Whether I’m laughing my way through Lava Falls in the Grand Canyon or camel trekking in the Sahara desert, I love to travel. I’ve explored five continents and paddled or rowed my way through nearly 200 whitewater rafting trips, and I’ve never tired of meeting people and experiencing life through their eyes. I go hog wild researching an area before arriving at my destination—I enjoy the research almost as much as the vacation! Here are 10 tips that can assist you before booking your adventure travel vacation.

What Are You In The Mood For?

• Be honest, you’ve worked hard for this vacation. Do you want to crank up the adrenaline, relax and enjoy a river from the bow of a boat, explore desert canyons and Native American artifacts or paddle your way through misty Canadian bays in search of killer whales? Do you want to relax around a campfire and sleep under the stars or would you like to experience a hot shower and linens at the end of your day—or perhaps you’d prefer a little of each? If you are traveling with a friend, child, and/or loved one, make sure you want similar vacations to avoid unnecessary friction.

Research Research Research:

• Do you need to hop a flight to your destination? A friend and former travel agent once told me she counted more than 200 different fares on a flight from NYC to London. Before I book a ticket, I check multiple search engines, often several times, (Hey, I am a Virgo!) including:  Kayak, Airfare Watchdog, ITA Software, Sidestep.
• Read. Google. Bing. Atlas. Library. Rent movies. It’s always fun to research the area in which you will be traveling. Though guides on your trip have tremendous insight into a region, you’ll appreciate your vacation even more knowing details about your destination before you arrive. You don’t want to miss any must-see sites!
• Be aware of your tour company’s booking and cancellation policies. Read the fine print and ask questions.

Compare Prices, Ask Questions:

• It is always wise to shop around and compare prices. When doing so, be sure to compare all the details of your trip and specifically what is included in the final cost. You may find a large discrepancy in prices between tour operators, just as you may find a large discrepancy in what those prices include. In my experience, you get what you pay for when it comes to selecting a tour operator. Check a company’s website to discover what you should expect with their adventures.

Know The Company You Are Traveling With:

• When selecting a tour operator, start by asking your friends and family for recommendations, and then ask the company for references, explore online reviews, visit their Facebook page, and ask other travelers about their experience with the company. CBS News Travel Editor, Peter Greenberg says, "And for Facebook, are there any benefits if you’re under 25? Of course. Not only is it a great place to share travel photos and anecdotes for all your friends, but it’s also a good resource to seek out advice and tips from other travelers before you go."
• For a list of more than 1000 adventure vacation options from the leading travel companies in the industry, visit www.adventurecollection.com.
• Is the company environmentally friendly? Booking with a company that has a responsible travel statement and/or policy posted on their website will not only ease your conscience, it’s a wise choice.

Book Early for Best Trip Choices:

• Popular trips, such as rafting through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River or down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho with O.A.R.S. tend to sell out early. You deserve the vacation of your dreams, so when you’re certain of your vacation days, book your trip as soon as possible.

Travel Insurance:

• Most major travel arrangements include cancellation fees that are applicable regardless of why or when you might need to cancel. In most cases, travel insurance covers non-refundable payments should you have to cancel your trip at the last minute due to illness or injury. Always ask questions and read the fine print before purchasing insurance.

What Should You Pack?

• What to bring on your vacation and what to wear is as varied as your adventure options. Your gear will depend on your trip choice, the time of year, temperature and the weather for your trip.
• Most tour outfitters will supply you with a detailed packing list compiled by their experienced staff and guides that has been honed over many years, trials and tribulations. Trust their suggestions!
• If you are on a multi-day whitewater rafting trip, it’s best to take extra rain gear and warm clothes. The gear doesn’t weigh much, and if you don’t use the gear, it hasn’t taken up much space. However, should you need it, you’ll be glad you have it!

Are You In Shape?

• Are you planning to hike into or out of the Grand Canyon; paddle Class IV rapids; hike, sea kayak, raft or ride horses all in one vacation? If you are planning a trip that involves a lot of hiking, get out on your local trails and use them as much as possible. If you do not have access to trails or hills, hit the gym or try running or walking up and down bleachers, subways or stairways.
• O.A.R.S. adventurers range in age from 4 to 84 and older. Although there are few prerequisites for joining their trips, being healthy and reasonably fit certainly makes your experience more rewarding. Leave the motto “no pain, no gain” at your local gym and enjoy your vacation! 

How To Find Travel Deals:

• Sign up for regular email or e-newsletters from your favorite adventure travel companies—you’ll be the first to hear of their specials.
• Join Twitter and follow folks who regularly tweet travel deals—such as @TravelEditor, @KAYAKdeals, @PerrinPost.

Go With The Flow:

• Outdoor vacations are an adventure travel company’s specialty, and they work hard to provide their guests with a positive travel experience. Although your outfitter will do everything it can to adhere to its planned itinerary, sometimes ‘things happen.’ You’ll enjoy your vacation much more when you are able to take a deep breath if something unplanned happens.
• A company such as O.A.R.S. will work with you should any part of your trip under their control not meet your expectations.

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Nineteen of us in the bus en route to Denali Park’s Wonder Lake fell silent as a grizzly sow popped up over a knoll, two cubs in tow. Our bus eased to a stop as they ambled closer to the road, putting them almost within arm’s reach. The sow flopped to the ground, rolled over, allowing her cubs to crawl onto her belly. In our absolute stillness we heard their suckling sounds.

One decade later, sitting in a sleek dory, The Yampa, we rounded what had to have been bend #473 in the Colorado River, when long-time O.A.R.S. Grand Canyon guide, Bronco, stated matter-of-factly, “Keep your eye out on the cliffs on the left, about a third of the way up. Bighorn like to hang out there.” He spotted them immediately and directed our untrained eyes to the small collection of nearly invisible sheep.

In a recent article titled, Why We Travel, Jonah Lehrer suggests, “We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything. Several new science papers suggest that getting away is an essential habit of effective thinking. When we escape from the place we spend most of our time, the mind is suddenly made aware of all those errant ideas we’d previously suppressed. We start thinking about obscure possibilities—that never would have occurred to us if we’d stayed home.”

Experiencing wildlife on their turf, dropping a notch on the food chain, feeling the hair rise on the back of my neck when a bear bluff charges—all these experiences remind me to reprioritize. Stepping out from behind my desk, into the wilderness, restores balance. The bills will get paid. I will fall asleep despite the neighbor’s barking dogs. That magazine editor will get back to me… eventually. The pressure of replying to those seemingly endless pending email messages dissipates as I watch graceful movements of a wild animal.

I’ve bobbed with Blue-Footed Boobies and snorkeled with dozens of sea turtles, penguins, sharks and rays in the Galápagos Islands. I’ve seen grizzlies and black bears peacefully coexist on the banks of a British Columbia river, fat and sluggish from an abundant late season salmon run. I‘m planning a trip to Canadian Arctic to witness the largest migration of mammals in North America—the Porcupine Caribou herd—on a Firth River expedition. After having recently interviewed O.A.R.S. traveler Janet Walker, I know I’d also like to return to Peru to experience the Tambopata River and the world’s largest clay lick—possibly even spot a jaguar!

Have you envisioned whale watching in the warm waters of Baja or spotting whales from your sea kayak in British Columbia’s misty fog? Wouldn’t you like to stand on an Alaskan glacier and search for mountain goats, bighorn sheep, grizzly or black bear? Would you like to introduce your family to wildlife with experienced guides who will share their vast knowledge of local wildlife habits, the area’s history and lore—and who will keep your children engaged?

What are your wildlife viewing dreams?

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Janet Walker, an experienced and savvy world traveler currently enroute to Bali, took some time recently between trips to send us photos and answer a few questions about her August 2009 Peru whitewater rafting trip.

Janet had already been to Peru twice before embarking on her O.A.R.S. Tambopata River trip. (She had not yet traveled with O.A.R.S.) I asked her if there were any specific factors that helped her decide on this particular Peru adventure. Her answer? “The clay lick and the trip’s remote location.”

Clay lick

Janet had previous whitewater rafting experience, (as did everyone in her party) having rafted the Franklin River in Tasmania and the Arctic’s Alsek River, as well as several 1- to 4-day jaunts. She commented, “O.A.R.S. guides are the only ones who have not thrown me out!! My scariest experience was the top of the Nile in Uganda with another river outfitter. I thought the Tambopata River’s rapids were fun. However, we had good weather so it may not have been as excitingly dangerous as I think this river can be.” (Who doesn’t love her sense of adventure?!)

She found the O.A.R.S. guides to be extremely competent, and she revealed all three of trip’s guides were skilled and spoke English well.

Expedition leader on the right

I asked Janet to share any special highlights of her trip. She replied, “We started with an aim per day and always reached it, such as seeing a cock of the rock.  (I actually only caught a glimpse as I was in the second car, but it’s the closest I have been after several hunts.)  Wildlife is my thing, so I loved the clay lick, seeing tapir, capybara and otters, and the tracks of jaguar around several camps. The river was also really remote and we saw scarcely another soul – certainly no houses or other boats.  The land section was very interesting too.”

Jaguar spoor

Asked if she thought this is a good trip for people interested in bird watching, she replied, “Certainly.  With waterproof binoculars travelers could lie back and bird watch all day. I think Columbia and Peru have the highest number of bird species in the world.”

Ms. Walker plans to join O.A.R.S. for another trip one day. I certainly hope she does – I truly enjoyed her photos, stories and adventurous spirit! For an entire series of photos, visit our Facebook page.

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“We must find a way to protect one of the world’s most treasured landscapes — the Grand Canyon — while meeting water and clean energy needs in the face of climate change,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced recently in a video message to the Colorado River Water Users Association in Las Vegas.

His department will begin experiments testing if manmade floods — flowing into the Colorado River — will better protect wildlife and archaeological sites. The floods would be released from the Glen Canyon Dam and could cause a buildup of sandbars and beaches along a 277-mile span of the river in the Grand Canyon.

Man-made floods are an attempt to restore conditions that existed in the canyon before the Glen Canyon Dam was completed in 1966. The dam traps sediment formerly carried by the Colorado River, leading to the erosion of beaches in the Grand Canyon downstream.

James Kaiser photo

Anne Castle, an assistant secretary in the department, told water managers at the Las Vegas meeting that experiments with floods have shown they need to be frequent to do their work.

"We’ve put in place a comprehensive science program designed to figure out the complex processes at work downstream of Glen Canyon Dam," Castle said. "We’ve learned that one of the best tools we have to benefit resources in the Grand Canyon is short-duration, high-flow releases."

Since 1963, the Glen Canyon Dam has stopped 90 percent of sediments that offer a sustainable habitat for plants and animals. Several endangered species of fish have also declined.

Environmental groups have been pushing for more frequent floods, while water managers and operators of hydroelectric dams say they disrupt operations.

*This post was created from a compilation of news source, including UPI, AP and The Arizona Republic.

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However you celebrate the season, warm wishes from all of us at the O.A.R.S. Family of Companies.

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