Travel
ArchiveTravel is one thing. But uprooting your family and moving abroad is a much deeper plunge into adventure.
It seems like all God's creatures have lost their way in the Holy Land. But a few hopeful Israeli and Palestinian conservationists are tracing a new path along the flyways and wildlife corridors of the Jordan Valley—and rediscovering an ancient road map that leads from terror to peace.
Will Steger launches a new Arctic dogsled expedition to put global warming on the world's front burner
Ten North American spas that will recharge your mind, body, and soul
An overview of Outside articles that made the cut and were included in The Best American Travel Writing 2003
Twelve value-packed Caribbean resorts where your room comes with a viewand killer perks, too
9. Ancient Crumbles in the Jungle Tikal, Guatemala Why I’m bounding up the steps of Tikal’s Temple of the Masks predawn on a chilly March morning is still not clear to me—let’s chalk it up to barroom advice that sounded completely rational after a few beers. But I…
Trekking hut to hut along South Africas shore is just what the witch doctor ordered
To maximize the return on your investment in wanderlust, you need know-how and solid advice. We’re here to help. From saving on destination packages and high-value gear to insider trips and the bet reasons to blow a bundle, we’ve got the lowdown on affordable, rip-roaring, full-value adventure travel.
As a teenage Jack London fan, I fantasized about mushing a dogsled. Grown-up city life derailed my Iditarod dreams until I came across a photograph of someone skijoring: two large, smiling malamutes towing a cross-country skier down a forested trail at breakneck speed. It appeared I could live out my…
We stopped at a boulder below the saddle of 10,229-foot Heyburn Mountain as early-May sunshine broke past the ridge and washed over us: three backcountry skiers on a mission to schuss the wild peaks of central Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, and me, a snowshoe loafer in search of serenity. As my…
View from the California Riding and Hiking Trail Q: Now that fall is here we’re thinking of taking a backpacking trip through the desert. Any hints on where we should go? What about day hikes? — Nicole Frisbee, Denver, Colorado Adventure Advisor:…
Mountaineering's greatest debatewho reached the top of Everest first?rages on
The gray wolf may lose federal protection. Will killing it become the law of the land?
Winding a thousand miles from India to China, the Burma Road was built to defend China in World War II, but the atomic bomb made it irrelevant and the jungle reclaimed it. Mark Jenkins vowed to do what no one had done for nearly 60 yearstravel the entire Burma Roadand discovered the madness of present-day Myanmar.
Amy Bechtel was there, and then she simply wasn't
Escape urban gridlock in West Virginia, where country roads and mountain mamas are only a fraction of the attraction
Eileen and Tom Lonergan went out for a day of scuba diving, and never came back. The story behind the movie Open Water.
Could you please recommend a comfortable backpack/travel pack that meets the maximum airline carry-on requirements? Maybe with an internal fre? I need something that could also be used for trekking. John W. Jones Johnston Island, APO AP
What are you looking at? Q: How can I take a safari in Africa without being a millionaire? — Gudrun Nalitla, Reykjavik, Iceland Adventure Advisor: A: At first it seems hard to believe that a little drive through a…
A modern speed demon breathes new life into an ancient Hawaiian sport
Today's topic: We rank the Top 40 schools where you can hit the books AND the backcountry. Your assignment: Rappel off that ivory tower and take our cram course on America's most adrenaline-friendly colleges. You'll come for your B.A. (Bachelor of Adventure) and want to stay for life.
If it's Riviera glitter you're after, head to Monaco. But for endless climbing, epic singletrack, and wild seacoast adventure, set a course for Finale Ligure.
A plan to save Guatemala's Mayan cities with a park and a posh eco-lodge has enviros and locals boiling
He grew up poaching alligators, he sells Cadillacs, and his friends run oil companies. But saving the bayous of Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin is Harold Schoeffler's number-one deal.
Everybody loves the Klamath. Everybody wants a piece of it. And they're willing to go to war to get it. Editor's Note/Correction
1. Havasu Falls, Supai, Arizona Hike two miles to this perfect turquoise pool, with year-round 72-degree water, in Havasu Canyon. All About H2O The wet stuff is always there for us—it grows our food, puts splash and spirit in our adventure, and (by the way) keeps us alive.
Mama's boys, beware: Portsmouth Island is nature untethered
There are hundreds of national and local conservation groups working to preserve the oceans, lakes, rivers, creeks, and swimming holes you love. Below, a comprehensive list of great organizations that need your help. Activist Chris Swain swims the polluted Columbia River. Amigos Bravos…
This spring, a quarter of a million Americans took a trip. It was noisy, hot, and violent. Accommodations were poor. Some of them didn't come back.
WHEN THE MERCURY RISES, it’s all about freedom—to hit the road, float a lazy river, down a cold one in a mountain saloon, climb a crag or two, munch some local grub, cast for lunkers, watch the sunset from a seaside lodge. Our ten favorite stretches of American blacktop come…
Horrible winters. A dwindling, aging population. Abandoned farms reverting to prairie grass. Perfect, says our writer.
California’s Skylonda Lodge Q: I like dried fruit, camping and bugs. My wife likes brie, soft beds and spas. Question: Where can we go in August where we can hike and bike by day, and have a full service resort at night? — Philip Cordova…
Big Fun in 17 National Parks
Get a fresh perspective on the Old Country: pedal, paddle, skate, and hike in these eight ruggedly charming European outposts
Budget-conscious families should know two things about the tropics: First, Central America and the Caribbean are only a few degrees hotter in summer than in winter. Second, as temperatures rise, resort prices often fall by 15 to 20 percent or more. What's a little humidity in exchange for a great, affordable family trip? We found six of the best spots-from Puer
Australia's first great adventure was part Lewis and Clark, part Donner Partysearing proof that fame is a four-letter word
The release of Michael Kelsey's new tell-all canyoneering guide has land managers worried about trouble in the slots
A cobblestone sidestreet in Santa Rosa Q: My wife and I are interested in heading to Honduras, especially Santa Rosa, but I can't seem to find any ideas on a place to stay there. I know there's a big budget travel scene down there, but our days of…
Family trips can leave parents feeling like they need a vacation from their vacation. Moms and dads can't always cater to kidsthey occasionally need to indulge in adult-friendly pursuits, like flying down a white-knuckle mountain-bike trail or taking off on a sailboard. Here are five innovative tripswith built-in baby-sittingso children have f
From the heart of Jack London country to Quebec, the best of 60 degrees latitude and higher
Outside Editorial Director Alex Heard is auctioning off two pieces of Everest history on eBay this week. Both items were carried to the mountain’s summit by writer Jon Krakauer during the disastrous 1996 climbing season that inspired his bestseller, Into Thin Air. Proceeds from the sale of these items will…
The Macal River Valley in Belize is home to three-toed tapirs, elusive jaguars, and a rare subspecies of scarlet macaw. But if Belize Electricity Ltd. gets its way, one of the richest riparian habitats north of the Amazon will disappear beneath the waters of a controversial hydroelectric dam. So who's gonna get zapped?
At twice the size of Texas, Alaska isn't easy to boil down into a "best of" list. The fact is, just about every cranny of this behemoth state can be labeled with a superlative: the wildest, the most vast, the most breathtaking. Even though any intrepid family can land in Anchorage, rent a car, start driving, and come upon wildlife and characters that guarantee
Canada’s Moraine Lake, in Banff National Park—a good destination for a first journey abroad I need to travel, for CHEAP. I have never traveled outside of the country before. Do you have any suggestions on where I should go, and how I should go about doing it? What…
The United States of Adventure
Blackwater NWR is the center of the greatest nesting density of bald eagles in the eastern United States north of Florida. Q: I'm thinking of taking a kayak trip around the Chesapeake Bay. Can you point me to some resources for planning a route, camping areas, maps of…
When the sea summons you, answer! Fourteen idyllic beach escapes, from Cape Cod to Sanibel.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Hillary and Tenzing's historic first Everest summit, we're opening the vaults to bring you the best stories ever written about the planet's tallest mountain. From Jon Krakauer's groundbreaking article, "Into Thin Air," to Brad Wetzler's account of sex, death and bad behavior at Base Camp, a collection of Outside's
At Colorado's Sundance Trail Guest Ranch, the horse might take a backseat to rafting, fishing, or hiking.
Anza-Borrego’s raw desert beauty Q: I’m looking to camp someplace pretty, not too popular, and mild in temperature around this time of the year. Can you give me any suggestions? — Anne Moore, Long Beach, California Adventure Advisor: A: There…
Question: Can adventure travel take root in struggling, war-ravaged countries where the smoke is still clearing? Test Case: The Republic of Georgia, home to unspoiled wilderness, beautiful mountains, and (oh, drat) fugitive Chechen rebels and rumored Al Qaeda cells Answer: Good question!
What is this thing called ECOTOURISM? (Besides the glimmer of hype and a dash of greenwash, that is). Here's the good news: When it's done right, it's nothing less than THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL.
Four travel outfitters that are doing it right
Of course they do—they get to trek with camels. But you can, too! We’ve got the COOLEST TRIPS, TOP TEN TRENDS, EXPERT ADVICE, AND BEST NEW PLACES TO GET LOST IN 2003. So what are you waiting for? Giddyup! Star…
Breathe easy: descending Peru’s 19,870-foot Huayna Potosi Q: A friend and I are looking to take a two-month trip through South America this June and July. We would like to spend time in Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina, and are very interested in finding some active trips…
Accompanying Outside‘s February investigation of the debate over the future of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (“Footprints in the Last Wild Place,” by Peter Matthiessen), are images by Subhankar Banerjee, a 35-year-old conservationist who spent the last two years documenting the wildlife and geographic beauty of the refuge to…
America's park rangers are outnumbered and outgunned. So why won't congress pay more to keep them safe?
The cassowary—Australia's six-foot-tall, 180-pound jungle bird—is a pushy, hard-pecking, head-butting, talon-swiping thug on the loose, and humans trespass in its habitat at their own risk. But on our writer's wary quest to confront this beast, he learns to spare a little sympathy for a fightless victim just fighting to stay alive.
In the sixties and seventies it was the hippie trail that brought foreigners to Afghanistan. Two decades of war and terror later, Kabul is a nonstop rave of C-130s, NGOs, soldiers, and spooky nation-builders. The freaks are back on Chicken Streetwhere everything old is new again.
In Outside‘s 2004 Traveler issue, we bring you “The Sporty Forty,” a compendium of great destinations in Mexico and Central America. But this isn’t the first time we’ve explored that gloriously sun-soaked neck of the woods. Here, we present a complete anthology of our favorite south-of-the-border getaways. Taking the plunge…
In Outside's 2004 Traveler issue, we bring you “The Sporty Forty,” a compendium of great destinations in Mexico and Central America. But this isn't the first time we've explored that gloriously sun-soaked neck of the woods. Here, we present a complete anthology of our favorite south-of-the-border getaways. Taking the plunge…
A forum on ecotourism, the evils of travel, and a hopeful movement to keep our two favorite thingsadventure in wild places and a healthy environmentalive and kicking.