Active Travel

Loads Of Fun, But...
Know What You're Getting Into

There seems to be a whole vocabulary for those who sell travel...

Active travel..., Adventure travel..., Leisure travel..., Eco-tourism....

Do you really need to know what it all means?

Not really.

In the grand scheme of things you define your own travel style...

...and it may change from day to day.

You may spend a day in the spa that resort has down in a palm grove and go bike riding the next.

You're active one day and quiet as a slug the next.

You may go to an island and choose to sit on the beach one day, and go scuba diving the next.

Scuba diving Little Cayman Island

What Does Active Travel Mean On That Tour?

But if you are signing up for a tour, you should find out what that particular tour operator means when they say active travel. In general, an active tour will focus more on travel and transportation that requires physical activity... walking or cycling as opposed to riding along in a van or bus.

Most tours that fall into this category have a lot of outdoor activities.

OK, you say, but you can do a lot of walking if you're sightseeing in a big city. You're right, even museum tours or garden tours can give you a workout, but active travel sort of indicates that you will be outdoors and biking or hiking or rafting or even horseback riding.

Some companies spell it out for you pretty well... they'll tell you the activity level that will be required for the whole tour...

Will there be a lot of hiking or walking? For how many hours or how many miles or kilometers. Will there be lots of stairs or hills to climb? They may even have a "scoring" system all the way from easy to difficult... of course, you need to know what their definition of easy is!

A trekking company, for instance, might say Level One, or Easy is 3-5 hours of walking up to six miles a day with low altitude.... While Level Four or Strenuous is 5-8 hours of hiking in mountainous terrain at higher elevations.

The Tsingy Hike Was Active

Hiking the Tsingy was active travel!

When we were planning our trip to Madagascar, we wanted to include a hike in the Tsingy... once we figured out what the Tsingy were... 

We got a clue that it might be demanding when they ask us what our fitness level was. 

We did get a little nervous when they had us wear climbing harnesses...

We're sure glad we went for it though... what a surreal landscape!

 What Will Your Accommodations Be Like?

Will you be staying in hotels?

Or mountain huts where you share a bunkhouse arrangement with other travelers?

Or will you be camping.... sleeping in tents?

Your tour operator should give you an idea of the type of accommodations you can expect from rugged or spartan to luxury.

You could be going on an African safari in the middle of the Kalahari, but if you stayed in a tent at Jack's Camp, you would definitely find yourself reveling in the luxury category (evening sundowners and all)... and still be active in your travels.

Sundowners on the Kalahari, near Jack's Camp

You may even find that you relieve more "workaday" anxieties and frustrations with active vacations than you would just sitting on the beach, eating and drinking the night away.

Activity is good for you, and sometimes it leaves you just a little tired and more relaxed at the end of the day.

Brochures and websites may use the terms active or adventure travel interchangeably.

We think of adventure travel as a little more of a reach.... something that is more apt to get you a little out of your comfort zone.

Active travel doesn't necessarily do that.... but it may make you break a sweat. And what's wrong with that?

Happy travels... even if you don't travel the world... just remember that life is a journey... embrace and enjoy it! Judy and Mark

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Thanks, Judy and Mark

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