17 Signs You Need an Adventure Travel Vacation
You keep telling yourself, just one more week, one more month, one more paycheck, one more year… and then you’ll do it. You’ll finally take that trip. Hey, if you can check even one of these 17 reasons why you need an adventure travel vacation, the time is now lady!
1. You can’t remember the last time you did something for the first time.
Or rediscovered something you used to do as a kid. Do you even remember what it feels like to play instead of “work out”? When’s the last time you climbed a tree? Or dared yourself to jump over a giant puddle instead of walking around it? When was the last time you allowed yourself some time off from adulting? Let that sink in. We’ll wait.
2. Every day you open the email advertising last-minute, cheap airfare—hoping the departure cities include your hometown. (And you’re always interested in the best international airlines.)
Anywhere within a two-hour radius, really. You’re nothing if not flexible. Next step: call in some favors and find someone willing to get up at 4 a.m. to drive you to the airport.
3. You recently changed your Facebook cover photo to 1 of 3 things:
- You on a trip from two years ago
- A landscape from your trip two years ago
- A place on your “I need an adventure travel vacation STAT” bucket list you meant to visit two years ago
4. You buy candles based on the vacation-inspired label first, the scent second.
So that’s it, then? You’re just going to let Yankee Candle be responsible for “taking” you to the beach or whisking you off to the mountains? C’mon now.
5. Your Instagram feed is fueled by users with the following words in their handles:
- wander
- travel
- adventure
- escape
- journey
- explore
- vacation
Learning to surf on the Dominican Republic Adventure Vacation.
6. You’ve never surfed, but you found a rash guard on clearance at REI and bought it just in case.
Ditto on that water filtration system, pop-up tent, ultralight rain gear, and titanium spork.
Pausing for a quick photo op during the Red River Gorge Backpacking Workshop.
7. Your backpack is dusty.
And not the good kind of dusty, either. Not the “dusty” your pack gets from hiking in the desert or throwing it down under a shady tree in the woods for a quick snack. The sad, sad dust from which the bunnies of neglect are born.
8. You subconsciously move toward windows.
You also realize “head toward the light” isn’t just for near-death experiences. Unless you consider going without adventure travel for months on end “near-death.” We concur.
9. You’re the first to ask a co-worker about her vacation, demanding all of the details to live vicariously through her stories.
To your horror, yet unable to control yourself, you find you’ve turned into a wide-eyed, pesky five year old: “And then what happened? And then what happened? What did you do? Where did you go? Did you see any aminals? Er, animals?”
10. The adventure travel books Wild, Born to Run, Eat, Pray, Love, On the Road, as well as a hefty number of Lonely Planet Guides line your bookshelves.
They’ve been read, re-read, highlighted, notated and otherwise loved and studied within an inch of their lives. It’s time to make a move.
A little sun worship during the Las Vegas Vacation Weekend Adventure.
11. You drive with the windows down and sunroof open despite the blistering, summer heat.
Because you’re solar-powered! (Or perhaps cold-blooded. Like a lizard.) Either way, you do whatever it takes to feel the sun on your skin and the wind in your hair, A/C and comfort be damned!
12. You consider vacation days an asset with an incalculable value.
If only there were more of them. Sigh… (You briefly contemplate selling all your worldly possessions and relocating to a tropical island. You could finally open that cat cafe/yoga studio/nightclub you always talk about...) The jarring ding! of your inbox alert brings you crashing back to reality.
Pretty in pink on the Canaan Valley West Virginia Winter Weekend.
13. You love to hear or tell a good story that begins with “This one time I was traveling…”
It’s like your adult version of “Once upon a time…” Except in these stories, the princess goes rock climbing, builds her own shelter, and swims with sharks. Bonus? She leaves the prince at the castle so he can watch the royal children.
14. You only buy Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen because it smells like coconuts…which smell like the beach…which reminds you of a “This one time when I was traveling…” story.
You find this happening with several other products: lip balm, shampoo, deodorant. Damn you, Target! You’re nothing but a smorgasbord of past adventure travel vacation memories!
15. National Geographic, Travel + Leisure and other such sites are in your browser history.
Several. Times. A. Day. (Hey, no shame in it.)
Making memories, Explorer Chick style, during the Machu Picchu + Rainbow Mountain Adventure.
16. Your Bucket List is growing faster than you can check it off.
You’ve got it organized by continent now, at least. That’s something.
17. You’re reading this blog instead of working to see how many items on this list apply to you.
Now you can justify going on that adventure you’ve been thinking about, right? Hey! We can help you out with that! Book one of our adventure trips or read our top destinations for solo travelers in the USA and in Europe.
