Let’s face it - travel is a great way to expand your horizons, but there are some days when it can get pretty spicy.
If you find yourself in need of an extra boost while you’re out there exploring, keep these courage-inducing tips in mind and get ready to push through, do more and be a little more Zen about living beyond your comfort zone.
Read more: 6 Mantras Adventure Travelers Live By
What about you? What goes through your head when you find yourself outside your comfort zone? Use the comments link below to share.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Heli-hiking in the Canadian Rockies. A camel safari across the Moroccan Sahara. Treking the Inca Trail. Surf and yoga camp in Maui. If there’s one thing that gets my heart pumping and soul soaring, it’s an adventure.
Trying something new can reenergize your life and provide the perfect antidote to the daily grind.
Learn six reasons why an active vacation can be truly transformative.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Do you wish you could travel lighter? The secret to setting off with less, as you might imagine, is as much about what to leave out as it is what to put in.
As a professional wanderer, I know a bit about living out a suitcase. In fact, my husband, action/adventure novelist Hank Barone, and I recently packed up and set off on a yearlong romp through Latin America.
So, when the editors at The Adventure Blog asked me to share a few tips on packing for adventure, I was more than happy to accommodate. Read more: Packing Tips For the Adventure Traveler
What about you? How do you pack for adventure? Share your tips below.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Are you planning to forfeit your hard earned vacation days this summer, even though you desperately need a break? Times are tough, you say, this is no time to be thinking about travel. WRONG.
Think back over the last five years of your life. What immediately stands out? Wasn’t it that trip to Yosemite, the cooking school in Italy, the wild flowers in early spring in Provence or the kind merchant whose hand drawn map helped you find your way when you got lost in Bangkok?
Now, more than ever, you deserve a vacation. Here’s why…
1. Doctor’s Orders: Studies confirm what any traveler already knows: vacations are good for your health. Among the documented health benefits of leisure activities are a diminished risk of disease, an enhanced immune system, reduced obesity, and increased life expectancy.
In addition, roughly one-third of employed U.S. adults (34%) reported feeling better about their job and feeling more productive upon returning from vacation, according to Expedia.com’s 2010 International Vacation Deprivation Survey. Take that, Mr. Scrooge.
2. The News Not Fit To Print: Thanks to a daily barrage of gloom-and-doom news headlines, one could easily conclude that life stinks, people are rotten and the world outside your door is unsafe. However, when I scan my database of travel memories, I see a world where kindness is the rule –not the exception.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Just because your child has become a teenager – or is acting like one – doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice meaningful family vacations. To help you keep the peace and the fun flowing, listed below are a few wise tips for traveling with teens from family travel specialists, Thomson Family Adventures.
1) Choosing a destination that offers activities to challenge and excite – like a zip line, white water rafting, or kayaking – will keep your big kids active, engaged and satisfied. If they’ve done an activity before, try in a new environment for new excitement. Look for a variety of activities that give everyone a chance to try many things; don’t give them the chance to feel bored with the same old thing.
2) This is your family vacation, but diversions are very useful. Traveling in a small group of like minded and similar aged families gives you the chance to meet new people and make new friends. For many families, having company to share the fun with helps prevent the family bond from fraying under the stress of too much togetherness.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Research, Compare, and Select the Best Tour Operator by Knowing the Right Questions To Ask.
It is summer vacation planning time again and knowing how to find and vet the best options is an important step. Following are Ten Tips to take you from research to R&R as you strategize when and where to spend precious vacation time and dollars.
A little time and energy spent on the front end helps ensure the vacation of your dreams. “The planning process should be a fun part of the overall experience,” says Dan Austin, owner of Austin-Lehman Adventures (ALA), named the World’s Best Tour Operator by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine for the past two consecutive years.
To help guide you through the maze of vacation options, the tour experts at Austin-Lehman Adventures offer these useful tips when starting the trip planning process:
#1 Build Files Organize brochures, maps, notes from conversations to website links.
#2 Google is Your Friend! 96% of all travel research is now done online. Use long tail search terms to hone in on your questions such as: Best family adventure vacation to Yellowstone. Bookmark the better sites you visit.
#3 Shop for Information off-line Pick up travel magazines and regional guides reflecting your interests. Talk to friends and co-workers. Visit your local travel counselor for input.
#4 Create a bucket list Create a list of dream destinations and activities; cut it to a short list. Use logic. Is Mexico too hot in summer? Maybe. Then consider fall travel. Keep track of your thinking and why.
#5 Who Gets Your Business? Seek tour operators specializing in the kinds of vacations on your short list. Again, Google is your friend. For example, search for best bike tour operator in Italy and note results. Pour through travel magazines that often list the best of the best in special annual editions. Look for them online. In the end you will have created a list of operators that best match your short list of destinations and activities.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".