), but decided that simply telling the story as clearly as possible was enough. He was right. If you aren’t utterly smitten but this book, I’ll buy you dinner. On Barnes & Noble.

5. In Patagonia — By Bruce Chatwin

For shear beauty of phrase and description, Bruce Chatwin’s book is difficult to top. But even better is his remarkable story telling ability. Once you begin to read In Patagonia, the book becomes your companion. And even when you put the book down, his words reverberate.  With the publication of this book in 1977, Chatwin helped revive travel writing when publishers had lost interest in the art. Chatwin himself said he didn’t see the book as a travelogue. Instead he meant it as a series of stories he wanted to tell as he worked his way by foot and bus and thumb across some of the wildest territory on earth. And he succeeds somehow weaving in tales like tracking the house down where Butch Cassidy lived, to mesmerizing fables about unicorns and Bigfoot like creatures shared by the people he meets. As he travels, you have  the sense of movement and travel, but you would be hard pressed to know what route he took precisely though the vast land. It doesn’t matter, though because in so many ways the book is a journey, but one of the mind. You’re enthralled with geology and history and myth, and above all the remarkable people he stumbles into. In this way, the book is utterly unique and unfailingly engaging. On Barnes & Noble.

4. Travels with Charley: In Search of America  - By John Steinbeck

Not long after Steinbeck wrote My Travels With Charlie (1962), he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his remarkable and considerable body of work (The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men to name just two of his masterworks). My Travels reminds you why. The book was Steinbeck’s personal effort to reconnect and understand America by circling the nation during the 1960s in a camper of his own design with his dog Charlie. On their journey he reveals bits of nation, its people, its varied cultures and himself, one simple story at a time to create a timeless mosaic. It’s not a travel adventure in the mold of South or The Worst Journey In the World, but its is a quietly powerful adventure nevertheless, steady, engaging, always insightful in the Steinbeck’s beautiful and direct language, and his unerring ability to capture dialogue.  Don’t think that the time difference makes the story stale. As with all of Steinbeck’s work, the writing is direct, but deep. Especially in this book you feel as though you are sitting down with a close friend as he reflects with disarming humor and intelligence all that he sees and experiences with the wry and authentic eye of a true genius. On Barnes & Noble.

3. Wind, Sand and Stars - by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Wind, Sand and Stars - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s most famous book is his children’s classic, The Little Prince, but his most beautiful and exciting book is The Wind, Sand and the Stars, tales of his days as an aviator for Aeropostale (later Air France) in the 1920s and 30s. It is simply one of the most beautiful books ever written, unless you don’t care for enthralling human insight, epic vision or love of the written word put to the pen of a master story-teller. Saint-Exupery was among a group of early aviators who faced danger the way knights of old slayed dragons. A flier first and a writer later, he skated through the skies on single-wing, sing-propeller craft at a time when by-the-seat-of-your-pants was the primary way to get to and from exotic locations like Casablanca, Tangier,  Cairo, Dakar, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. The book is rich with daredevil adventures, near death experiences, stark beauty and the wonder of flight when flight was still a miracle. A key theme is that while flying these early contraptions annihilated time and distance unlike anything else before. It also opened the world to unknown cultures and people, and forced an appreciation for nature’s stunning and awful power.  Each chapter is broad and varied, but Saint-Exupéry fuses them with common themes of courage, honor, empathy and high purpose.  They read almost like fables, but stunningly rich fables, because in the end it is Saint-Exupery’s extraordinary mind and heart and command of language that raise the book far above mere autobiography or memoir. Yet, he is always humble and modest. His love of the common man is in every word. To learn more, read my article “A Prisoner of the Sands” about Saint-Exupery’s near death experience when his airplane crashed in the Sahara Desert. On Amazon.

2. The Worst Journey In the World - By Apsley Cherry—Garrard

It’s an unlikely title that lead National Geographic to choose  Worst Journey as the greatest adventure book ever written, but it is a classic, and absolutely true to its title. In 1911 Robert Falcon Scott, already a redoubtable British explorer, brought 11 men with him to Antarctica to become the first humans to reach the South Pole.  Scott would be racing another expedition, Norwegian Roald Amundsen’s competing party who were just as determined to succeed. Scott lost the race to Amundsen, but the story of his heroic effort lives on in this book written by one of the survivors, 23-year-old Apsley Cherry-Garrard. At least as astounding as the race to the pole, is Cherry-Garrard’s telling of another hair-raising expedition that began before the polar run with Scott. Cherry-Garrard and two others man-hauled two sledges into the teeth of Austral winter to locate and return the unhatched eggs of emperor penguins.  Nearly every day for weeks they fought temperatures 50 degrees below zero and winds of 100 mph. At one point winds whipped their tent away. Somehow, through all of this they, survived. Both of these stories, and Cherry-Garrard’s frank and powerful first person descriptions of what he and the members underwent, make for riveting reading that still stands up despite being exactly 100 years old. Included are unique maps and the stunning drawings and sketches Edward Wilson created to reveal a frozen world like nothing the human race had seen. Maps and photos of the team, even as they neared death, are also included. That alone makes the book worth reading. For me, this is truly one of the world’s most memorable adventure stories. It brought both the fear and exaltation of hazard and courage directly into my hands and I found it mesmerizing. I think you will too. (For more information read my article describing the remarkable journey in the dead of the Antarctic winter. An e-book version of this book with updated preface and original maps, pictures and drawings is also available for $2.99 at our Vagabond Adventure store.

1. Jupiter’s Travels - By Ted Simon

The last I heard Ted Simon is still alive at 90 and still riding his motorcycle. But in 1973 when he convinced the Sunday Times to back his idea of traveling the world on a motorcycle, he didn’t even have a motorcycle license. (After failing the test once, he did manage to pass shortly before departing.) The experience took Simon 64,000 miles, across 45 countries and through every adventure imaginable from being thrown into a Brazilian prison for ten days, to wrecking his motorcycle in Africa, to moments of ecstasy in Peru. He even fell in love in a California commune. Simon’s special talent (he has so many) is not simply his ability to describe what he sees, but to reflect on his experiences in profound, moving and often hilarious ways. His ability to look inside his own mind and then relate those thoughts and feelings to his readers is truly remarkable and often as powerful as any insight you might hear from the novels of Tolstoy or James Joyce. Sometimes his descriptions, internal or external, are so beautiful, that I found myself putting the book down not to stop reading, but to savor the phrases like an excellent wine.  Never egotistical, his unique and eloquent insights teach us about ourselves as much as about him and the people he meets. That he managed all of this on a single motorcycle in the span of four years is both remarkable and courageous, and you feel it on every page. The book never flags. On Amazon.

Resource: https://vagabond-adventure.com/library/the-10-greatest-adventure-and-travel-books-ever

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Stormy Weather In Herceg Novi

 There’s a huge fort right above the small harbor which played a key role in battles between the Venetians and the Hungarian Empire. And somehow Saint Stephen plays a role in the origin of the ancient town, but I haven’t quite figured out exactly how that led to a name like Herceg Novi, which means basically New Herzog. I’m Working on that. Plenty of misadventures on this little leg of our journey which I’ll write about detail in the book.

See more: https://vagabond-adventure.com/vagabond-journal/day-684-exploring-herceg-novi-montenegro

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Beyond the Desert: Exploring Morocco’s Hidden Wonders

 

Traveling From England to Morocco

Once in South Hampton, England we took a breath before booking it south in the hopes of beating Morocco’s summer heat. For awhile, we did, and then we didn’t. But more on that later.

The Queen Mary II had done its job and gotten us to Great Britain in fine style the morning of May 22. Two days later we were fighting the throngs in that magnificent brick and glass rail station, St. Pancras, and soon aboard (after much Brexit mayhem in customs) the first of four high speed trains. The Chunnel took us to Paris, then, after an hour of mangled conversations with SCNF (the French Railway company), two tickets to Perpignan, France before turning southwest to Madrid and finally making it to the little town of Algeciras at the bottom end of Spain; 1500 long miles through the southwestern edges of Europe in case anyone was counting.

After all of that, we were now a mere half hour bus ride to Tarifa, an ancient town that has been Europe’s gateway to Africa for centuries. From there we would board a ferry to Tangier and land, at last, on the solid ground of the Dark Continent.

I had been looking forward to this day for years and the idea of finally making it across the Straits of Gibraltar (the Pillars of Hercules to the ancients) had me giddy with excitement. The modern Kingdom of Morocco was created in August 1956, but its roots go far deeper. To me it was one of those fabled countries, a place of mystery and enchantment where men in their djeelabas and and women in their hijabs walked the clamoring markets; where descendants of Neanderthals had migrated from Africa into Europe and Hannibal had massed his armies for an assault on the Roman Empire; where the Moors and Celts, Phoenicians, Portuguese and Spanish had changed and exchanged the fortunes of millions again and again whether it was the caliphates of Islam pouring into Andalusian Spain or Franco raising his fascist army before cutting that nation in two and auguring the slaughter of World War II. Indeed Spain and Morocco were in many ways kindred, if uneasy, cousins despite living on separate continents and being separated by two religions long at one another’s throats. To me that only made Morocco’s imminent arrival more intriguing. We were ready … except now there was a problem.

Heading south from London through the vineyards and farmlands of France and Spain.

It was at breakfast the morning we were to depart Algeciras that we got word that cash, and cash only, must be used to buy the local bus ticket to Tarifa. I was carrying a single Euro in my pocket. Now I had a half an hour to solve the problem and began madly combing the town in search of an ATM, or some bank or a Bureau of Exchange. Nothing. I returned to the hotel lobby, dejected and Euro-less, when a young lady we had spoken to earlier at the front desk said she had arranged special permission at the bus station (right next door) allowing us to pay for our tickets with a credit card. I wanted to kiss the woman (inappropriate) so instead I spat out a, “Muchas gracias” way too loudly and way too many times before (much to her relief, I’m sure) we heaved up our bags and walked to the bus station next door. In two minutes we had the tickets in hand.

Tarifa

The ride to Tarifa swung us at a leisurely pace through the suburbs of Algeciras and over a mountain pass, down twisting roads and then to a ridge where I beheld the Straits of Gibraltar, and beyond, the vast continent of Africa – home to humanity.

As the bus swung onto a ridge above Tarifa, I could make out the Straits of Gibraltar and the coast of the African continent.

The grandness of this vision disappeared when our bus pulled into a little parking lot and we were all unceremoniously instructed to depart. It turned out that we were not to be dropped at the ferry station, but simply deposited somewhere in the middle of the town to be hopelessly lost the moment we stepped off the bus. I blundered through some bad Spanish and asked the driver, “Donde esta ferry??”

More than once this bus driver had surely heard some clueless tourist ask this question, and his response was to vaguely wave his hands in the general direction of the Mediterranean, then, suddenly say in perfect English, “You may get a taxi."

Well yeah, I thought, if I knew where to find one and I spoke fluent Spanish.

We stood in the Andalusian heat and looked around. A young woman, Norwegian I think, tried to help us find a taxi. She pulled out her phone and in her best, but not great, Spanish failed to get help. And then suddenly she departed because her our own taxi showed up. (She was heading INTO Spain, not out.) Cyn and I snatched at our phones and jabbed at Apple Maps. Maybe we could walk. How far away could the ferry be? After much tapping and swiping, we finally located the ferry office, and ourselves in relation to it. We were a mile apart.

We began walking into winds gusting 40 miles an hour. This did not help our progress. Tarifa is a classic beach town with small shops festooned inside and out with caps, towels, fast food and beach paraphernalia of every kind, all of which would have been perfectly at home along Mission Beach in San Diego or a Jersey Shore boardwalk. In the brilliant sun the buildings looked as bright and colorful as Edward Hopper paintings. We dragged ourselves over cobble-stoned backstreets and followed Apple Maps down a long hill to the town’s ancient castle and then into the docks where with amazing speed we filled out our paperwork, showed our tickets and made it through security to await the ferry.

We boarded the ferry to Tangier. Across the street sat the Castle of Tarifa, built in 960 by Abd-ar-Rahman III, Caliph of Córdoba, a sign that for 500 years the Moors once ruled much of Spain.

At last, I thought, we’ll make it. The plan was to spend the next three weeks there, where, I hoped, we’d get a proper dose of the place. Our explorations of North America — Newfoundland, the American West, El Chepe, the Baja 1000, Vancouver and Victoria had all been wonderful, but I was looking forward to getting outside our element, exploring a culture and world that wasn’t as rooted in the Western European/North American zeitgeist we had been experiencing the previous six months.

Suddenly for reasons I still can’t precisely explain, I became concerned about passing through Moroccan security. Irrational fears that our bags would be upended and everything in them thoroughly scoured arose. There was no reason for this except that anytime I pass from one country to another my guts get to rumbling. We had nothing to fear except the world’s bureaucrats, often determined to prove their importance by fussing with some senseless detail or other designed to ruin your day. I knew they could do plenty of damage in any language when they wanted to. But once we boarded and the ship pulled into the Straits, I reminded myself to focus on the sleek, clean ferry and enjoy an hour of quiet as we churned toward the minarets and ancient walls of Tangier.

Arriving in the fabled city of Tangier, founded as a Phoenician trading post 3000 years ago.

All of my concerns were meritless. We passed through customs with ‘nary a raised eyebrow. All of the work with passports was taken care of on the ship - efficiently handled by three Moroccan customs agents who sat in their neat uniforms behind plexiglass counters. On debarkation we strolled into and out of the ferry building with nothing more than a desultory wave from security, and passed into the broad parking lot to find the driver we had arranged (with Frontiers Travel in Pittsburgh), holding a sign with the name WALTER on it.

You may call me wimp for arranging a driver in Morocco, but there were good reasons for it. Not only was my high school French abysmal (French is one of Morocco’s official languages), but my Arabic, together with its Semitic alphabet, which I knew would be plastered on every road sign throughout the country, was non-existent. Without someone who spoke some English, we’d be as lost as orphans. So I was grateful for Jabriel, our driver, as he stood in the stiff breeze like a sentry. I immediately sensed we were in good hands. As we walked toward him, as if on cue, I heard the adhān (Muslim call to prayer) echo across the docks from a nearby mosque. The words rung out in Arabic …

Allah is Great! I bear witness that there is no diety worthy of worship but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Hasten to prayer. Hasten to success. Prayer is better than sleep. Allah is the greatest. There is no diety worthy of worship but Allah.”

Yes, we had arrived in Morocco.

Jabriel, a delightful but reserved man, long of frame and silver-haired, preferred speaking French or Spanish or Arabic, but was passable enough in English to chat a bit and get us to our hotel, the El Minzah. The El Minzah is one of Tangier’s most famous accommodations, home at various times to the likes of Omar Sharif, Aristotle Onassis, Yves Saint Laurent, Rita Hayworth, Richard Harris, Oscar Wilde, Roger Moore, Allen Ginsberg, Paul Bowles, Ralph Fiennes, Henri Matisse and Andre Guide. Maybe the El Minzah’s best days were behind it now, but it was hardly a dump. I loved it’s style. It reminded me a bit of an aging movie star. Still handsome and graceful with great bones. A concierge paraded us around the grounds in stately fashion, and I walked with my head on a swivel taking in the pool outside with its great sweeping palms and olive trees below a carpet of emerald green grass, the terrace where you could have fruit and mint tea or a handcrafted cocktail brought to you by hushed waiters dressed in short dark suits, and beyond that a restaurant with broad French doors that opened to a spectacular view of the Straits that ancient humans had somehow navigated 400,000 years earlier.

Views of the El Minzah Hotel, Tangier - The entrance, our bellman, the room and gardens

I felt as though we had stepped back into the 1930s and wondered if Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall might walk by. Soon our bellman, decked out in his kandresse and fez was leading us along its corridors where we quickly settled into our generous room, and prepared to prowl the streets to see what trouble we might get into.

The trouble we found was the Diblu Restaurant near Tangier’s docks. We had walked the city’s steep steps past small eateries and shops wreathed with colorful scarves, sunglasses, djellabas, takchitas, qandrissi trousers, pipes, slippers, shirts, you name it. Moroccans are an entrepreneurial lot and I quickly learned stores and markets are everywhere. The Diblu was the right place for a couple of famished Americans. The restaurant was a local hangout, and our proprietor/waiter greeted us with a gleaming smile, coaxing us in excellent English to relax and sit down. He was a tidy, small young man with piercing black eyes. He moved so quickly I thought there might be cloned versions of him as he laid down a menu, bottled water and mint tea. Soon he deposited a huge, uncooked white fish on a broad platter in front of us. "Very fresh! You eat this,” he said, his teeth sparkling against the black sandpaper of his beard, “and I promise you'll be back tomorrow."

We gave it a thumbs up and the meal was absolutely delicious. Spectacular food is common in Morocco. We would learn that soon enough. Meanwhile, as we wolfed down the meal, our host taught us a couple of Arabic phrases which we slipped into our back pockets: Inshallah - a greeting or way of saying be well; literally “God is good or may God be with you.” Salaam - “hello.” And Shukrann with a touch of an “ah” at the end for “thank you.” They would, I hoped, come in handy for our upcoming explorations of Tangier the next day.

Resource: https://vagabond-adventure.com/library/the-mysteries-of-morocco

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The Joy of Planning a Perfect Surprise Getaway

 

Designing a surprise trip for your loved one is an exhilarating challenge, filled with opportunities to create lasting memories. It’s not just about picking a destination but about weaving an experience that resonates deeply with your partner’s preferences and dreams. This comprehensive guide from A Vagabond’s Adventure will provide you with vital insights to meticulously plan a trip that not only surprises but profoundly delights your beloved.

Tailoring to Your Partner’s Taste

Understanding your partner's travel interests is the cornerstone of planning a successful surprise trip. Whether they revel in the thrill of adventure or bask in the tranquility of nature, pinpointing their preferences is essential. Do they want to really get away and try something off the beaten path like Morocco or Patagonia, or are they more interested in exploring a week in Baja California or the American West? This insight ensures the destination and activities align perfectly with their tastes, setting the stage for an experience that feels personally crafted and deeply thoughtful.

Harmonizing With Their Schedule

A seamless surprise trip requires meticulous alignment with your partner’s schedule. The art lies in discreetly ensuring their availability without giving away the surprise. This careful planning avoids potential conflicts, ensuring that your well-crafted surprise unfolds smoothly and is met with unbridled enthusiasm and availability.

Crafting a Heartfelt Invitation

Creating a personalized invitation injects a unique spark of excitement into your surprise getaway. Employing a free invitation maker, which allows your creativity to stand out, to design an invitation that beautifully reflects your partner's personal style not only heightens the anticipation but also infuses the surprise with a heartfelt touch. This considerate act, blending creativity with affection, significantly enriches the overall experience, conveying to your partner how deeply cherished and valued they are. Moreover, the use of a free invitation maker to stand out offers a cost-effective yet impressive way to add a professional flair to your thoughtful surprise.

Having Financial Foresight

Strategic budgeting is crucial in orchestrating a surprise trip that is both remarkable and financially responsible. Planning a budget that encompasses all aspects of the trip, from travel to leisure, ensures a delightful experience without the stress of overspending. This allows for a journey that’s enjoyable, not only in the moment but also in reflection, free from financial worries.

Finding Walkable Accommodations

Choosing accommodations that support a healthy lifestyle can significantly enhance your travel experience. Opting for a hotel or vacation home located in an area with a high Walk Score of 70 or above can make the trip a lot less stressful because it make its easy to reach plenty of destination with a minimum of hassle. No cabs or buses or vans to worry about. And walking to shops, restaurants, and attractions, puts some exercise into your daily itinerary. Such a choice not only contributes to your physical well-being, but also offers a unique and immersive way to explore your surroundings, making your trip both enjoyable and health-conscious. A Vagaboind-Advenure we walk everywhere and have plenty of examples of wonderful locations we’ve explored by foot from Maine to Western Europe to Norway.

Integrating Sentimental Elements

Incorporating sentimental elements into your trip can transform it from a simple getaway to an unforgettable journey. Whether it’s visiting a place with special memories or including favorite activities, these personal touches infuse the trip with emotional significance. Such thoughtful planning deepens your bond and makes the trip uniquely meaningful.

Prioritizing Health and Comfort

Ensuring your partner’s well-being during the trip is paramount. Choosing accommodations with wellness facilities, planning health-conscious activities, and maintaining a balanced diet underscores your care for their comfort and health. This thoughtful consideration not only enhances the enjoyment of the trip but also reflects your deep understanding and care for your partner’s preferences and needs.

If Your Traveling Overseas

Overseas trips require a little extra effort, especially when you’re planning trip for two. Make sure you both have your passports up-to-date (most countries require that your passport be good for at least 90 days in advance of your arrival at the country you’re visiting). Check with the United States State Department for info. Depending on the places you plan to visit, also check to make sure if you require visits or vaccinations too. The State Department cam also help guide you on these issues.

Engineering an Unforgettable Reveal

The reveal of the surprise trip is as crucial as the trip itself. Crafting a unique and memorable way to unveil the surprise, whether it’s an ingenious scavenger hunt or a heartfelt note, sets the tone for the entire journey. This moment, filled with joy and surprise, becomes a cherished memory that enhances the entire travel experience.

Masterfully planning a surprise getaway for your partner is an art that involves more than just selecting a destination. It’s about understanding their desires, aligning with their life, and adding personal touches that speak volumes of your love and care. By following these insights, you can craft an extraordinary experience that not only surprises but also deeply resonates with your partner, strengthening your bond and creating unforgettable memories.

Be sure to join us on a Vagabond Adventure to explore the world's most interesting places, cultures, and stories, one epic journey at a time.

 

Resource: https://vagabond-adventure.com/library/the-art-of-a-suprise-getaway

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Antarctica, February 2023 - Riding the South Pole’s Brash Ice

Feeling the heat this summer? Take 15 seconds to ride Antarctica’s Brash Ice, the broken shards of glaciers formed long before civilizations existed floating in the Southern Ocean only a few feet from our Zodiac. Just watching and listening and imagining makes me feel calmer, cooler. I hope the same is true for you.

See more: https://vagabond-adventure.com/vagabond-journal/category/Antarctica

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Vagabond Adventures: Exploring the World’s Top Travel Destinations

After traveling 122,000 miles (so far) across 7 continents, you tend to run into a traveler or two that have found their way to some extraordinary places on the planet. The people we have come across have floored us with their experience and knowledge. You name the place — Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, on a ship from Montevideo to Lisbon (21 days), Svalbard in the Arctic Circle at one end of the world and the Peninsula of Antarctica at the other. They come in all varieties and have travelled in every way imaginable. World class kayakers like Bill and Mary Neal; Rick Remmel who recently hiked to Mt. Everest’s base camp; Gaetan and Perrine (who saved us and our broken car in Patagonia) and drove from California to Alaska onto Boston and then started over from the top of South America to its bottom; Mike Hyman who has run amok in 113 countries (at last count) and our old friend Francis Hurteau (sadly, no longer with us) who insisted we must visit Madura, India, “home to the greatest massages in the world, period.” It’s on the list Francis!

Our friend Francis Hurteau.

Having gathered all of this abundant information, it seems unfair to withhold it from the rest of you. So here, with some photos and mostly in their own words, are selected recommended locations from just about everywhere, shared over scores of coffee cups and wine glasses, meals and miles by the many terrific people we have met who know a thing or two about hitting the open road. (And there will be more!) Most of these are locations we have not yet seen or will not be able to share ourselves because we missed them, or have yet to reach on our world tour. You can’t see everything after all.

If you have anything you’d like to share, please do in the comments at the bottom of this article so others can see your thoughts, or if you have any articles throughout our rapidly expanding website you’d like comment on, please do. We have hundreds of articles and recommendations and you can chime at the bottom of any page on the website. Or simply send me an email. We always want to hear from you.

Columbia, Bolivia and the Galapagos

Tayrona National Park, Santa Marta Columbia

We met the Fedele’s, who hail from Colorado, while were were traveling on the Navimag Ferry, which travels every week from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, Chile through a thousand miles of the Chilean Archipelago, some of the most remote locations in the world. You can learn all about our experience there in our Daily Journal. We loved John and Andrea because they were up for anything, as you’ll see, along with their two children, Elena and Dante. These suggestions are only a small sample of their many excursions. I’m very grateful to them for sharing this information.

“We enjoyed the Caribbean coast of Colombia. We mostly just relaxed on the beaches/pools.  We stayed in Tayrona National Park as well as a resort east of there in Palomino, Aite.  The beaches were great as was the food.  And we really loved Cartagena and wished we would have spent more time there in the old town which resembled Cuba.  This was the last stop on our trip.  [NOTE: John and Andrea and their two tween children spend a year traveling through South America exploring the cultures and learning Spanish. Andrea is an M.D. and Johns a successful cabinetry business in Colorado.]

We did stay on an island off the coast that was a lot of fun, Tierra Bomba.  The Blue Apple resort had a great beach, pool, and food.  And again we mostly relaxed except mom and daughter rode horses a couple days and we did a day tour on a boat to the other islands nearby.  You can see their adventure on PolarSteps.

 

BOLIVIA

Also, we all were really impressed with Bolivia.  And not just because we settled in for over a month and did not have to pack and unpack every 2-4 days…The Salt Flats, or Salar De Uyuni, were quite impressive.  We also toured the national park just south of the flats.  This was one of our favorite experiences of the trip.  We basically were off-roading to different sites with a guide who was Quechuan and spoke no English and poor Spanish, and in an old Land Cruiser, while he chewed on coca leaves the entire time. 

We also went to Lake Titicaca and stayed on Isla Del Sol which was really cool.  There are Incan ruins on the island and we hiked around and did some sightseeing.  Bolivia was the kids’ favorite place, partly because we met other families and backpackers at the Spanish school.  Not to mention, we really lucked out with our host family.  They were awesome and had four boys, 7-17 years old.  Poor Elena [the Fedele’s daughter] :-).  They built a beautiful new house in the heart of Sucre during Covid.  And we had ladies come every day to cook our meals and clean, yet it was ridiculously cheap.  We really got spoiled there.

THE GALAPAGOS

The Galapagos were kinda like the grand finale even though we still had a few more weeks to travel around in Ecuador and Colombia.  Everything about that experience amazed us.  The tour company we hired, Quasar, took care of everything.  We flew from Quito to San Cristobal island.  From there we boarded the Evolution and began our adventure.  The crew of around 20 took care of the 25 or so guests.  The food was incredible, the three naturalist guides were great, and the whole experience on the islands and snorkeling was awesome.  Each night before dinner, everyone met in the lounge and a guide would go over the schedule for the next day.  The guests were divided in to three groups, we happened to be the boobies.  It took the kids three days to not crack up every time they said boobies…Even though we were in groups, everyone made it a point to eat at a different table with different guests each day.  Everyone on the boat was great, mostly retired American gringos.  We were the only ones with kids. 

Our days entailed hiking on the islands, snorkeling once or twice a day, and kayaking/paddleboarding.  The wildlife and pristine nature was incredible.  So many species unique to the Galapagos.  We visited the Darwin center as well and saw the giant tortoises.  Our best day was the one when we snorkeled with sea lions, sharks, sea turtles, rays, and dolphins.  It really was the highlight of the trip, the dolphins were unexpected bonus.  We were heading back to the Evolution and our guide noticed them out in the open ocean.  So, we raced to them on our panga and all jumped in, it was awesome!  Our trip ended and we flew from the island of Baltra to Guayaquil.  I would absolutely recommend Quasar Expeditions [the company that handled the expedition].  They have 8 and 15 night expeditions.  The boat travels at night and you wake up at different island each morning.  It is quite comfortable with large rooms and AC.  And, they often have deals, 40% off, or if you book last minute they are willing to work with you.  That’s what we did, booked it within 30 days and got almost 50% off.  We would not have done it otherwise as it is quite expensive. 

The Dolomites and Igazu Falls

Gaetan and Perrine - French Engineers

Gaetan and Perrine saved us when our car broke down in Patagonia. What are the chances that when your battered Renault rental car stops working in the wilds of Chile, AND your cell service blinks out, that you run into two fellow travelers who happen to be English speaking French engineers?! Yet, it happened and we will always be grateful to these two beautiful people who happened to be driving in their van from northern South America to the tip of the continent when they found us. The journey these two made from Alaska to the southernmost city in South America reveal two wonderfully sweet people with a dragon-sized appetite for travel.

Resource: https://vagabond-adventure.com/library/the-best-places-to-visit-from-around-the-world-recommendations-from-our-fellow-travelers

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