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First, Let Yourself Go
It’s the adventure of a lifetime! You just have to share it with eight strangers. (Sigh.)

“Marsopa! Marsopa!” the deckhand cried, and we scrambled for our wetsuits and gear. We were three days into a ten-day live-aboard cruise south of the equator and still edgy and terminally polite with each other. Excusez-moi. Pardon. Eight guests from five different countries fumbling into scuba gear so that we could swim with the marsopas. What we saw when we hit the water was astonishing: about 30 bottle-nosed dolphins, some 500-pounders, some like sleek gray piglets, and all grinning and nodding enthusiastically in our face masks as if to say, “Yes! Yes! Weird, bubble-making, rubber-suited beings, come play with us! You we like!” Unlike when I’d met my fellow passengers, I took one look at the dolphins and thought, This is the fun-loving peer group I’ve been looking for ever since my high-school friends got lives.

I couldn’t tear myself from the ceaselessly circling celebration until, after about 45 minutes, the dolphins lost interest and swam off. Suddenly alone, I kicked to the surface and saw the tiny, very distant dive boat motoring away. Yep, I thought, once again I’m screwed.

When it comes to group travel, it can seem at times that we’re all screwed. You think about how you spent all this money and traveled all this way to get stuck with a bunch of tight-assed ophthalmologists’ wives. And then you end up having sex with them. (Or don’t, but wish you had.) Personally, I start out on a trip among strangers with my defenses up, prejudices blazing. But the more I travel, the more I hold out hope. And what I hope for is a little disaster, the one that breaks the ice—if it doesn’t kill me first.

Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be about me being the idiot. I wasn’t the one who started the riot in the karaoke bar in Koror, nor did I cause the whole team to slide 500 feet down Mount Hood on their butts, practicing self-arrest techniques. I didn’t call the Mayan shaman’s grandmother “Fat Lady,” and it wasn’t my navel ring the sea lion wanted to play with in that cavern in Baja. In each of these cases, somebody else stepped up and ate the humble pâté, but each time, everyone in our group rallied around the misfortune. The important thing isn’t who does it, or what they do, but that everybody is actually doing something, anything, out at the edge of their comfort zone. Then the moment of terror, beauty, or humor (or all three at once) makes friends of fellow travelers.

For example, my rescue from an uninhabited rock mere hours after running away to join the dolphin circus gave us all something to talk and joke about. And from that point on we eight became a team. No one got left behind as we surged onward, a small community stoking each other with laughter and wonderment—a fine peer group, after all, though I agree with the marsopa: We do look ridiculous in our rubber suits.

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BEST TRIPS

ISLANDS
HIGH ALTITUDE
AFRICA
MOST REMOTE
OPEN-AIR CLASSROOM
MULTISPORT
PADDLING
ARCTIC and ANTARCTIC
A BETTER WORLD
OVER THE TOP

You could limit yourself to standard island fare: beaches great for digging your feet into the sand, tiki torches, moonlight dips in aquamarine lagoons. Or you could seek out the delights found only on the choicest isles: whitewater rapids galore, verdant hiking trails winding through wolf territory, and mindblowing views of the northern lights.

The Philippines
Coral, Butterflies, and Sweat

Start with a seven-day whitewater-rafting descent of the boulder-choked Cagayan River, which churns down Luzon’s Sierra Madre and through the island’s last remaining rainforest. You may not be able to identify every one of the butterflies along the way (the Philippines have 895 species) because you’ll be too busy paddling; this is, after all, only the second commercial trip down the steep and technical Class IV upper section of the Cagayan. Next, ditch the raft and embark on a four-day trek to the 2,000-foot-high, 2,000-year-old Banaue rice terraces before hopping into a sea kayak for four more days of paddling and snorkeling around the lush El Nido islands to see as many of the Philippines’s 500 different corals as you can.
Outfitter: Mukuni Wilderness Whitewater Expeditions, 800-235-3085, www.mukuni.com
When to Go: �ٱ𳦱𳾲����­-�����Գܲ�����
Price: $2,950
Difficulty: Moderate

—Jason Daley

Get Marooned

Michigan: Backpacking Isle Royale National Park

The dense boreal forests of roadless Isle Royale, located 22 miles off Minnesota’s easternmost tip in Lake Superior, put you in prime moose-viewing territory. Depending on your fitness level, guides choose between two seven-day, 45-mile island traverses: the mountainous Greenstone Ridge, which follows the island’s backbone, or the precipitous Minong Trail on its north shore. At night, you’ll watch the northern lights from camp and listen for the howls of the island’s 29 wolves.��
Outfitter: The Northwest Passage, 800-732-7328, www.nwpassage.com
When to Go: September
Price: $925
Difficulty: Strenuous

Ireland: Mountain Biking the West Coast
There’s only one proper way to experience rural southwestern Ireland’s druidic past—biking your way 30 to 65 miles a day for 14 days down coastal roadways and rough lanes on the Dingle Peninsula. You’ll take detours over narrow sheep-clogged farm pathsin County Clare and cycle through the Irish mist to 2,200-year-old caves, ring forts, and mysterious stone dolmens—thought to be druid altars or gravestones—and sleep in village hotels. It could well rain, but in Ireland, you have to take dark skies with a grain of salt. (A pint helps, too.)
Outfitter: Classic ���ϳԹ���s, 800-777-8090, www.classicadventures.com
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Price: $2,990
Difficulty: Moderate

Scandinavia: Road Cycling the Southern Islands
You’ll start each of this trip’s 15 days with platters of Danish pastries, mounds of Swedish pancakes, and no fewer than 12 varieties of yogurt. After breakfast, the cycling will wake you from a carbohydrate stupor as you explore the islands and mainland coasts of eastern Denmark and southern Sweden, powering 25 to 30 miles a daypast the grassy dunes and sandy beaches of Denmark’s Baltic coast to the harbor towns of Aerø Island and the cool pine forests of Sweden’s Lake District. And the best thing about a hard day’s ride? Evenings spent lounging in the Swedish sauna.
Outfitter: Euro-Bike and Walking Tours, 800-321-6060, www.eurobike.com
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Price: $3,900
Difficulty: Moderate

Indonesia: Tall-Ship Sailing the Bali and Flores Seas
It looks like a prop from The Princess Bride, but the century-old tall ship Adelaar is a prime sailing machine. It cruises east from Balifor 11 days and through the remote tropical archipelago Nusa Tenggara, detouring to let you snorkel the coral surrounding Rinca Island and deserted Banta Island in search of butterfly fish and Spanish dancers. On Komodo Island, you’ll prowl the Komodo National Park with a guide to look for the nine-foot-long man-eating Komodo dragon.
Outfitter: Wilderness Travel, 800-368-2794, www.wildernesstravel.com
When to Go: July­-August, December
Price: $3,200
Difficulty: Easy

Irian Jaya: Visiting Papua New Guinea’s Stone Age Peoples
Irian Jaya, an Indonesian province comprising the Western half of the island of Papua New Guinea, is inhabited by hundreds of tribes who practice a way of life that dates back to the Stone Age. On this 14-day trip, you’ll visit with the Dani people of the Baliem Valley and the Asmat of the southern coast and witness traditional ceremonies (such as the Bisj pole ceremony which commemorates dead warriors). You’ll hike through lush mangrove forests and down sandy beaches as your native Irian guides point out the best parts of their homeland.
Outfitter: Geographic Expeditions, 415-922-0448, www.geoex.com
When to go: June, September
Price: $5000
Difficulty: Strenuous

Prince Edward Island: Cycling Historic Canada
You’ll start your 7-day cycling tour in the P.E.I. capital Charlottetown before moving down the road to Canada’s Brackley Beach National Park. Then you’ll pedal through rolling farmland on to the fishing village of Victoria, known for its light houses and blue heron colony. Besides magnificent seascapes, choice seafood, and a dose of island life, you’ll learn much mire than you ever thought possible about the influences behind Anne of Green Gables, P.E.I.’s literary claim to fame.
Outfitter: Classic ���ϳԹ���s, 800-777-8090, www.classicadventures.com
When to go: July
Price: $1295
Difficulty: Moderate

Madagascar: Wildlife Safari
For millennia, Madagascar has been separated from mainland Africa, allowing an amazing array of unusual and interesting creatures to develop. On this 19-day trip, Allen Bechky, a world-renowned authority on safari and bush travel, will lead you into the rain forests of Perinet, the Coral Gardens of Isalo, the Spiny Forest of Ifaty, and the badland canyons of Isalo. You’ll see some of the island’s wildlife–indri, aye-aye, and sifaka to name a few–and gain a deep understanding of their place in one of the world’s most unique ecosystems.
Outfitter: Mountain Travel Sobek, 888-MTSOBEK, www.mtsobek.com
When to Go: April, May, June
Price: $4750
Difficulty: Easy

Washington: Sea Kayaking the San Juan Islands
You’ll start your six-day adventure on San Juan Island, one of more than 200 island in the San Juan archipelago. Paddling through forested islets, you’ll be in the prime location to spot some of the more than 80 orca whales who call the San Juans home. The evenings are spent in beach camps, where classic Northwest cuisine (roast salmon!) is served as you watch the sun set over the Pacific
Outfitter: REI ���ϳԹ���s, 800-622-2236, www.rei.com
When to Go: June, July, August, September
Price: $895
Difficulty: Moderate

Greece: Cycling Crete The double steeps: Crete is steeped in history–you’ll pass by the ruins of Knossos, Gortyn, and Festos on your week-long journey–and Crete’s roads are steep. On this cycling trip you’ll power up the islands rugged mountains and coastline as you cycle from inn to inn and taverna to taverna experiencing the best hospitality the Cretans have to offer. Flower-festooned houses greet you as you come out of the mountains and into inland villages. And although it’s ancient, Crete loves new visitors.
Outfitter: The Northwest Passage, 800-RECREATE, www.nwpassage.com
When to Go: May, October
Price: $1890
Difficulty: Moderate

China
The Back Door to K2

This is K2 with a twist. Mountaineer Jim Williams, a 30-year Himalayas veteran, leads a 32-day trek to the base of this 28,250-foot peak, the world’s second-highest, from Xinjiang Uygur, a predominately Muslim, Turkish-dialect-speaking, autonomous region of China. One advantage to this approach (versus the usual route from the increasingly crowded Pakistani side) is the sheepherding and farming Uighur cultures encountered in the town of Kashgar before the trip’s most rigorous slog: a six-hour-per-day, 14-day trek to the K2 glacier and a 12,631-foot base camp. Afterward, there’s the 15,524-foot Khunjerab Pass, where five of the world’s most impressive mountain ranges—the Hindu Kush, Kunlun, Tian Shan, Karakoram, and Himalaya—converge.
Outfitter: Geographic Expeditions, 800-777-8183, www.geoex.com
When to Go: ���ܲԱ�­-�����ٱ𳾲����
Price: $7,490
Difficulty: Strenuous
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—Sam Moulton

Breathe Deep

Peru: Climbing and Trekking in the Cordillera Vilcanota
Acclimatize on the classic three-day Inca Trail trek to Machu Picchu. Then veer off the gringo route and through the rarely visited Cordillera Vilcanota, a range of 12,000- to 15,000-foot peaks, to climb 20,945-foot Nevado Ausangate. You’ll stage a one-day summit bid from a 17,000-foot camp on the backside of the peak. “The crux of the climb,” says Vince Anderson, owner of Skyward Mountaineering, “is a 50-degree glacial headwall early on.” The rest is, uh, cake: scrambling around crevasses to the top and then returning to Cuzco on foot 21 days after you set out.
Outfitter: Skyward Mountaineering, 970-209-2985,
Price: $3,500
When to Go: ���ܲԱ�­-���ܲ��ܲ���
Difficulty: Moderate

Canada: Backcountry Snowboarding Rogers Pass, British Columbia
On day one of this five-day, 30,000-foot-total vertical trip, intermediate boarders learn backcountry travel basics, route selection, and avalanche-transceiver techniques. Then they ascend the powder keg that is British Columbia’s 8,000- to 11,000-foot Selkirk Range on snowshoes or split boards and carve down epic, 4,000-foot alpine runs. “We set you up for success with steep chutes, wide-open bowls, and treed glades,” says Yamnuska owner David Begg. Nights are spent in local hotels (on your dime), and each of the last four days involves tough decisions—Dome Glacier? Hermit Basin? Young’s Peak? Don’t worry, you can’t go wrong.
Outfitter: Yamnuska, Inc.403-678-4164, www.yamnuska.com
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Price: $520
Difficulty: Strenuous

Vietnam: Fan-si-pan Summit
Trek through lush fields of orchids and wild medicinal herbs to mingle with Hoang Lien Mountains hill tribes before reaching a surreal high-alpine environment of bamboo thickets, pine trees, and rhododendron. You’ll slog through wet, steep jungle foothills, camping en route to the highest peak in Indochina, 10,312-foot Fan-si-pan—a far cry from the Himalayas and Andes, not to mention home—with glimpses of southern China.
Outfitter: Snow Lion ���ϳԹ���s, 800-525-8735, www.snowlion.com
When to Go: November
Price: $2,000
Difficulty: Easy

New Zealand: Climbing Mount Cook
The ascent of 12,346-foot Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest, is “much more technical than Denali,” says Bryan Carter, managing director of outfitter Alpine Guides. The obstacles are numerous: heavy glaciation, big vertical scale (5,300 feet), and unpredictable weather. Consequently, you (a fit and skilled mountaineer) are allotted seven days for what could well take four. The payoff is a panorama of the Mackenzie Basin grasslands, the Tasman Glacier, and the Tasman Sea from a crowd-free mountaintop; only about 250 people summit each year.
Outfitter: Alpine Guides, 011-64-3-435-1834, www.alpineguides.co.nz
When to Go: ���DZ��𳾲����-­�Ѳ�������
Price: $1,400
Difficulty: Strenuous

Peru: Trekking in the Cordillera Vilcabamba
From coffee and tea plantations to sub-tropical forests and 6000 meter peaks, this 21-day adventure takes in all of Peru’s Cordillera Vilcabamba, an area that has had few visitors in the past several centuries. Highlanders still wear their traditional dress and Incan roads still criss-cross the area. On your journey you’ll trek four or five hours per day with ample lunch breaks and time to explore local villages and investigate the wildlife. You’ll also cross five high-mountain passes, including the 16,000 foot Incachiriasca Pass before winding down your adventure with a visit to Machu Picchu.
Outfitter: KE ���ϳԹ��� Travel, 800-497-9675, www.keadventure.com
When to Go: July-August
Price: $2795
Difficulty: Strenuous

Alaska: Ski Mountaineering and Rafting in Glacier Bay NP Space.
That’s what you’ll notice when descending in your seaplane toward Glacier Bay on the first day of your arctic adventure. For twelve days, you’ll be out there in Alaska’s wide expanse, traversing the jagged blue ice of the Riggs glacier, climbing and skiing peaks that have never been skied, camping on ice, and descending the massive LeBlondou Glacier to the Tsirku River for 2-days of rafting.
Outfitter: Alaska Mountain Guides & Climbing School, Inc., 800-766-3366
When to Go: June
Price: $2400
Difficulty: Strenuous

France: Cycling the French Alps
If you take this trip, you’ll be just like Lance Armstrong. Minus the cycling titles. Minus the against-all-odds story. Minus coverboy status. (Okay, so you both breathe oxygen.) This ten-day bike trip takes you onto the Route Des Grande Alpes and stages 14, 15, and 16 of the 2000 Tour de France. You’ll pedal 70-100 kilometers a day, passing the Gorge de Cians on your way to the high passes of Col d’Iozard, Croix de Fer , and the 21 switchbacks of the l’Alpe d’Heuz. And, pardon my French, you’ll rest your tired keister at night in some of the Alps most inviting resorts and inns.
Outfitter: Cyclevents, 1-888-733-9615, www.cyclevents.com
When to Go: July, August
Price: $1850 ($950 if you camp)
Difficulty: Strenuous

Tanzania: Climbing Kilimanjaro
Steep climbs and high altitude mark the Machame Route, a little traveled but highly scenic trail to the top of Kilimanjaro. This non-technical ascent will take you through cloud-forests and groves of giant heather before you reach the roof of Africa. But as a warm-up, you’ll spend the first half of your two-week trip viewing wildlife in Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire, and Manyara National Parks.
Outfitter: Mountain Travel Sobek, 888-MTSOBEK, www.mtsobek.com
When to Go: January, February, June, July, August, September, December
Price: $3990
Difficulty: Strenuous

Italy: Hiking the Dolomites
Imagine the Von Trapp’s slurping spaghetti or Pavarotti singing Edelweiss, and you’ve captured the Dolomites, the northern border of Italy where Austrian and Italian cultures mingle in villages set among alpenrose blanketed valleys and jagged chamois-haunted peaks. This eight-day trek takes you to the picturesque Alto Adige region, Puez Odle Park, and Lake Crespeina. You’ll lunch in some of the regions rifugi (mountain huts) and experience the wild and scenic land mountain people have made their home for centuries.
Outfitter: Backroads, 800-462-2848, www.backroads.com
When to Go: June, July, September
Price: $3298
Difficulty: Moderate

You’ve Land Rovered the Okavango Delta in search of the Big Five with your zoom lens extended, watched a lion kill an antelope from 100 yards. You’re not done yet. Now it’s time to navigate Africa’s raging whitewater, cycle Senegal, dive with sea turtles in the Indian Ocean—in other words, explore the lesser-known jewels of the greatest continent.

Mozambique
The Total Eclipse Package

Think of this as a 15-day astronomical quest. Your destination? The grassy hills in northwest Mozambique, near Changara—one of the few places on Earth where the first total solar eclipse of the new millennium will be completely visible. From Johannesburg, you’ll head north, camping on the sandy white beaches of Mozambique before heading west, deeper into the country than any commercial expedition has gone before. You’ll spot lions, cheetahs, and elephants from the rooftop deck of your converted Mercedes-Benz jeep (plush!) as you traverse the savanna, stopping to watch the sun completely disappear on June 21. After the eclipse, you’ll loop down through Zambia and Botswana, with a stop in the Makgadikgadi Pans Game Reserve—where hyenas, zebras, and antelope roam—on your way back to South Africa.
Outfitter: Journeys International, 800-255-8735, www.journeys-intl.com
When to Go: June
Price: $2,195
Difficulty: Easy

—David Friedland

Do it Differently

Ethiopia: Blue Nile Trekking and Rafting
The Blue Nile Gorge’s spectacular mile-high basalt walls (it’s been dubbed the Grand Canyon of Africa) are the highlight of this 22-day trip. Start out by learning the country’s history and exploring the 400-year-old stone architecture of the Ethiopian highlands en route to Lake Tana, the headwaters of the Blue Nile. There, you’ll begin a seven-day, 60-mile trek downstream, camping on the river’s rocky eastern banks amidst hippos and colobus monkeys. At the Blue Nile Gorge, put in for a seven-day, 120-mile, Class II-III raft, stopping to meet the Borano, Welo, and Shewa people, many of whom have had little contact with foreigners.
Outfitter: Mountain Travel–Sobek, 888-687-6235, www.mtsobek.com
When to Go: September
Price: $3,990
Difficulty: Moderate

Tanzania: Walking Safari in the Selous and the Serengeti
Slip into some gaiters and hiking boots, and spend nine days camping and bushwhacking along thorny paths trampled by giraffes, zebras, and large-tusked elephants in one of the world’s largest animal parks, the little-visited, 22,000-square-mile Selous Game Reserve. After the trek, take a side trip to the 100-square-mile Ngorongoro Crater, a three-million-year-old caldera with a high concentration of East African animal species—including lions, wildebeests, pink flamingos, and rare black rhinos—living beneath its 2,000-foot walls.
Outfitter: Geographic Expeditions, 800-777-8183, www.geoex.com
When to Go: �������ܲ�����–M��������, ���ܱ���–A�ܲ��ܲ���, October
Price: $4,395
Difficulty: Moderate

Aldabra: Snorkeling, Diving, and Wildlife Watching
The Aldabra Atoll, a speck in the Indian Ocean 260 miles north of Madagascar, has ten times more nesting green turtles (2,000) than annual visitors (200). With its narrow channels and lagoons, the 19-by-8-mile raised coral atoll is also one of Africa’s—and the world’s—best drift-diving sites. You’ll spend nine sunbaked days on the Indian Explorer, a 14-passenger live-aboard, diving and snorkeling among the parrotfish, grouper, and yes, turtles, of Aldabra and the nearby Cosmoledo and Assumption Islands.
The Outfitter: Explore, Inc., 970-871-0065, www.exploreafrica.net
When to Go: March–April, November
Price: $4,495
Difficulty: Easy

Senegal: Cycling the Saloum River Valley
This 13-day, 350-mile loop on mostly flat, paved roads and jeep trails is as authentic-western-Africa as it gets. You’ll carry your own gear as you pedal a hybrid bicycle through the mango orchards, cashew groves, and savannas of the Saloum River valley, bunking in small hotels and local villagers’ homes along the way. Refuel with yassa, a mixture of meat, onions, and spices, and mafe, a peanut sauce served over rice, prepared by local Wolof, Serra, Dioula, and Peul ethnic groups.
Outfitter: Bicycle Africa, 206-767-0848, www.ibike.org
When to Go: October
Price: $1,190
Difficulty: Moderate

Tanzania: Ngorongoro Highlands Backpacking
This 14-day trip has you humping your pack deep into the heart of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area, home of the largest intact crater in the world. But the crater is no black hole–excursions into acacia woodlands, over extinct volcanoes, and down prehistoric gorges (including the legendary Olduvai) are full of encounters with Hadza Bushmen, endangered black rhinos, and herds of wild-eyed wildebeests.
Outfitter: National Outdoor Leadership School, 307-332-5300, www.nols.edu
When to Go: July-August
Price: $2600
Difficulty: Strenuous

Mozambique: Kayaking the Rio Rovuma
Military helicopters will fly you from the highlands of Mozambique to the confluence of the Rio Lucheringo and Rio Rovuma where you’ll start your 350 mile whitewater descent. You’ll kayak up to Class V rapids under the guidance of two South African Army veterans who will steer you past hippos, crocodiles, and former Renamo rebels on the way to the Indian Ocean. But this trip is about more than big water–along the way you’ll take an unofficial survey of elephant poaching and illegal tree harvesting for the wildlife departments of Tanzania and Mozambique.
Outfitter: Explore, 888-LYONESS, www.exploreafrica.com
When to Go: To be determined
Price: $5000
Difficulty: Strenuous

Zimbabwe: Backpacking Safari
There’s a reason this trip’s official title is The Hunters and the Hunted–when you’re hoofing it through the bush sans Land Rover, there’s not much stopping a confused lion from sampling your fat American liver. But that’s the point of this old-style, hardcore safari. There’s no more authentic way to experience two weeks in Matobo National Park and the Mana Pools Wilderness than cautiously backpacking across the lion-infested savanna by day with your 3-5 companions and sleeping with one eye open at night. (But relax–your guides are armed.)
The Outfitter: Geographic Expeditions, 800-777-8183, www.geoex.com
When to Go: Privately Scheduled
Price: $4195
Difficulty: Strenuous

Ethiopia: Cycling on the Horn of Africa
This 15-day trip takes you across Ethiopia into some of the world’s oldest cultures. You’ll cycle through Addis Ababa and west across the Abyssinian highlands where the indigenous Amhara, Oromo, and Guage people make their homes. The 380-mile route travels over moderate elevations into lush forests and traditional agricultural lands. At night, you’ll stay in small local hotels and dine on Ethiopian cuisine before pedaling back to Addis Ababa.
Outfitter: Bicycle Africa, 206-767-0848, www.ibike.org
When to Go: September
Price: $1090
Difficulty: Moderate

Egypt: Biking and Walking the Upper Nile
Chariots, Cannondales, what’s the difference? Egypt was built for wheels, and this trip lets you take full advantage of the country’s network of modern and ancient roads. Six days of cycling and 3 days of walking will take you over Aswan Dam, to the storied Valley of the Kings, and, eventually, to the feet of the Great Pyramids of Giza where you’ll overnight in the palatial Mena House Oberoi hotel. Ramses II never had it so good.
Outfitter: Butterfield & Robinson, 800-678-1147, www.butterfield.com
Whento Go: January, February, March, October, November, December
Price: $5750
Difficulty: Easy

A jet and helicopter can get you just about anywhere quickly; remoteness isn’t about mere distance. It’s about removal. A truly wild locale swallows you whole. It’s a place where you are least likely to run into some clod yakking on a cell phone. It’s a place where the locals have no idea what a cell phone is. Maybe it’s a place where there are no locals at all.

The Sonoran Desert
Plenty of Nothing

The phrase “lush desert” may reek of oxymoron, but in springtime the Sonoran—with its massive saguaros and organ-pipe cacti, as well as Mexican gold poppies, magenta owl clover, and indigo desert lupine—is just that. Motor down dusty, rarely visited roads into Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, just north of the Mexico border in Arizona, and then backpack three miles farther. Take day hikes from base camp into the Ajo and Bates Mountains, checking water holes for desert bighorn, Sonoran pronghorn, and javelina. Then head to the even more desolate, sparsely vegetated Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge to finish off your Abbey-esque week. “The silence and purity of this place is what people are looking for,” says guide Howie Wolke. Fortunately for you, few people look for them so hard that they end up this deep in the desert.
Outfitter: Big Wild ���ϳԹ���s, 406-821-3747, www.bigwildadventures.com
When to Go: March
Price: $1,200
Difficulty: Easy

—Nate Hoogeveen

Lose Yourself

Bhutan: Trekking Lunana in Northern Bhutan
Nostalgic for pre-1950 Tibet? Lunana—a region of northern Bhutan that sees fewer than 75 Westerners per year—is your place. Hike five to 15 miles a day for 28 days, passing through lowland jungles en route to Laya, a mountain village close to the Tibetan border, and encounter nomadic shepherds and villagers dwelling in stone huts. Then leave humankind in the dust to travel eastward, crossing 15,000- to 17,000-foot passes beneath craggy peaks, including the world’s tallest unclimbed mountain, 24,900-foot Gangkhar Puensum.
Outfitters: Geographic Expeditions, 415-922-0448, www.geoex.com; High Asia Exploratory Mountain Travel Co., 800-809-0034, www.highasia.com; Karakoram Experience, 800-497-9675, www.keadventure.com; Snow Lion Expeditions, 800-525-8735, www.snowlion.com
When to Go: �����ٱ𳾲����–O���ٴDz����
Price: $5,000–$6,535
Difficulty: Strenuous

Alaska: Rafting the Kennicott, Chitina, and Copper Rivers
Blast down the frothy Kennicott River and then float 150 miles in 12 days of the ever-widening Chitina and Copper Rivers along the western border of the Wrangell–St. Elias National Park, home to eagles, elk, grizzlies, and the 16,000-foot peaks of the Wrangell and St. Elias ranges. For a finale, watch skyscraper-size ice chunks calving from Child Glacier from a safe distance across the river about five miles from the Pacific; then dodge floating bergs all the way to the sea.
Outfitter: Too-loo’-uk River Guides, 907-683-1542, www.akrivers.com
When to Go: July
Price: $2,200
Difficulty: Moderate

Mongolia: Fly-Fishing Northern Mongolia
During the course of 13 days, you’ll cast into four wide rivers—the Chuluut, Soumin, Shishgid, and Tengis—for lenok (similar to North American browns), taimen (imagine a salmon-anaconda hybrid), and Arctic grayling. At night, sleep in heated domedgers on plains that evoke western Montana—sans ranchettes, ski trams, and fences. If you’re lucky, nomads will visit to share their blowtorch-roasted, tuber-filled marmot.
Outfitter: Boojum Expeditions, 406-587-0125, www.boojum.com
When to Go: ���ܲ��ܲ���–S���ٱ𳾲����
Price: $4,600
Difficulty: Easy

Argentina: Backpacking the Patagonian Ice Cap
Spend 12 days backpacking over windy passes to get to and from the rolling glacial ridges of southern Argentina’s Patagonian Ice Cap. Once there, you’ll spend two days covering 20 miles of the 350-mile-long glacier, the world’s largest nonpolar ice cap, where the weather is notoriously inclement (even though the altitude tops out at a mere 4,000 feet), with high winds and, as a result, horizontal snow. When the sky clears, you’ll discover 11,000-foot peaks surrounding the glacier and backside views of the massive granite monoliths Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
Outfitters: Exum Mountain Guides, 307-733-2297, www.exumguides.com; Mountain Travel–Sobek, 510-527-8100, www.mtsobek.com; Expedicion Argentina, 011-541-14781-1429
When to Go: �ٱ𳦱𳾲����–F������ܲ�����
Price: $4,190–$4,590
Difficulty: Strenuous

Alaska: Traversing Tsirku Glacier
This eight-day traverse begins in the Chilkoot Mountains, where expert guides teach you mountaineering skills and how to move on glaciers before you go to the Tsirku Glacier itself. As you traverse the ice, you’ll stop to climb inviting peaks and take side hikes to experience Alaska’s glorious alpine vistas. On the seventh day, you’ll descend the glacier to the Tsirku River where rafts await you for your trip back to civilization.
Outfitter: Alaska Mountain Guides, 800-766-3396, www.alaskamountainguides.com
When to Go: June
Price: $1600
Difficulty: Moderate

Malaysia: Hiking in the Heart of Borneo
Mountainous rainforests and exotic species make Borneo, the third largest island in the world, paradise for wildlife lovers and adventure seekers. This 13-day trip takes you walking into Malaysia’s Mulu and Bako National Parks, to orangutan and sea turtle reserves, and into the longhouses of the Iban, one of Borneo’s native tribes, where you’ll help catch fish and gather plants for a traditional meal.
Outfitter: Wilderness Travel, 800-368-2794, www.wildernesstravel.com
When to Go: March, June, September
Price: $2495-$2695 depending on group size
Difficulty: Easy

Mongolia: Mountain Biking Khovsgal National Park
You’ll ride through rolling steppe, along the shores of Lake Khovsgol, and through the Saridag Mountains to the Darhat Valley over the Jigleg Pass on this 15-day mountain biking epic. This trip offers 20-30 miles of cycling per day through Mongolia’s Khovsgal National Park where you’ll meet local herdsmen, discuss Mongolian ecology with park rangers, and hike, fish, and wind your way across one of the most remote corners of one of the world’s most remote nations.
Outfitter: Boojum Expeditions, 1-800-287-0125, www.boojum.com
When to Go: August
Price: $2200
Difficulty: Moderate

Alaska/Yukon: Road Cycling the Alaskan Highway
You’ll start your 1421 mile journey in Delta Junction, Alaska, then, for 23 days, you’ll pedal through glacier encrusted mountains, lush boreal forests, and down steep river valleys. You’ll cycle along the Alaskan highway through the Yukon, stopping in Whitehorse and Fort Nelson, the only towns on your journey, to rest your weary bones. Otherwise, you’ll camp along the way, watching the mileage signs tick down to zero as you pass through some of North America’s most remote and spectacular country on your way to your final destination, Dawson Creek, British Columbia.
Outfitter: Cyclevents, 1-888-733-9615, www.cyclevents.com
When to Go: June
Price: $1750
Difficulty: Strenuous

Chile/Argentina: Hiking and Kayaking Paine National Park and Tierra del Fuego This trip starts with five days of trekking in Chile’s Paine National Park, perhaps Patagonia’s most stunning region. You’ll hike through grasslands, over mountains, and past granite batholiths before heading to Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the Andes. You’ll kayak through a maze of fjords and tidal channels and through the ice-encrusted Cordillera Darwin and the most active tidewater glaciers in the world. At night, you’ll listen to the crack of icebergs calving, reminding you that, while Antarctica might not be far away, everything else is.
Outfitter: Wilderness Travel, 800-368-2794, www.wildernesstravel.com
When to Go: January, February
Price: $3995-$4395 depending on group size
Difficulty: Strenuous

A wise man once said, “experience breeds knowledge.” He was right, of course, but we say it never hurts to have an expert show you the ropes when you’re taking up a new pursuit. It also never hurts to seek out the best possible classroom. Steep skiing? La Grave. Expedition canoeing? The Boundary Waters. Mountaineering? Bolivia’s Cordillera Real. Any questions?

France
Trés Glacial

Ski for a week in the shadows of 19th-century mountaineering pioneers in myriad bowls and chutes of virgin powder from your lodge-base in the 12th-century agricultural village of La Grave with one of the most talented instructors in the world. Bragging rights for you and your classmates include classics like the 3,300-foot, 45-degree Freaux Couloir and the 7,500-foot Girose, which starts with a glacial face plunge, continues with a 40-foot rappel over a frozen waterfall, and then ends with a couloir and a river crossing for good measure. The vertical is served by one main lift, but that’s the mountain’s only concession to convenience: There is no grooming, ski patrol, or avalanche control. Which is precisely why steep-skiing guru and outfitter Doug Coombs—pioneer of over 100 first descents in Alaska and two in Antarctica—and his guides make avalanche awareness, rescue, and terrain evaluation part of the daily agenda.
Outfitter: Steep Skiing Camps Worldwide, 307-734-0028, www.dougcoombs.com
When to Go: January-February
Price: $1,995
Difficulty: Strenuous

—Ben Hewitt

Take Note

Minnesota: Expedition-Canoeing Schoolin the Boundary Waters
Think canoeing rates up there with river tubing for difficulty? Then you’ve never navigated the endless maze of deep, placid waterways of the 1.1-million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. To go on your own, crack orienteering skills would be a must, and only proficiency in pry- and J-strokes would ensure you made it to camp each day before midnight. On this eight-day learning expedition, you’ll master these techniques as well as how to portage, balance out 50 pounds in your craft, and identify the dull, thumping you’ll hear at night as the mating call of the local ruffed grouse.
Outfitter: Voyageur Outward Bound School, 800-321-4453, www.vobs.com
When to Go: �Ѳ���–S���ٱ𳾲����
Price: $1,095
Difficulty: Moderate

Florida: Live-Aboard Sailing Instruction in the Keys
For seven days a 46-foot Hunter sloop will be your classroom, and Hawks Channel, the four- to six-mile-wide strip of calm azure water that separates the Keys from the coral reef that runs their length, your campus. You’ll learn navigation, engine mechanics, docking, and how to tack between Key West, where you’ll stock up on merlot, and the reef, where you’ll scout for dolphins. Pass the final written test, and you’ll earn certification in basic and bareboat cruising. But by the fifth day, anchored off of Boot Key with the sun slinking over the horizon, you’ll have long forgotten you’re in school.
Outfitter: Offshore Sailing School, 800-221-4326, www.offshore-sailing.com
When to Go: Year-round
Price: $1,995
Difficulty: Moderate

Bolivia: Learning Mountaineering in the Andes
After two days’ training in crampon technique, crevasse rescue, and self-arrest on a glacier at 16,000 feet at the start of this two-week course, you’ll pack your tent and leave your cozy lakeside hut for 17,000-foot-high base camp on Huayna Potosi. Front-pointing your way up the mountain’s 55-degree ice sheet to its 19,870-foot summit is your midterm, and it’s a lesson in extremes—the turquoise sprawl of Lake Titicaca lies below you to the northwest and 21,201-foot Mount Illimani is above you to the south. Take a good look: Illimani’s sustained 45-degree slopes await the bite of your ice axe in week two.
Outfitter: Colorado Mountain School, 970-586-5758, www.cmschool.com
When To Go: July
Price: $2,400
Difficulty: Moderate

Oregon: Whitewater Kayaking Classon the Rogue River
After five days of learning basic paddle strokes, rolling, and rapid scouting within sprinting distance of a hot tub and fireplace, you’ll embark on a four-day, 33-mile, raft-supported journey down the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue River. You’ll navigate progressively more difficult Class I-III rapids, watching for bear, cougar, and great blue heron at water’s edge. Evenings will find you pitching camp on wide, sandy beaches beneath granite canyon walls.
Outfitter: Sundance River Center, 541-479-8508, www.sundanceriver.com
When to Go: ���ܲԱ�–S���ٱ𳾲����
Price: $1,850
Difficulty: Moderate

Sure, you’d love to sea kayak around Africa, cycle across Canada, and hike the Pacific Crest Trail this year, but limited vacation time kind of negates those plans. The following trips may not land you a featured spot on the Discovery Channel, but any one will take you on a whirlwind sports extravaganza—and get you out of the office long enough for you to consider never going back.

Costa Rica
Costa to Costa

It’s a masochist’s dream—crossing an entire nation by muscle power in less than 15 days. (OK, it’s slim-jim Costa Rica, but it still counts.) The 145-mile west-to-east adventure mixes five glute-burning days threading a mountain bike through the dense cloudforests fo the Tapanti National Wildlife Refuge, with four days hoofing it up the steep, winding passes of the central Cordillera de Talamanca and over the 7,600-foot Continental Divide, and winds up with four days’ careening down to the Caribbean finish in a raft on the Class III-IV Pacuare River. But it’s not all uphill drudgery—there’s a leisurely stopover at a coffee plantation for some rich local java, time to soak in a steaming hot spring, and a splashing champagne celebration in the surf at journey’s end.
Outfitter: BikeHike ���ϳԹ���s, 888-805-0061, www.bikehike.com
When to Go: Year-round
Price: $2000
Difficulty: Strenuous

—Jason Daley

Do It All

Tahiti: Hiking, Sailing, Kayaking, and Snorkeling
At the start of this 11-day outing, you’ll hike to see the triple waterfalls of Fa`arumai and the black-basalt sand beach of Matavai. Then it’s time to cast off for four days aboard a 57-foot catamaran, from which you’ll take kayak expeditions around Tiputa Pass’s most remote lagoons, snorkel in the translucent waters of Rangiroa, the world’s second-largest atoll, and gawk at towering tropical volcanoes and Day-Glo coral outcroppings throughout the island chain.
Outfitter: Wilderness Travel, 800-368-2794, www.wildernesstravel.com
When to Go: May–June, October
Price: $3,500
Difficulty: Easy

Austrailia: Mountain Biking, Bushwalking, and Rafting Northern Queensland
The faint of heart might be tempted to pass this trip over—the 15-day itinerary includes trekking around croc-infested swamps. Don’t let the reptiles scare you away. As a multisport nirvana, Australia’s sporting opportunities outweigh the risks ten times over. You’ll sleep in a hammock near a 100-foot waterfall, mountain bike over gritty gravel roads in Danbulla State Forest, bushwalk two days through the lush rainforests of the Mulgrave Valley, raft the pumping Class III-IV Russel River, sail and scuba dive among Great Barrier Reef sea turtles and dolphins, and sea kayak between the uninhabited Barnard Islands.
Outfitter: REI ���ϳԹ���s, 800-622-2236, www.rei.com/travel
When to Go: �Ѳ���–N�DZ��𳾲����
Price: $2,295
Difficulty: Moderate

Wyoming: Canoeing, Climbing, Mountain Biking, Horseback Riding, and Rafting through the Tetons
This trip is lodge-based, so your only after-dark exertions will be nursing blisters and chowing down on buffalo steak. The days are a different story: First you’ll hike the Hermitage Point Trail beneath the shadow of eight of the grandest Tetons. On day two, you’ll either canoe mirrorlike Jackson Lake or take a rock-climbing courseat Cascade Canyon on Jenny Lake. Day three, thread the smooth singletrack up Cache Creek Trail and then down rugged Game Creek Trail. Dessert? A half-day horseback ride through the Gros Ventre Wilderness and an overnight whitewater-raftingtrip on the Class III Snake River.
Outfitter: Tahoe Trips and Trails, 800-581-4453, www.tahoetrips.com
When to Go: July
Price: $1,510
Difficulty: Moderate

Iceland: Hiking, Biking, Rafting, and Horseback Riding in the South
Iceland’s combination of volcanic activity and Arctic climate makes for unparalleled multifaceted terrain—glaciers calve and re-form with alarming frequency, earthquakeshave opened cracks in the earth as recently as 1998, lava nearly always flows, and there are hundreds of bubbling hot springs. For six days, you’ll visit geothermal vents, raft Class II rapids on the icy Hvítá River, and ride Icelandic steeds over a surreal, lava-encrusted moonscape. To shock your senses after that monochromatic landscape, you’ll chase the horseback ride with a hike and mountain-bike ride through the Heidmörk Recreational Area, carpeted with thousands of poppies.
Outfitter: Borton Overseas, 800-843-0602, www.bortonoverseas.com
When to Go: ���ܲԱ�–A�ܲ��ܲ���
Price: $1,690 (includes international airfare)
Difficulty: Easy

There are almost as many water conditions (frothy, glassy, curling) as there are places to paddle. Almost. Here are five of the best spots (rivers, surf breaks, island channels) and ways (sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking, heli-rafting) to get wet this year.

The Salmon River
Either/Oar

Bounce down all three branches of the Salmon—Middle, Main, and Lower—the longest stretch of undammed river in the Lower 48, by paddle raft. The Salmon drops more than 5,000 feet in 256 miles through the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness Area, and is as diverse as it is epic: cold and creeklike in the ponderosa pines at Boundary Creek, the alpine put-in; warm and wide among the more arid, beachy lower section. The thumping Class II-V rapids (there are over 100 rapids on the 100-mile stretch of the Middle alone), hot-spring interludes, side-hikes to old mining settlements and Shoshone Indian sites, and excellent fly-fishing for smallmouth bass, sturgeon, and cutthroat trout, will keep you more than busy for 17 days.
Outfitter: O.A.R.S., 800-346-6277, www.oars.com
When to Go: ���ܲԱ�–A�ܲ��ܲ���
Price: $3,280
Difficulty: Moderate��

—Sam Moulton

Make Waves

Ecuador: Surf Kayaking the Pacific
Surf-bum for a week on the coast of Ecuador, north of the town of Montanito. Sessions of riding the five- to nine-foot green faces of a secret point break in a surf kayak—a tricky task—are punctuated by naps and meals of fresh corvina (a local fish). Accommodations at the hotel (the nicest in town)are only slightly more upscale than a surf camp, says Small World ���ϳԹ���s owner Larry Vermeeren: “The windows are cracked and the water’s not hot.” A surf bum wouldn’t have it any other way.
Outfitter: Small World ���ϳԹ���s, 800-585-2925, www.smallworldadventures.com
When to Go: ���DZ��𳾲����–M��������
Price: $995
Difficulty: Strenuous

Canada: Heli-Rafting British Columbia’s Klinaklini River
For the eighth time, Butterfield and Robinson, the only outfitter with a Klinaklini River license, will fly clients into the Coast Mountains of northwestern British Columbia for a seven-day, 90-mile descent of the icy river, from heavily forested lake country to Knight Inlet, off the northern tip of Vancouver Island. You’ll splash down long wave trains, around logjams, and through glacier-fed Class II–V rapids. “If the water weren’t moving,” says expedition planner Andrew Murray, “it’d be frozen.”
Outfitter: Butterfield and Robinson, 800-678-1147, www.butterfield.com
When to Go: ���ܱ���–A�ܲ��ܲ���
Price: $5,250
Difficulty: Moderate

Mexico: Whitewater Kayaking the Zimatan and Copalita Rivers
Navigating the tight lines within the steep white granite gorges on the upper and lower branches of the Zimatan and Copalita Rivers, you’ll encounter play spots, holes, and waves for flatspinning, low-angle cartwheeling, and plenty of must-make moves(as in “Ya gotta stay right, or…well…just stay right!”). After six days paddling the clear, 70-degree Class III-IV waters, tumbling through the lush, high-canopied thorn forests of the southern state of Oaxaca, you’ll be dumped into the Pacific near the town of La Cruzecita.
Outfitter: Agua Azul, 208-863-1100, www.aguaazul.com
When to Go: �����ٴDz����–N�DZ��𳾲����
Price: $1,450
Difficulty: Strenuous

Tonga: Sea Kayaking the Vava’u Islands
Paddle for 12 days through the Vava’us, a labyrinth of 55 South Pacific islands located about 140 miles north of the main island of Tonga. Mornings are spent kayaking (you’ll log two hours a day of mellow paddling in marine caves and alongside limestone cliffs that resemble tilted wedding cakes), afternoons are for snorkeling the hard coral reefs and taking the occasional nip of kava (muddy-dishwater-tasting, mellow-buzz-providing local brew) with island villagers, and nights are all about beach-camping.
Outfitter: Mountain Travel–Sobek, 800-282-8747, www.mtsobek.com
When to Go: �����ٱ𳾲����–O���ٴDz����
Price: $2,290
Difficulty level: Easy

Daylight and big-sky vistas are the rule in these geological playgrounds—places where ice and ocean and rock collide—while obnoxious tourists are as rare as bikinis. You can scale a peak, paddle along white sand beaches, and be the first to descend a glacier-fed river. You might even do all three in one day.

Norway
It’s Like Jamaica, but Colder

This eight-day, 75-mile fjordland sea-kayaking trip begins near Narvik, Norway, and heads south along the Salten Coast to Skutvik. White beaches and clear water cast a Caribbean feel, and high-pressure air pushed out of Siberia sometimes makes for balmy weather; air temperatures can reach into the eighties, but 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit with rain is the norm, and inlets provide protection when storms swoop in. (Water temperatures hover in the low 50s.) You’ll split your nights between tents and inns such as the Tranøy lighthouse, where you’ll feast on local fare (reindeer and whale). Off your plate, puffins, seals, and porpoises play, and you’ll find 8,000-year-old petroglyphs carved into granite cliffs and the occasional school of stark-naked kindergartners swimming at town beaches.
Outfitter: Crossing Latitudes Sea Kayaking ���ϳԹ���s, 800-572-8747, www.crossinglatitudes.com
When to Go: August
Price: $1,675
Difficulty: Moderate

—Mary Catherine O’Connor

Catch a Chill

Antarctica: Climbing Vinson Massif
Spend 20 days traversing an enormous ice flat interrupted only by the jagged peaks of the Ellsworth Mountains as you make your way up Antarctica’s tallest peak, 16,066-foot Vinson Massif. The weather is as fierce as you’d expect, sometimes dropping to minus 40 degrees (think of a shorter, colder McKinley climb), the moderately steep slopes require crampons, and the base-camp-style sleeping arrangements are, well, extreme.
Outfitter: International Mountain Guides, 425-822-5662, www.mountainguides.net
When to Go: ���DZ��𳾲����–D�𳦱𳾲����
Price: $26,000
Difficulty: Strenuous

Alaska: Kutuk River First Descent

A first-ever descent for whitewater canoeists who are long on pioneering spirit but short on technical boating skills. Aerial scouting of the Kutuk, in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska, reveals Class II-III rapids cutting through 200-foot-deep limestone canyons. Start the ten-day, 27-mile float by hiking five miles to the Arctic divide and the headwaters of the Kutuk, a tributary of the wide, waterfall-fed Alatna. Then find your airdropped Grabner inflatable canoes and push off to ply the unknown, which is likely to include boreal-forest views of the 3,500-foot Arrigetch Peaks.
Outfitter: Arctic Divide Expeditions, 906-524-5962, www.arcticdivide.com
When to Go: August
Price: $2,950Difficulty: Moderate

Canada: Walking and Kayaking Newfoundland’s Labrador Coast Rivers
This is the African safari’s cold stepsister. Arm yourself with down and a telephoto lens to explore the Torngat Mountains along the northern border of Quebec and Newfoundland, a mere five degrees south of the Arctic Circle. The eight-day trip consists of excursions from a base camp (heated tents that sleep three to four people), including kayaking the highest concentration of ocean fjords in North America, hiking 1,200-year-old glaciers, and climbing 5,418-foot Mont D’Iberville to see land’s end, polar bears, and caribou.
Outfitter: Rapid Lake Lodge, 819-337-5214, www.rapidlake.com/adventu/
When to Go: ���ܱ���–A�ܲ��ܲ���
Price: $2,200
Difficulty: Moderate

Greenland: Tundra Trekking
Hike across 93 miles of southwest Greenland’s tundra toward the Greenland Ice Sheet, a polar ice cap, from Sisimiut, a former whaling town, to Kangerlussuaq, an abandoned army base. By August, the 20 or so other human visitors who walk this popular (by Arctic standards) route each year should be gone, as should the mosquitoes and no-see-ums. You’ll need to be able to carry two weeks’ worth of gear and food (about 40 pounds) across trail-less, rocky terrain and over 400-foot fjord wallsfor an average of 12 miles per day.
Outfitter: Northwinds Arctic ���ϳԹ���, 800-549-0551, www.northwinds-arctic.com
When to Go: August
Price: $2,360
Difficulty: Strenuous

Alaska: Backpacking the Brooks Range
The critters up north have to scurry to take advantage of the Arctic’s short summer, and you will too if you want to fit in everything your NOLS instructors want to teach you. Grizzlies, wolves, muskoxen, and blisters will be your companions as you learn survival skills hiking over soft tundra and up braided river channels during your 15-day stay in the vast Brooks range.
Outfitter: National Outdoor Leadership School, 307-332-5300, www.nols.edu
When to Go: July, August
Price: $3150
Difficulty: Strenuous

Norway: Hiking Aurslandsdalen
You’ll trek briskly through the countryside with the Norwegian Hiking Association for seven days on this trip, stopping along the way to spend the night in staffed lodges. Your speedy Norwegian guides will point out the region’s flora and fauna as you power your way up the mountains. Few Americans end up in backcountry of Norway, so you’ll have a chance to interact with European and Norwegian alpine aficionados. In the interest of national pride, try to keep up.
Outfitter: Borton Overseas, 800-843-0602, www.bortonoverseas.com
When to Go: July, August
Price: $659
Difficulty: Strenuous

Alaska: Following Caribou Herds
Spend eight days following migrating caribou through glacier encircled valleys and wide-open tundra in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. You’ll trail the herd to its summer grazing grounds, crossing dozens of unnamed creeks and mountains on your 40-mile trek. In addition to the thousands of caribou, there will be chances to see wolves, grizzlies, and golden eagles in action. This may be the time to cultivate a herd mentality.
Outfitter: Arctic Wild, 888-577-8203, www.arcticwild.com
When to Go: June
Price: $2100
Difficulty: Moderate

Greenland:Kayaking Ammassalik Island
The fjords around Ammassalik Island are brimming with narwhals, seals, ermine, arctic wolves and dozens of other cold-comfort creatures. To see them, paddle your expedition sea kayak around four-story icebergs and forbidding mountains that rise directly out of the ocean. The 16-day adventure will also include time to scramble up unnamed peaks and chat with native Greenlanders who subsist on hunting and fishing in their unforgiving arctic homeland.
Outfitter: Mountain Travel Sobek, 800-247-MTSOBEK, www.mtsobek.com
When to Go: July, August
Price: $3190
Difficulty: Strenuous

Alaska: Rafting the Noatak Wilderness
Between fishing for grayling, climbing nearby mountains, and watching fattened caribou cross the river on their southern migration, you’ll float 100 miles down the Noatak River on the edge of the arctic for nine days. Along the way, there will be an opportunity to scale a vertical mile on 7310-foot Mt. Oyukak and to watch the Northern Lights jig across the sky.
Outfitter: Arctic Wild, 888-577-8203, www.arcticwild.com
When to Go: August
Price: $2600
Difficulty: Moderate

Be prepared: You’ll get your hands dirty on each of these trips—and you just might help improve the planet.

Norway
The Book of the Living

Joining this Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge cultural preservation project is “like being one of the first groups to Mount Everest,” says Richard D. Fisher, director of trip-outfitter Wilderness Research Expeditions. Substitute the world’s deepest canyon, the 16,650-foot-deep Yarlung Tsangpo Gorge in eastern Tibet, for its tallest mountain and you realize that this is not hyperbole. Fisher, 48, was one of the first Americans to explore the center of the gorge—which is four times the size of the Grand Canyon—in 1992. This year he’ll return with 12 clients to hike, jeep, and camp for 21 days on the canyon’s floor, heading west from sand-dune desert to thick jungle. Along the way the team will collect historical documents and take photos for Fisher’s book on the history of the gorge—which is believed to be the birthplace of Tibetan civilization.
Outfitter: Wilderness Research Expeditions, 520-882-5341, www.canyonsworldwide.com
When to Go: ���������–M����
Price: $5,500
Difficulty: Moderate

—David Friedland

Do Some Good

Spain: Mediterranean Marine Biology
Sail along the arid, deserted southern coast of Spain where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic for 12 days on a 91-year-old Norwegian fishing boat, helping University of Madrid biologists study the food-chain role of bottle-nosed and common dolphins, sperm and fin whales, and leatherback and loggerhead turtles. Plot positions, record behavior and sounds, and hoist sails as you attempt to identify critical habitats for future marine-protection areas.
Outfitter: Earthwatch Institute, 800-776-0188, www.earthwatch.org
When to Go: January, March, ���ܲԱ�–S���ٱ𳾲����
Price: $1,995
Difficulty: Easy

Chile and Ecuador: Following Darwin’s Footsteps
A 22-day exploratory trip to the major stops along Charles Darwin’s 1834 Chilean route from Tierra del Fuego to Valdivia. The Nature Conservancy’s local partner organization leads a hike through Torres del Paine National Park (a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve), and environmentalists talk about their struggles against the wood-chip industry. You’ll visit a TNC marine-otter conservation project an hour’s flight from Santiago, Chile, before heading to the Galápagos’s Rabida Island, home to nine of the 13 species of finches that inspired Darwin’s natural selection theory.
Outfitters: The Nature Conservancy, 703-841-8743, www.tnc.org; International Expeditions Inc., 800-633-4734, www.ietravel.com
When to Go: ���DZ��𳾲����–D�𳦱𳾲����
Price: $9,896 (includes international airfare)
Difficulty: Easy

Russia: Investigating Lake Baikal’s Pollution Levels
Help Russian scientists protect the deepest (more than a mile), largest by volume (14,000 cubic miles), oldest (20 million years) lake in the world and its 1,080 endemic species by taking water and fish samples from a motorized research vessel to measure chemicals and organic-waste levels. Then patrol the shorelines to observe sables and the world’s biggest brown bears, and to scout potential nature-reserve sites. Hard work is rewarded with fresh salmon dinners and views of the 9,000-foot Sayan Mountains from lakeshore campsites.
Outfitter: Earthwatch Institute, 800-776-0188, www.earthwatch.org
When to Go: ���ܱ���–A�ܲ��ܲ���
Price: $1,695
Difficulty: Moderate

Kenya: Studying Bats and Elephants
Spend 12 days walking and jeep-riding in the flat, butte-fringed Taru Desert and Masai Mara Savanna, working with scientists to catch and count bats and identify and classify elephants by their tusk lengths and ear markings. With mist nets, headlamps, bat detectors, and microphones, you’ll learn to distinguish the calls and wing shapes of horseshoe, free-tailed, and yellow-winged bats, which inhabit caves and acacia trees. Then you’ll impart your newfound wisdom to local schoolchildren during nighttime field trips.
Outfitter: Bat Conservation International, 520-743-0265, www.batcon.org
When to Go: May
Price: $4,145 (includes international airfare)
Difficulty: Easy

Australia: Wilderness Leadership in the Kimberley
Thirty days of trekking from one water hole to the next in Australia’s Outback is an education in and of itself–add NOLS expert Leave No Trace instruction and the wisdom of the aboriginal Bardi and you’ve got yourself some first-class learning. You’ll spend your days practicing the fundamentals of expedition camping, traditional hunting techniques, and the essentials of eking out an existence in a hostile environment.
Outfitters: National Outdoor Leadership School, 307-332-5300, www.nols.edu
When to Go: June, July
Price: $3750
Difficulty: Strenuous

Oregon: Native American Sights in Hell’s Canyon
Hop in a raft and take on the Class IV Snake River through Hell’s Canyon National Recreation area with Jeff van Pelt, master flint knapper and Umatilla tribal historian. You’ll stop along the way to learn about Native American petroglyphs, explore pit house sites and rock shelters, and examine some of the thousands of Native American artifacts on the shores of the Snake. At the end of each of the five days, sit back on the bank and contemplate the river crossing where Chief Joseph and his band fled the Wallowa Valley.
Outfitters: Hells Canyon Whitewater Co., 541-963-7878, www.hellscanyonwhitewater.com
When to Go: August
Price: $1000
Difficulty: Easy

Belize: Rainforests, Reefs, and Ruins
Belize sports the world’s densest population of jaguars, the Western Hemisphere’s largest barrier reef, and the sparsest human population in Central America. Researchers from the American Natural History Museum will guide you on a ten-day adventure through Belize’s wild side with visits to Pook’s Hill Nature Reserve, Green Hill’s Butterfly Farm, and the Maya Medicine Trail, where coatimundi, potoo, and the endangered Morelet’s Crocodile make their home. You’ll also get a full day to explore Tikal, the massive Mayan ceremonial pyramid in nearby Guatemala.
Outfitters: American Museum of Natural History, 800-462-8687
When to Go: March, November
Price: $3450, includes airfare from Miami, Dallas, or Houston
Difficulty: Easy

South Africa: Monitoring Penguins
Each morning before breakfast on this two-week trip you’ll take a stroll down to the beach on Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years) to observe Chilly Willy and his pals. Then, after a bite to eat, you’ll spend the first part of the day checking nests, observing parent-chick interactions, and weighing African penguins. Dr. Peter Barham from the University of Bristol will brief you on how to avoid being snipped by the defensive birds and explain their behavior and what threatens them.
Outfitters: Earthwatch, 800-776-0188, www.earthwatch.org
When to Go: March, April, May, June
Price: $1895
Difficulty: Easy

Dominica: Restoring Coral Reefs in the Lesser Antilles
No, Reef Ball is not the newest fun-in-the-sun watersport, it’s a concrete modular reef system used to restore damaged ocean reefs throughout the world. Besides helping to build and deploy reef balls, this seven-night trip includes snorkeling, sea kayaking, opportunities to see some of Dominica’s 7 species of whale and 11 dolphins, a guided hike to Boiling Lake, the world’s largest volcanic lake, and trips to some of the Caribbean’s premier scuba diving destinations. And best of all, you can tell everyone you took a “working vacation.”
Outfitters: Reef Ball Coalition Inc, 864-879-7543, www.reefballcoalition.com
When to Go: February, April, July
Price: $1399
Difficulty: Moderate

Want to hurl yourself off a 22,834-foot mountain, pretend you’re on Survivor or crisscross the globe solving riddles? Look no further. Sure, you’ll need to drop a grand or two—or 50—but consider the contribution you’ll be making to cocktail-party-kind with your heroic tales of the most outrageous trips in the world.

Falkland Islands
Live and In Person

If spending a week among penguins, whales, and elephant seals with a group of strangers appeals, you’ll come away a winner from this weeklong, mock-Survivor getaway. You and five others will fly from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a bare-bones cabin with a fully stocked pantry on a rocky, uninhabited island in the Falklands. Each morning for the next seven days, the group will vote off one of its members. (According to what criteria? That’s up to you and your fellow travelers.) The banished will be flown to a second cabin on another remote island. Spend your days strolling warm, white-sand beaches or (if you’re feeling hearty) taking an icy dip in the South Atlantic. No Letterman appearances await the winner, but the stargazing is exceptional.
Outfitter: Tread Lightly, Ltd., 800-643-0060, www.treadlightly.com
When to Go: �������ܲ�����–M��������
Price: $1,500
Difficulty: Easy

—Philip D. Armour

Go to Extremes

Botswana: Hard-Core Safari
No five-course catered meals, no hand-holding by guides, no hot showers—there aren’t even tents to sleep in on this weeklong Okavango Delta walking safari. Instead, schlepp your own 30-pound pack; machete your way through the thick papyrus forests; fish, hunt, and forage for food (roots and wild tubers); and sleep under mosquito nets in primitive, open camps, taking two-hour turns standing guard (with .458 magnums) against predators. Your one indulgence: quality time with lions, elephants, and cheetahs.
Outfitter: Explore, Inc., 970-871-0065, www.exploreafrica.net
When to Go: �Ѳ���–S���ٱ𳾲����
Price: $2,450–$3,500
Difficulty: Strenuous

Global: Who Wants to Be a World Traveler?
A quiz show for overzealous, overpaid wanna-be world travelers. Twenty-five two-person teams will spend three weeks jetting across the planet, earning points for answering location-specific riddles in each of the cities they visit. (Sample questions: What is Marrakech’s “Assembly of the Dead?” What does Bobby do there? And what food does his cousin’s stall serve?) The itinerary is top secret, but “contestants” can expect to travel by foot, bike, camel, elephant, ricksha, and oxcart in a minimum of ten countries on four continents and stay in first-class hotels as the teams battle for the grand prize: $50,000 and the honorific title of “World’s Greatest Travelers.”
Outfitter: GreatEscape ���ϳԹ���s Inc., 310-281-7809, www.greatescape2001.com
When to Go: May
Price: $22,000 per team (includes international airfare)
Difficulty: Easy

North and South Poles: Skiing to the Ends of the Earth
Few people ever reach one of the earth’s poles, fewer still go to both the North and South Poles, and only the most masochistic attempt the two in one year. If you fit the bill, you’ll ready yourself for the physical beating at a February training session in northern Minnesota. In April you’ll battle minus-15-degree temperatures, 40-mph winds, and perilously thin, unstable ice on a 120-mile, 21-day dogsled-assisted ski from the 88th parallel to the geographic North Pole. In December, you’ll do it all over again down south, skiing 60 miles from 89 degrees south.
Outfitter: The Northwest Passage, 800-732-7328, www.nwpassage.com
When to Go: February, April, December
Price: $50,000
Difficulty: Strenuous

Argentina: Paraglide from the Summit of Aconcagua
Introducing the latest in high-adrenaline, high-cost sports: para-alpinism! Climb up, glide down. Ultimate Ascents, the only outfitter running such trips, launched a group from Kilimanjaro last February, and this year will be the first to soar with clients from 22,834-foot Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas. After a week of glider training in Mendoza, Argentina, you’ll begin a 21-day trek up Aconcagua on the Chile-Argentina border, for which you’ll need basic mountaineering skills (familiarity with ice axes, crampons, and harnesses). At the top, you’ll strap into a tandem paraglider with an expert pilot/guide and spend three glorious hours soaring over the Andes.
Outfitter: Ultimate Ascents, 530-897-0100, www.ultimateascents.com
When to Go: January–February, December
Price: $6,500
Difficulty: Strenuous