Culture & Luxury Adventure Travel Destinations

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world, within reach of all middle class Americans and Europeans. China, Japan, and India too are traveling in large numbers to experience the adventure of distant lands and cultures. Adventurers discovered the world as we know it and opened up trade and exchange with far away cultures, thousands of years ago.

Today the "Adventure World" is the latest trend in tourism and adventure travel is one of the hottest search topics on the net. Do a search for adventure travel on Google and you will see 16 million pages in the results. There are many alternatives offering private cultural tours, active tours and nature tours to adventure holiday destinations and cultures. Many offer luxury accommodation, gourmet dining and full service. Many are cultural adventure tours and holidays where the focus is on exploring traditions, people, social structures, beliefs, communities and ways of life. 

Adventure travel and adventure holidays are not confined to hiking and mountain climbing trips led by rugged outdoor types who wake before dawn and move without stop. The new adventure world of the outdoor explorer and overseas adventure traveler is luxury adventure travel to far away cultures. Whether it is extreme sports, nature or cultural adventures, comfort and style is now a choice and a possibility on a safari or a trek in the jungle.

Sea Kayak adventures in Nova Scotia will stop on an offshore island and roll out the red carpet, serving lobster and wine as your geologist guide explains how you can see rocks of Africa, Europe and America in this one stop. “The world all merged here in Nova Scotia, once” he will say. Geological adventure travel and exploration of crust and cove, minerals and fossils are capturing the attention of many an adventure vacationer and Nova Scotia, with its incredible timescales is a unique experience.

The writer and Cultural navigator Andrew Princz brings us cultural adventures from around the globe. His love is exploring different cultures and places. His stories dig behind the obvious to explain a way of life that travelers often miss. His article on the Elephant Cowboys is a classic example of digging deep and communicating cultural experiences with humour and insight.

In Elephant Cowboys, Andrew captures the special relationship that elephants and their handlers develop. He also captures the culture and the traditions that go back centuries. Elephants are a way of life in the economy of this Thailand society. They build almost human relationships with their handlers, even to the point of understanding their dialect. This point is also brought out in the book "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen where Rosie an elephant trained in Polish, ignored anything said in English. Andrew says: “The mahouts are the elephant’s most trusted human companions and their traditions; disciplined lives and linguistic affinities go back centuries”. In his travels Andrew may trek and rough it in mountain tents and jungle huts.

But comfort is not far away, even in the Jungles of Dominica or in a quiet village in Thailands Gloden Triangle, overlooking the Mekong River on the bordering of Laos and Burma. One can stay in the comfort of a 5 star luxury resort or live simply in an outdoor tented camp or a tree top jungle hut.

There is much to discover in how others live. Human nature is diverse and cultures are fascinating. Discovering Nature in a new and different destination with its own traditions and cultures is a learning experience that can us teach us about ourselfs and our own creative place in the world. Learning about cultures and nature are memories and lessons that last.

Cultural exchange can and does change lives. We are often moved by simple things; genuine people with open hearts and the natural insight that comes from living close to nature. Our sophistical lives are complex, fast and often detached. A trip to the Butang Kingdom, the ancient Buddhist land of Nepal, a chance meeting on a visit to a small village with open uncomplicated people can move us to the core.

Many an unsuspecting tourist has been smitten by the simple live of the people they meet in far away places living in what seems a far away time. They marvel at the cultures and people who seem to have so little and yet are full of life, spirit and wisdom. Like Elizebeth Gilbert of "Eat, Pray, Love" they return to a life that seems somehow to be more with less.

We learn from each other and Cultural Adventure Holidays are a great way to start.