The Perfect Blend: How to Mix Outdoors with Indoors Adventures
Adventure travel is one of the most rewarding ways to explore our world and its natural wonders. Too often, tourism focuses on city centers and activities like museum visits and sightseeing. Oftentimes, these areas are home to overpriced tours and meals.
All the hubbub and pricey tags are worth it if you’ve spent a lifetime waiting to see Notre Dame or the Mahabalipuram… but not so much if you’re keen to hike through the mountains on the hunt for the world’s most stunning sunrise. Though less common than city tourism, adventure tourism offers truly unforgettable experiences.
But if you’ve already sampled all the wonders that New Zealand has to offer, then you’re probably planning a trip to another continent. And if that’s true, then it might make sense to bundle in a bit of indoor exploration before you hit the great outdoors. We’ve assembled a few great ways to experience a new culture without missing out on nature-based adventures.
Get inspired with our case studies below, which highlight how you can pack a smidgeon of standard tourism in with your big outdoor vacation.
Touch Down in a Big City
The easiest way to spend some time exploring a new place is to arrive in a large city. For example, if you’re heading to the Val d’Aran in the Pyrenees to do something like a hut-to-hut trek, then you’re in store for an unforgettable winter adventure. However, you might consider planning a day or two in Barcelona before you head off.
Barcelona is home to iconic sites like the Sagrada Familia. However, it’s also home to highly intriguing events like the Barcelona European Poker Tour stopover. Worldwide, most people prefer online poker for tournaments alike. Virtual poker is convenient and tends to include great welcome deals… but that doesn’t mean watching a live tournament isn’t also riveting.
Catching a poker event is a great way to diversify a backpacking adventure—and it won’t shave days off your original itinerary. And for those about to exercise their legs, watching a few pros bet and bluff their way to a win is a great way to get the mental gears moving as well.
Explore Science & Research Centers
Watching a poker tournament in Barcelona is one example of a creative and entertaining way to blend indoor and outdoor adventures. But if you prefer science to Texas Hold’em, then you’ll be happy to hear that many of the world’s most remote locations are also home to research facilities—and you can bundle a visit into your itinerary.
For example, if you’re heading to the Atacama Desert to do something like surf the dunes or race in the Atacama Desert race, then you’ll probably touch down in Santiago. However, you’ll also be able to visit a place called Cerro Paranal. It’s home to Paranal Observatory—the world’s second-most powerful telescope.
That means you can schedule a visit at the start or end of your Atacama adventure and gain access to one of the world’s most powerful technological tools. If you’re heading into a truly solitary region, then consider looking into a similar research facility. Oftentimes, they’re open for public tours, just like the Paranal Observatory.
Theme Parks
Just like a poker game or a big telescope can add a new and entertaining dimension to outdoor adventure travel, so can looking into things like theme parks. While it might not seem like a likely stopover, theme parks tend to be located outside of cities, which makes them a great option. For example, if you’re planning a trip to explore Mt. Fuji or Mt. Rishiri in Japan, then you’ll have plenty of urban adventures in store for you.
However, if you want to be mindful about ‘getting out of town’ and sticking to nature, then schedule in a theme park trip. These parks are located on the border between urban and rural locales, which means you can easily schedule a day trip. Similar to watching a poker tournament, heading to a theme park is an exciting way to get a bit more out of your international outdoor adventure trip.