Live to 100 and enjoy it. no 5 of ?

Adventure holidays.

So what's an adventure holiday?

Clearly, if all you have ever done is stay in an hotel and have had that arranged for you then your idea of an adventure will be different to someone who regularly goes bear hunting in the wilds of Canada.

It is all about getting out of our comfort zone. There's no point in getting to 99 and having 2 or more things you wished you had done before you reached 100.

Take the man who goes bear hunting regularly, he may never have travelled to a country where English is not spoken. Now that can be quite an adventure. Just working out what to have for breakfast when they look at you with a blank look after you have asked for eggs sunny side up. Just where do you go from there? I tell you it is great fun.

I was in Mongolia a few years ago and decided to go into a restaurant, I was very politely shown to a table and presented with a menu all in Chinese, there was no way that I could work out what was on the menu so I smiled at the waiter and gave a wave over the menu, he bowed and smiled and stood there, so in my best English I said, today's special please, he bowed and smiled and stood there. So I looked around and on the next table there was a couple with what looked like a good range of food so I indicated (without pointing too rudely) that I would go for the same. A smile and a flurry of activity, and I had an excellent meal. I could have gone to McDonald's just down the street but that would have been in my comfort zone.

It's all down to you.

Now if you are used to having someone else take the responsibility of booking your vacation try this. Open up your computer, think of a place you would like to go, type it into Google or whatever search engine you normally use and up will pop thousands of web pages to entice you. Lets say you chose Venice (Italy), I have just Googled it and there were 27 million entry's, the third one was http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/ I know nothing about this site but it does seem to have a lot of diverse information on what to do and where to stay etc, so it would make a good starting point.

The unknown.

Having chosen a place and worked out how to get there is part of the fun of jumping into the unknown, when you get to your destination you will normally find that it is all a lot better than you expected. Sure there are lots of TV programmes showing disaster holidays, goes without saying that ratings will be much higher for disasters over boring normality. It is of course important to do as much research as you can, check reviews of the accommodation and location, also check on what the weather is like at the time you a planning to go.

No limits.

There is no limit to the things that you can do, it does depend on the kind of person you are, your finances, your interests, your health status, and your abilities (or disabilities). You can go on adventure tours, learning vacations, volunteer vacations, visit museums, or you can even visit relatives you haven't seen for some time.
Shorter adventures could be Hot Air Balloon rides, Flying lessons (even Gliding lessons), Scuba diving, Wind Surfing.

The only limit is your imagination.

Before we get too carried away, have you considered exchange visits. This is where you stay in someone else's house and they stay in yours. It can be anywhere in the world and there are agencies that link like minded people together. What you get out of it is that you will stay in a residential area instead of a tourist trap, you will get to know the local people and be treated like one of their own. Usually it is a lot cheaper than most other vacations, especially if you can use their vehicle. Just Google holiday exchange and see the vast array there is to choose from.

Let the imagination soar.

Really for us the whole world is our playground. Take in the crisp scenery, panoramic views, and fresh air in the early morning hours of Boulder in Colorado, a place made special because of its location, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Generally the weather here is sunny but don't forget your jacket and other proper hiking attire as dangerous thunderstorms could happen during summer afternoons.
In Alaska you can marvel at the sight of glaciers, have your breath taken away by the spectacular nature scene in Mt. McKinley, and be awed by the Northern Lights. You can also do other fun and enjoyable things such as guided motor coach tours, back country tours riding on dog-sledges, catamaran rides, and sightings of wildlife such as bears and bald eagles among others.

Europe also has an impossibly long list of adventure holidays.

So where will your next vacation or short break take you?