adventurous vacation

[48820592]

Wondering if anyone has ideas for a fun, maybe unusual, adventurous vacations.  We are not the type to fight the crowds at Disney or lay out at a beach.   Or do you have ideas of cool, unordinary accomodations.  Last year, we happened upon a tree-house type place to stay--the kids still talk about it.

 

Let me know what ideas you have, please.

 

Thanks,

Mary

 

P.S.  Ages of kids 14, 12, 12, 10

[Ethel Mertz]

What about a house boat on a lake in New Hampshire or Vermont?

[PrincessMommy]

We went to Italy when my kids were 17-3.  It was quite the adventure!    I've always wanted to do some kind of water adventure around the islands off the coast of WA state.  I saw a show where the couple did kayaking and camping and I thought it looked fabulous... I was thinking of doing it with a houseboat instead of kayaks though. 

[regentrude]

Canyoneering

Rock climbing

Backpacking

kayaking

[Okra]

Yellowstone.  

 

Get off the roads and go hiking.  It was the most adventurous thing we have ever done.

[creekland]

Hawaii - my kids loved it!  Tons of gorgeous hiking, snorkeling, scuba, surfing, and more.  We'd all go back in a heartbeat and we're not "sit out on a beach" folks either.

 

Or pretty much any National Park for camping and hiking - some offer horseback rides, boating, and more.  We love Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Zion, Shenandoah, etc.

[48820592]

These are all such great ideas.  Actually, renting a houseboat on a lake (forgot the name right now) is on our list to do, but doing this in Vermount sounds beautiful.  My husband and I, before kids, did the kayak thing off of Lopez Island in Washington state--that was a blast.  The sea otters kept popping out of the water spying on us, when we made eye contact with one it would disappear.  Fun memories of that trip.

 

We would love to go tour parts of Europe someday.....love to do a bike trip through the Netherlands and also go hiking in Switzerland---probably all in my wildest dreams because of the $.  

 

Hawaii--that is where we planned to go on our 15th anniversary (so we said during our honeymoon in Alaska).  That didn't happen either.  Someday, but probably w/o kids.

 

I really want to do a dude ranch trip but the prices are scaring me off.  One in particular was recommended but it is almost $2000/person.  Ouch, dreaming again.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions.  Any other ideas?

 

 

 

[Farrar]

Where was the treehouse place?

 

We just did the Smokies this summer staying outside Gatlinburg and the kids had a blast. There were touristy things (like lots of ziplines and a down the mountainside coaster, and an aquarium) and also wilderness things (many hikes, historic areas, etc.). And we went rafting, which is always fun.

 

Several times we've done Williamsburg and that's always fun. It can be that we go to Virginia Beach for a day or two and then Williamsburg for a couple of days. We've done it staying at Great Wolf Lodge, so there's history and family in the day, kids getting out their ya-yas in the waterpark all evening.

 

Seconding Zion and Bryce Canyon. We had a great trip there one year.

[SKL]

Depends how much you want to spend.  Some favorites of mine (they were not cheap):

 

Machu Picchu

India - Agra, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ranakpur

Alaska, including Denali national park

Tikal

Europe by train (mostly)

[kroe1]

Get on the Adventures By Disney website. These are the coolest trips ever. We have done three, and if I was rich, I would do every single one. I have been chased by a bear, close enough to touch a moose, played ball with Eskimos, got stuck in a herd of bison, almost eaten by a whale, spent a lazy afternoon with a Yellowstone forest ranger, ran through the streets of Philadelphia looking for the Constitution, had dinner with Thomas Jefferson, eaten lunch inside Mount Vernon, kayaked in dangerous rapids, fished the Snake River, saw Obama on the roof of the White House, and scaled a cliff on horseback.

 

All of this just on three trips.

[wintermom]

If you provided a general geographical area you're thinking of it would be helpful. A lot of the cost and time restrictions are in the transportation of 6 people to and from a place.

 

I love the Canadian Rockies. There are loads of hiking, climbing, skiing, glacier crossing, horseback riding, paddling, camping, etc. opportunities within a relatively small area. In Alberta, there is Banff and Jasper National Parks, Waterton Lakes National Park, and Kananaskis Provincial in the Rockies. In BC there are even more parks and areas outside of parks for these kinds of activities. There is also some amazing house-boating on the Shushwap Lakes in the interior of BC.

 

The population of Canada is much less than the US, so there are fewer crowds, and the exchange rate is almost always favourable for US tourists.

[Amira]

Mexico. There are a million choices here and plenty of adventures.

[Farrar]

Well, if we're getting really pricey, our most adventurous vacation was Namibia, which I highly recommend (they sometimes call it "Africa light" apparently because it's a nice easy Africa trip).

 

[48820592]

Where was the treehouse place?

 

 

 

The treehouse place is in Charlottesville, VA.  We stayed there because everything else was booked or way out of our price range.  It was an adventure, for sure.  It was sleeting out and dusk when we arrived.  We got the wood burner going and the small space (approx 300 sq ft) heated up quickly.  The bathroom and shower are outside on the deck.  The shower is a little too open, but hey, I didn't know the neighbors. 

 

Here is the link:  http://www.vrbo.com/319872#

 

Thanks for the many suggestions---I love to travel and have done so many adventurous things before kids.  I would love to do some more now that the kids are older.

[mommymonster]

Mary, 

I would **highly** recommend Fossil, Oregon for a quirky, awesome vacation! 

 

Stay here ... www.wilsonranchesretreat.com We stay there pretty much every year, and they are totally kid friendly. The Wilsons are amazing! They run the ranch and the B&B. The breakfasts are delish! They also have horseback riding -- the views are beyond gorgeous. 

 

Hunt fossils (legally!) here ... cheap and awesome! It's right behind the Wheeler High School.

 

Sneak in some education ...John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is amazing. 

 

Float the John Day River ... Service Creek

 

I really should be a travel guide for this area. I love Eastern Oregon! 

 

 

[Pam in CT]

As several pp mentioned, there are soooo many options at soooo many price points.

 

I highly recommend the Appalachian Mountain Club's Family Adventure Camps, which run out of several locations, mostly in the White Mountains in NH, and are very affordable.  I've done several of them over the years with various combinations of kids, with and without my husband.  They are very responsibly run and everyone learns a lot of hiking / compass / firebuilding etc kinds of skills while having a wonderful time.

 

I understand that the Sierra Club runs similar programs in the West, though I've never done them.

 

We have had several fantastic family experiences doing language immersion school in Central/South American countries, living very affordably in homestays.  It's a wonderful way to see another country.

 

And our own National Parks here in the US... there are so many great ones, and so many ways to see them!  (I have a lifetime ambition to see them ALL!)

[catz]

I recommend trekking in Nepal. :)