Writing — Travel & Photography

What Exactly Defines Action and Adventure While Traveling Can Mean Different Things to Different People

Globetrotters July Monthly Challenge — Action

Many of my fellow travel lovers and expats here at Globetrotters love to engage in varying degrees of action-packed adventure. Hiking, kayaking, white-water rafting, climbing mountains, trekking forests, swimming in the ocean, exploring volcanos, taking polar plunges and even jumping out of airplanes.

Others engage in activities that are, say, a little more on the tame side but none-the-less fun and adventurous, like touring museums, botanical gardens and ruins, road trips or simply enjoying the scenery of a place in a low-key way and eating… can’t forget eating. Counts as action to me!

😋😋😋 Especially if I’m eating some nice curry and sopping it up with some delicious roti.

Question: Does sitting at a table for two at a rooftop cafe while sipping wine and listening to music, savoring the evening breeze and visiting with friends count as action? I suppose it depends on who you ask.

The point is though, action and adventure can look very different for different people… and that’s ok… that’s what I’m sayin’.

I myself have done almost everything listed above…. aside from jumping out of an airplane. I’ve visited volcanos, but not an active volcano so perhaps that doesn’t count.

Admittedly, most of the more action-packed stuff occurred when I was a younger person, and I don’t exactly have access to all those photos for one reason or another. As a former tumbleweed, many things have gotten forfeited or lost over the years. Or perhaps various relatives and friends have photos, but it would take a might bit of effort to track them down.

However, here are a few of my favorite activities that involve a fair amount of action.

Camping

One of my favorite adventures has always been camping. I love everything about it and never minded such things as pitching the tent, gathering up firewood for a campfire, setting up the grill and other such things — all just part of the adventure.

However, who doesn’t also thoroughly relish the part where everything is done and set up and you can just sit back and relax or take a walk and enjoy nature. Camping near water, especially a bubbling creek, is always highly desirable in my book. Breathing in fresh air, taking photos, roasting marshmallows, telling stories and enjoying the company of others.

Although I’ve have done some solo traveling I much prefer to have other people around to enjoy such things with. And though I’ve done plenty of tent camping, “roughing it” in an RV can be quite enjoyable as well.

As both a kid and an adult we used to camp all over the place in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, New Jersey and upstate New York, including the Sawtooth Mountains, the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Zion’s National Park, near Yellowstone Park and Jackson, near Saratoga Springs at Lake George and even Craters of the Moon.

I’ve even camped in the lovely forests of Western New Jersey although when I tell this to people who’ve never visited the state before they are rather surprised. They think NJ is one giant city. Nope, not at all, New Jersey has plenty of natural wonders and even pick-your-own farms and farmer’s markets to enjoy. I’ve been snowskiing in Northern NJ as well, another of my favorite activities.

Walking and hiking

Another of my favorite adventures is hiking in remote areas and also walking around cities checking out the sights. Some people are city people and some people are county people, which is why I’ve always loved Walt Whitman. He came along and said it’s ok to thoroughly love and enjoy both and I remember thinking: Yes! I love both, too!

I love the hustle and bustle of NYC just as much as I loved the backwoods of Idaho. And I love the city of Port of Spain here in Trinidad just as much as I love the mountainous rainforests. I love it all!

Walking is the slowest and yet perhaps most enjoyable methods of travel. It’s great exercise, for one thing, but being able to slowly enjoy the world in such a way is true heaven on earth.

Visiting museums and historical places

Visiting places steeped in rich history and valuable stories is one of my favorite things as well, like the time we visited the Lopinot plantation here in Trinidad.

Or the time we visited the infamous Rocky statue in downtown Philly at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

On the water

Who doesn’t love the water? Well, I suppose it does scare some people and they usually have good reason for that. Luckily, I never had anyone throw me into a deep pool without knowing how to swim — always seemed a cruel practice to me!

Boating, fishing, white water rafting… I’ve done it and loved it all. Lately, swimming in the Caribbean Ocean at Maracas Beach has been one of my favorite activities. Here in Trinidad, it’s said that doing such things is a great way to cleanse the body of impurities and evil spirits.

Sounds great to me!

The first and last time I’ve ever paid to pee was at Maracas Beach… well, actually hubby paid, lol! Go before you go, is a great motto.

Clubbing

In my younger days, I loved going clubbing. Is this a travel activity? It can be, I say.

One day me and a friend of mine road the train into NYC and visited Webster Hall and had a crazy blast dancing the night away! Spying on all the sexy people bumping and grinding, checking out the burlesque in the basement and joining in on the Latin dancing on the top floor was all part of the experience. It’s NYC, baby!

Don’t have photos, sorry!

The Action and Adventure Challenge

It’s all good, whatever it is!

I love reading about the actions and adventures of other people here at Globetrotters, whether those actions are indeed action-packed or a little more on the tame side.

My fellow Globetrotters editor Anne Bonfert provided us with guidelines for this month’s challenge and wrote this awesome story about bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls in Zambia. Jillian Amatt offered this equally awesome opening story about the zeal of going from action-packed adventures like bungee jumping to more low-key adventures such as snorkeling, hiking, feeding giraffes and exploring ruins.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this story by Jit Yih about taking the “polar bear” plunge in the Antarctic. Wow! Talk about true adventure!

Scott-Ryan Abt wrote this story about climbing Mount Meru in Tanzania:

Check out these challenge stories as well: Marianne O wrote about exploring majestic Shanghai while Claire Elizabeth Levesque wrote about experiencing a treetop walk in British Columbia. Adrienne Beaumont 😇 told us about swimming with the whale sharks and having the fish eat the dry skin off her feet. Wow!

Loved this well-written story by Kerri Duncan about facing the fear of free-falling and BASE jumping in New Zealand and this equally well-written story by Krutarth Trivedi about encountering a grizzly bear while exploring the backcountry of Canada. Enjoyed this great story as well by Tim Ward, Mature Flâneur about his hike thorugh the amazing Tongariro Crossing in New Zealand.

Melissa Rach wrote about hiking Montserrat in Spain while Richa Singh wrote about exploring beautiful Croatia. Last but certainly not least, Bell Dae writes about sandboarding in Australia. Sounds way fun to me! I would totally do this!

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