Matador Network's Blog, page 1411

Off-the-beaten-path places in Chile

Torres del Paine. The Atacama Desert. The wine valleys around Santiago. These are Chile’s greatest hits, and for good reason. They’re crowd pleasers, incredible in their own right, and have made Chile into a bucket list destination juggernaut. But as any music enthusiast knows, it’s often the lesser-known tracks, the B-sides, the obscure singles, that reveal an artist’s true heart and soul.

The same is true for travel and countries: that when you take the road less traveled, what you find is often even more special and memorable than what you set out looking for, like these four places in Chile that the crowds have yet to discover.

1. Chiloé

Photo: Ashley Basil

This archipelago in southern Chile requires a small detour to get to, but you’ll be happy you made the trip, because there is no place quite like Chiloé. Made up of a main island and many smaller islets, Chiloé is almost like a South American version of Ireland, in that it has sheep (and therefore lots of woolen products), a dialect that can’t be understood by anyone else (not even other Chileans), tons of potatoes, pastoral landscapes with ocean views, and a deeply-rooted local mythology. But there’s plenty of other things that Ireland doesn’t have, like penguins, whales, and mingas, a tradition where houses are floated over water to new locations.

The architecture on Chiloé is one of the things that really sets the islands apart. Many bayside houses, like those in the capital of Castro, are built on stilts, and covered in brightly painted stylized wooden shingles. UNESCO even certified the islands’ Jesuit churches as World Heritage Sites because of the manner in which they were built: sans nails.

The islanders, who call themselves Chilotes, have extremely strong ties to their island homes, and up until recently, the only way on or off the islands was by boat or plane (a bridge is now being built). Traditional cuisine is centered around seafood and the island’s more than 400 types of spuds, used to make dishes like milcaos, which are potato patties, and curanto, the Chilote version of a clambake. And even though there is Christianity, many Chilotes still believe in the old myths, such as El Trauco, a troll who uses his bad breathe to seduce virgins, or the ghost ship El Caleuche.

2. Valle del Elqui

Photo: Gaspar Abrilot

Valle de Elqui, found in Chile’s norte chico, is famous for being the cradle of Chilean pisco. This spirit, made from distilled grapes, is the base for the national cocktail, the pisco sour, and has been grown in the region since colonization, when the Spanish planted vineyards on the valley floors to grow ceremonial wine. Some of Chile’s biggest and oldest pisquerias are located in the towns of Pisco Elqui and Vicuna and offer tours and tastings.

You’re likely to encounter more than a few “believers” and eccentrics in these high mountain valleys, and are often told to “watch the skies.” Maybe it’s the pisco… or maybe it’s something else entirely. For centuries, Elqui has attracted dreamers, seekers, and writers because of its special energy. It was the birthplace of Chile’s first Nobel Prize-winning poet, Gabriela Mistral, and is now full of communes for hippie, counter-culture types because the valley is believed to be one of the great natural energy centers of the world. No one exactly knows why, but one theory is that the high altitude and clear night skies create a clear channel to the cosmos, and reiki, yoga, chakra realignment, and other alt-practices are easily available to help one turn on, tune in, and drop off.

Whether you believe in that kind of stuff or not, the skies are incredible, and on clear nights you can see the Milky Way and other celestial bodies with the naked eye, so a visit to the observatories around the town of Vicuña for stargazing needs to be on your list.

3. Aysen Region

Photo: Cristian González G.

The best way to see this sparsely populated region of northern Patagonia is by cycling down the Carretera Austral, a 770-mile long highway that was the dreamchild of dictator Augusto Pinochet and was meant to unite rural communities. Even though it remains unfinished, this now world-famous route for cyclists acts as an artery through some of Aysen’s most beautiful landscapes, like Queulat National Park, Cerro Castillo, and Parque Patagonia, and it’s easy to make side trips to visit places like Caleta Tortel, a lakeside community built on stilts like in Chiloé, or the Marble Caves on Lago General Carrera, lakeside caves that are famous for their swirling blue, grey, and white colors.

The region is also home to one of Chile’s few temperate rainforests, located inside Queulat National Park. And kayakers, boaters, and fishermen will have a field day exploring Aysen’s lakes and rivers, which are fed by the Northern Patagonian Ice Field and have a vibrant turquoise color from glacial sediment. Finally, if you came to Patagonia to see glaciers, you can’t go wrong with the San Rafael, which is just as impressive as the Grey Glacier in Torres del Paine but lesser known.

4. Navarino Island

Photo: Dimitry B.

You can’t get any further south than this windy island at the bottom of South America. Literally, just beyond it lies the Drake Passage and then Antarctica. So if whale watching is high on your list for your visit to Chile, Navarino and the nearby Cabo de Hornos National Park will give you some of the best chances for sightings of migrating whales, as well as dolphins, seals, and penguins.

The history of the island, which was explored by the likes of Charles Darwin and lived on by native Patagonian tribes like the Yaghan, can be explored further at the Martin Gusinde Anthropology Museum in the capital and port city of Puerto Williams. While in town, be sure to try the local delicacy, slow-cooked beaver, and then take a short walk to the Omora Ethnobotanical Park. Navarino is home to entire miniature forests of mosses, liverworts, and lichens, some of which are unique only to the island, so the park’s Magnifying Glass program gets visitors up close to these tiny worlds (“Honey, I shrunk the mosses!”)

But biology isn’t everyone’s wheelhouse, so there’s also the Dientes Trek. This up-and-coming circuit that has made a name for itself due to its difficulty, and anonymity in the world of Patagonian trekking. The remote trail, which winds through the Dientes Cordillera, culminates at the 860-meter-high Virginia Pass, where the views are supposed to be unreal (as are the winds, so bundle up).


More like this: A radical act of conservation: Chile creates 5 new national parks

alternates for your favorite cities

One of the challenges of traveling is avoiding returning to places you love in order to take a risk on somewhere new. It isn’t easy turning down an opportunity to sit in your favorite cafe, walk through your favorite park, or share your favorite dessert just for the chance of discovering a new city to fall in love with. Fortunately, Globehunters has put together a list of some of the world’s most popular destinations and which cities can serve as alternatives. Love Paris for its unique architecture and art history? Then maybe it’s time to try New Orleans, a French-influenced culture capital that replaces the Opera House with jazz bars and the Louvre with daily parades through the French Quarter.

Photo: Globehunters

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How to save money in Vancouver

In Vancouver, you can ski in the morning and swim in the ocean in the afternoon. But if a lift ticket doesn’t fit in your budget, you’re not alone. Vancouver has a reputation as an overpriced resort town for the super-rich. Don’t let that discourage you from visiting as a budget traveler.

The locals here have sly ways to get the most out of their beautiful city. This guide will show you how to stretch your dollar and have a uniquely Vancouver travel experience.

1. Get Vancouver culture in Kits on a budget.

Some of the trendiest Vancouver neighbourhoods for travelers are Kitsilano, Commercial Drive, and Mount Pleasant. Kitsilano, or “Kits” for short, is the more expensive and exclusive of the three. Here’s how to do Kits on the cheap.

After window shopping on West 4th Avenue, drop by the O5 Tea Bar. Try some of the kombucha on tap or a fermented pu’er tea. Each tea is prepared in front of you by knowledgeable tea sommeliers. A cup of tea will cost you between $5 and $10 dollars, but it comes with free refills and the cost is well worth it.

If you visit Vancouver in the summer, don’t miss the chance to take a dip in the Kits Beach Pool. It’s a heated saltwater pool abutting the ocean. Although it’s in a modest and old-school facility, it’s run by the city so it’s less than $5 to get in. You’ll get epic views of the city, ocean, and the surrounding mountains while getting a little exercise.

Kits is ground-zero for Vancouver’s health-conscious culture. For a real Kits experience, wind down from your day with a relaxing yoga class. Studios like YYoga and Semperviva have sweet deals for newcomers and reasonable drop-in rates. If you’re more doughnut than downward dog, then check out Lucky’s or Cartems for a coffee and doughnut.

2. Eat on the cheap.

Vancouver’s burgeoning foodie scene is exciting but it can take a bite out of your budget. If you get hungry, then fill up on cheap and healthy sushi rolls. Japanese restaurants are as plentiful as Starbucks in Vancouver. Even the most hole-in-the-wall sushi joints tend to be not too shabby.

If you’re downtown, try the tiny Yamato restaurant to get the best sushi at the lowest price. It’s where lazy Vancouverites go for a cheap, filling meal. Shizen-ya is the best option for cheap and healthy sushi. They use sprouted organic brown rice in all their meals so you can feel good about that extra dynamite roll. If you’re brave, consider trying all-you-can eat sushi places like Tomokazu on Broadway. When you go for lunch on a weekday, you’ll get the best deal.

If you have your heart set on visiting one of the swanky hotels or restaurants, drop by for Happy Hour. Since liquor laws were relaxed recently, Happy Hour specials have taken off in the last couple of years. Plenty of bars and restaurants have discounted food and drink items before their dinner rush. Catch Happy Hour at Joe Fortes Seafood & Chop House to try a classic Vancouver restaurant on the cheap.

3. Save on transportation.

There’s no need to drive in Vancouver. The city has no highway system and traffic is notoriously bad. The Canada Line is a monorail line connecting the airport with the city, so forget about the taxi line! Taxis are expensive and Vancouver still doesn’t have ride-sharing like Uber and Lyft. Fortunately, the transit system in Vancouver is a cheap and effective way to get around. Day passes are available for less than $10 and will get you anywhere in the city all day long. For bus timetables and routes, download a free app like Transit.

Vancouver is highly walkable and you’ll be able to navigate easily. Many locals don’t have a car of their own and more still love to bike to work. Vancouver has almost 22 km of seawall that includes Stanley Park, Downtown, and False Creek. This pedestrian and bike trail is an ideal way to get the best of the waterfront in Vancouver.

If you want to join in the fun, keep in mind that renting a bike isn’t cheap. Expect to pay between $25 and $35 dollars for a full day rental. However, an afternoon spent biking around Stanley Park is never wasted. Opt for an hourly rate at a bike shop close to Stanley Park and have a bit of fun on the seawall.

4. Immerse yourself in the real art scene.

Vancouver’s art scene is young. At the centre of the city, you’ll find the Vancouver Art Gallery. Admission to the VAG is pricey at $20, but if come by on a Tuesday evening, admission is by donation. You can skip the VAG altogether in favour of a free gallery crawl. In the South Granville neighbourhood, you can’t wander far without seeing a local gallery or two. Drop in during business hours to see work from local and new emerging artists.

The revitalized False Creek Flats neighbourhood is filled with gallery spaces converted from old warehouses. At its hub, the Emily Carr University of Art and Design brings together young artists and creatives. They have a public contemporary art gallery that’s free to visit.

If street art is your jam, be sure to make your way up Main Street to the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. You’ll see dozens of murals dotted throughout the neighbourhood on buildings, back alleys, parking lots. An annual mural festival celebrates local artists and refreshes the Mount Pleasant area with new murals every year.

5. Chill out at the VPL.

The Vancouver Public Library is an awesome place to hide out from the rain for a while. Connect to the free wifi, use the bathroom, and browse around in this Coliseum-esque building in Vancouver’s Downtown core. You can flip through Vancouver travel guides for free and read local publications like Vancouver Magazine, MONTECRISTO, and Geist. While you’re there, check out the VPL inspiration lab. It’s a workspace “dedicated to digital creativity, collaboration and storytelling” where you can see local creatives recording their latest podcast episode or editing their vlogs.

6. Granville Island

You can walk to Granville Island from Downtown pretty easily, but nothing beats taking the water taxi across False Creek. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to get a bit of fun and it gives your legs a chance to rest before you explore Granville Island. This place is popular with tourists so expect to shell out more for food while you’re there. While not technically an “island”, this neighborhood beneath the Granville bridge is an amazing place to visit. Browse the market, see artists workshops and studios, and check out shops like the Granville Island Broom Co. and the Artisan SakeMaker.

One Granville island trip definitely worth the money is a brewery tour. For just over $10, you can get a tour of the Granville Island Brewery. You’ll learn about beer making and get a behind-the-scenes look at Vancouver’s burgeoning microbrewery scene. Your tour wraps up with an awesome beer tasting. It’s an easy way to mingle with other travelers and beer-loving locals who come here, too.


More like this: Best hikes around Vancouver and Vancouver Island

short film lures you to Scotland

For those who love to travel to the northern places of the world, it can be difficult to describe that passion to someone who prefers that their trips begin and end with sunny beaches. How do you explain why you sometimes prefer to be wet and cold on an empty moor over basting yourself with beer in a cabana? Filmmakers David Guersan and Jamie Farquharson have attempted to answer that question in a short film about Scotland. Shot among castle ruins, ancient churches, and iconic lochs, Scotland/Be a Part of It uses poetry to reveal the magical realism of the ancient northern country.

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More like this: This video will make you want to visit Scotland right now

interesting super bowl 52 facts

The biggest sporting event in America is happening this Sunday, which means countless non-sports fans will find themselves on a crowded sofa wishing they could contribute to the conversation. Well, a new infographic from WalletHub is here to help. While Super Bowl LII will feature Justin Timberlake during the halftime show (again), Tom Brady’s Patriots (again), and avante-garde commercials that spark more media buzz than the game itself (probably), there are always new factoids to be learned about the event that causes America to eat over a billion chicken wings in a single day (that’s one!).

Photo: WalletHub

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Jigokudani Monkey Park

The Japanese macaque, more commonly known as the snow monkey, is the most northern-living primate (except humans, of course) in the world. While the Japanese Macaques live in a variety of habitats and occupy three of the four main Japanese islands, you probably recognize them as the hot tubbing primates playing in the thermal pools at Jigokudani — a behavior which has brought them notoriety.

The Jigokudani Monkey Park in Nagano, part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park — known to locals as Shigakogen — is located in the Yokoyu River valley. Covered in snow for a third of the year, Jigokudani translates to “Hell’s Valley,” not because it’s a terrible place to visit, but rather for the thermal vents that populate the frozen ground, surrounded by steep cliffs and hostile forests.

Okay, so maybe it’s not the Bahamas, but that hasn’t stopped the Japanese Macaque from calling it home and sanctuary. During the day, the monkeys descend the steep cliffs to lounge and groom each other in the onsen (hot springs). They return to their forest haven at night, only to make the trek again the next day.

The park was established in 1964 when the monkeys were seen bathing in small onsen, and larger pools were constructed for them. Since the park attendants feed the monkeys, they can be seen in the park year round. It’s privately owned by the Nagano Dentetsu Railway Company.

How to get there

Jigokudani Monkey Park is in Nagano prefecture of Japan. It’s 2.5 km from the town of Shibu Onsen, 7km from Yudanaka and 33km from Nagano City. To get there via public transportation, it’s easy to take an express bus from Nagano station, get off at the “Snow Monkey Park” bus stop.

What to consider

The park is open year-round, and it’s possible to see the monkeys in all four seasons, but they congregate in the pools the most during the winter months.
Admission is 800 yen (~$7) for adults and 400 yen for children (under 18).
It’s a 10-25 minute walk (~2km) on a narrow footpath through the forest from the entrance to the pools where the monkeys congregate.
Don’t feed the monkeys.
No pets are allowed.
Be sure to wear appropriate clothing and good shoes as there’s often a lot of snow and the ground is slippery.
The macaques are very curious and friendly, so they might come close, but resist the urge to touch them.
This is the only place in the whole world to see snow monkeys bathing in hot springs.



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ace this quiz for southerners

Interview with Jason Moore

Jason Moore fits nearly every definition of a “travel influencer.” His Zero To Travel podcast has been downloaded over 3 million times and regularly features high-profile guests from across the travel and digital nomad scenes. Along with business partner Travis Sherry (host of the Extra Pack of Peanuts podcast), Jason started an online community called Location Indie, aiming to help people from around the world build a location-independent lifestyle.

His knowledge is gleaned from over a decade spent traversing the US working travel-related jobs from marketing events to concerts. Jason grew up outside of Philadelphia and since his early twenties, being on the road has been his life in one way or another. He now lives in Oslo, Norway with his wife and daughter. We caught up via Skype to talk travel, business, and life.

What’s your earliest memory of travel?

One was going camping with my dad. He took us on some camping trips early on, and I loved being in a new place and being outside, this feeling of adventure. I remember channeling my inner Indiana Jones, if you will. Being out in the world was always a great feeling, and I always felt at home in some way. We didn’t take too many family vacations when I was growing up, but I remember thinking, “This is a thing that people do, that’s totally different from our everyday lives.” When you’re a kid, driving twenty minutes away is like a road trip. It didn’t really matter that we were only driving an hour and a half away in the Poconos, it was just that feeling of sleeping somewhere different.

How did you get started working in the travel industry?

I fell into an industry called event marketing, which is essentially live events. Companies want to get their product into people’s hands, so they put together these wacky events to go out and promote a new product, do a launch, or just get people to try it out and have an experience with their product or brand.

I didn’t know this was a giant multi-billion-dollar industry. When I came out of college, I was in this no-man’s land. “What am I going to do, I don’t know what to do,” and I realized that I just wanted to travel. Instead of getting a career job and trying to travel afterward I thought, “Why don’t I just get a job that allows me to travel?”

I have to give credit to my Mom, because I did get offered a regular job and I was like “I don’t really want to do this, I want to travel.” She supported me, even though I was living on her couch taking up space.

I stumbled across this job, a charity event called the Kmart Kids Race Against Drugs. It was going from city to city for eight months. They faxed me — faxed — the schedule. I got to travel to a different city every week, this was incredible. They paid me $500 a week, which felt like a king’s ransom. I loved it.

I ended up taking a decade-long road trip around the United States doing experiential marketing events. This led to being a tour manager for a band.

The band was Matt and Kim, right? How did you line that up?

Yeah, it was Matt and Kim. I was doing this experiential marketing tour for Bacardi, but it was tied in with a music tour. I handled the hospitality for artists. I don’t know if we became friends, but we were seeing each other a lot. One day backstage, Kim asked me if I did tour management.

Their manager, he was pretty hard. He first told me I wasn’t qualified. I proceeded to talk his ear off for 20 minutes telling him why I was qualified. Finally, he was like, “Ok, I’ll call you back tomorrow.” He called me back and said, “We’re going to give you a shot but don’t screw this up.”

How was that? It seems like a dream job.

It was great, but when I got into the music stuff, I was getting burnt out on the road. I’d been touring for ten years full on, and about another 5 on and off. I wanted to figure out how I could travel on my own terms and not have a schedule dictated to me.

That’s how you got into the world of entrepreneurship.

Yep. I had a business in the event industry that I worked in for a long time. It was an online business, but I recently shut that down because I’m having too much fun with all the other stuff I’m doing — like Zero To Travel, the travel publishing company and podcast, the Location Indie community, and The Paradise Pack.

When I traveled all those years, I talked to so many travelers on the road. I was fascinated by all the different ways that people were traveling. I went on my first tour in 1998. You didn’t see all these blogs and you couldn’t necessarily see all the ways people were traveling. But, as you traveled around, you got to know these people and how they did it. (What is now) Google was an old-fashioned conversation, talking to people in hostels and such. People were painting boats port to port, there were families living in RVs, this person’s hitchhiking around, this person’s working on sailboats.

I knew that people had to know about this. I got really excited about the idea of helping other people do it. When I decided to start another website after my event business, I wanted to do something around travel because I’m so passionate about it and helping others do it.

It sounds like you do quite a bit. Give me a rundown on it all.

I spent a couple years working in Colorado. That’s when I started to figure out how I could do this location-independent, digital nomad deal where I get to travel where I want, when I want. I started self-educating and learning, and joined a community online. I dove deep and long story short, I got things going. I started moving back and forth between Norway and the United States.

Editor’s note: Jason’s wife, Anne Dorthe, is Norwegian. Their dating years included many trips back and forth to see each other before Jason eventually settled in Norway.

Do you think it’s too late to start a travel blog? Is it still possible to pick up traction?

No, it’s not too late. Because everybody has a unique experience and voice to bring to whatever world they want to bring it to. Yes, there are a lot of travel blogs, but there are great ones that come out every day that help someone. Nobody else can have your voice — you have unique experiences, so when you put something out there in your own way, you’re in the position to serve other people in the unique way that only you can.

What gives you the most satisfaction?

I read something somewhere that said, “It’s all selfish — even if you’re doing something that helps others, you do it to make yourself feel good.” So in that way, am I selfish? I don’t know. I love the opportunity to share whatever knowledge I have and to be able to bring other people onto my podcast that can share their knowledge so that people can learn and go out and build their lives around travel. I get these emails sometimes that bring me to tears, telling me about how my work has helped them in some way. I always tell them that they did the hard work. I’m glad I could help, but it takes a lot of guts to quit a job and travel, or to start a business and go out on your own.

Another thing that I like personally is that it grows with you. If you want to be a full-time traveler and live on the road, you can do that. But if you’re someone like me who’s now later on in life, you don’t have to be a full-time nomad. I have a child, and because of my lifestyle, I can spend more time with her. I can take her to kindergarten in the morning and still get my work done.

I love having the freedom to be location-independent, where I can run my business from anywhere even if that anywhere is from home. To always have the option to be able to travel is a wonderful thing.


More like this: What to expect when you first become a digital nomad

What NOT to do on a safari

As a tour guide in South Africa, I have spent the last 20 years both visiting and working in such places as the Kruger National Park, the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve, iThala Game Reserve, and many more.

From my experience, visitors to game parks arrive without knowing what they’re in for and what’s required of them, or even just general safari etiquette.

To help you have a great time while in the parks without making a fool of yourself, here are 5 things you should never do while on a safari:

1. Call animals.

Don’t whistle, call, or bang on the side of your safari vehicle to get the attention of an animal. Instead of the animal turning towards you for your photo, the loud noise may instead cause them to bolt. There’s also the very real danger in the case of bigger animals (especially elephants) that the sudden sound leads them to charge. Either way, you’re not going to be very popular with your fellow tourists or guide.

2. Hog a sighting.

There’s an unwritten rule that everyone gets a 10 to 15-minute opportunity to view animals at a sighting. This way, everyone gets a good look. Spending an hour or two while vehicles are starting to queue up behind you is not fair and definitely won’t endear you to fellow safari travelers. So, enjoy your viewing and after 10 minutes or so move so someone else can get a turn.

3. Be a know-it-all.

We, guides, understand that you may have very good knowledge of animals. But there may be others on the same tour who are safari virgins and know very little about the local fauna. So, let the guides do what they are paid to do. You’re more than welcome to share anecdotes of your prior travels, but please, respect your guides and they’ll do the same for you.

4. Get impatient with travellers.

In any group, small or big, people are going to have varied interests. I had a group of 10 on safari with me recently, of which eight wanted to see the big 5, and two just wanted to spot birds — it made for three very long and stressful days as the birders insisted on spending time at bird sightings while the others become frustrated and annoyed at not moving on to find the big 5. Be respectful of one another, because you’re likely going to be traveling with them for some time.

5. Don’t listen to your guide.

Guides have a job to do, and the most important part of our jobs is keeping you safe. Recently, at a picnic site at the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve, two guests from a colleague’s safari vehicle ignored the guide’s instructions and ended being separated from their group by a small herd of elephants. Their guide had to risk his life to get them back to safety. So, if your guides ask you to move back from an animal, do so. If they ask you not to touch, then please don’t touch. Guides want you to go home stoked about your animal sightings, not relating the experience of being impaled on the horns of a Nyala (yup, it happened).


More like this: 15 things you need to know before photographing your first African safari

Adventure travel with kids

It’s easy to fall into thinking that trips with kids should be “family friendly” in the sense of “planned around activities for the kids” — beach bum resorts with kids’ clubs spring to mind, or vacations to amusement parks (I’m looking at you, Disneyworld). But if you’d rather be climbing mountains instead of lounging on the beach waiting for your child to show you the paper crown they made in group crafts today, you still have lots of options available to you. Here are some ways to get your kids involved in more adventurous travel.

Look for “family friendly” adventure travel packages.

There are a number of companies that offer organized tours for families. Ranging from Egyptian sandcastle-building to a jungle tree house in Belize to meeting orangutans in Borneo, these trips are fun for you AND your under-18s. Despite the family aspects, these tours are often geared more towards older children who can walk long distances on their own and don’t need naps, or very young children, who can be worn. Some attractions and activities have height limits, but tour operators are willing to warn you in advance so you can give your kid a heads-up about what they may or may not be able to do — nothing ruins a holiday like a kid who thought they were going to be able to go ziplining, throwing a tantrum in the middle of the forest.

Tours also include a lot of travel time, to see as much as possible in a limited number of days, so you will have to make sure that your child is okay with travel. How do they act on long car trips? Will they be able to sit still on bumpy roads? Will they get car sick? You may also have some unusual travel options — camel-back, motorcycle taxi — and it is up to you to assess limits for your own child and ensure they have a safe experience. I directly contacted Wildland Adventures to ask about age restrictions on transport; they said that it varies by trip, as some trips have minimum age limits (for example, boat tours, which cannot accommodate very young children), but car seats are provided for younger children as long as you tell them beforehand.

If you are not comfortable traveling with the rest of the group because of the needs of your child, some tour operators will work with you to ensure that you can meet up in a different way or at a different place. Start out asking your questions, and you will find many tour guides to be pleasant, flexible, and adore children.

Rent (or buy) a camper.

If you have a driver’s license, a campervan trip is the way to go. In many countries, you can rent a campervan, trailer camper, or RV for not too much more than renting a car, especially if you plan in advance. Check the child restraint requirements for the rental — they usually don’t keep child safety seats on hand to rent to you, and some lines may not support the installation of rear-facing child seats. If your kid is over 8, they usually don’t need a special seat and can just travel with a seatbelt like an adult.

The major advantage to campers is your ability to stop and go whenever you feel like it. As anyone who has traveled with children knows, you are more at the whim of their schedule than they are willing to bow to yours (at least when they’re young). It is illegal in most countries to allow children to sleep or move around a camper while it is in motion, as they need to be belted in, so if your children are young enough to nap, you can pull over at a scenic park and let them sleep while you enjoy the view. If they don’t need naps, you can take back roads and scenic routes, stop at any campground that looks interesting, or plot a course for a particular remote location that you’ve always wanted to see. Try to limit the consecutive hours you end up driving so nobody gets too antsy; I’d say the point of traveling by camper is more about the places you stop in than hitting some kind of personal goal for miles traveled.

It’s probably a good idea to stay away from American-style RV parks, though — I’ve always had luck with finding out-of-the-way (but legal) places to pull over and enjoy a night of sleep far away from other people. RV parks usually have long-term residents, not a lot of privacy, and encourage some late-night partying that might not be to your tastes with children.

Go hiking.

If your child will ride along happily in a baby carrier, wrap, or hiking backpack, you are set. The smaller the kid, the easier they are to haul along on hiking trips, actually — you just stick them on your back with a bunch of sunscreen and go! They’ll sleep as they feel like it, and you can have breaks for them to get down and toddle around before they have to climb back up and ride for a bit. My husband used to joke about the “tiny demon arms” that would reach around and try to stuff Goldfish crackers in his mouth as we walked through the woods with our daughter in a backpack carrier (she liked to share her snacks).

Kids who are older can do their own walking, provided the trails are not too difficult or you don’t mind carrying them for the steep parts. Like anything else, practice makes perfect: the more time you spend hiking with your kids, the more used to it they’ll be. Younger kids can’t walk too far or too long, but they can still enjoy short trails, especially if you stop to point things out. I like to draw my daughter’s attention to animals or flowers we see, and she will show me mushrooms or leaves or sticks.

If you want to do some hiking to a campsite or anything that requires carrying substantial gear, this may take some finagling, but it can be done. Again, the smaller your child, the more portable they are — one parent can wear the child in a carrier and carry some gear, while the other carries the bulk of the weight (tent, food, etc). If you have more gear, a slightly older child, or more than one kid, you might consider going on smoother trails using an all-terrain or jogging stroller. These strollers have heavier tires with good suspension and swivel front wheels to allow for rough ground.

Prepare yourself for some negative experiences.

Sometimes “adventure” doesn’t always mean good stuff. As this story of taking children trekking on Everest states, kids can get really sick on the road, just like grownups. They can get traveler’s diarrhea, food poisoning, or asthma attacks… as well as being prone to even more gross amoebas and hepatitis-ridden gutters than adults, because they’re more likely to be sticking things in their mouths. Humans don’t actually develop the logical reasoning part of their brains until our mid-twenties, so even teenagers are poor at risk assessment, and may see no problem with ordering undercooked hamburgers from street food vendors in Nepal.

Kids dehydrate fast, so if your offspring come down with Delhi belly, keep them full of water and electrolytes, even if it all runs out the other end. Having good travel insurance is a must-have, although my experience with hospitals in other countries (I’m looking at you, emergency room in Pattaya, Thailand) is that even if you don’t have it, the out-of-pocket costs are often much cheaper than they would be in, say, the United States. Be cautious about taking antibiotics unless you are positive they are required; especially in remote areas of developing countries, rural doctors may overprescribe antibiotics, some of which may be expired… which has led to a surge in antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Recent research shows that a lot of bacterial diarrhea is best treated by using a single strong dose of antibiotic and regular antidiarrheals like Immodium; the folk wisdom of “better out than in” doesn’t apply to diarrhea, which heals fastest when your gut can relax and stop being inflamed.

Carry some hand sanitizer and prepare yourself for the worst. Then, when it doesn’t happen, you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Use the tools available to you.

If your kids are old enough to ride a bike but too young to walk everywhere, consider renting bicycles to tour the streets of a village. If you need an all-terrain stroller, use one. If you need to rent a car to drive your bags to a whale-watching departure point, do that and don’t feel bad. That 14-hour overnight train trip from Bangkok to Chiang Mai can be fun when it’s just you (trust me, I took it), but it doesn’t improve your street cred or your travel experience, or somehow make you a “better” adventurer. Be willing to take taxis if you need them, or stay in a cheap hotel at the last minute. Adventure does not equal difficulty; you want this trip to be enjoyable, not just hard.


More like this: Why adventure travel with kids does not always have to mean heading into the wilderness