In real estate, the mantra is: location, location, location. Over a quarter-century as a travel writer, I’ve learned that the equivalent mantra for travel is this: attitude, attitude, attitude. While it is wonderful to travel halfway around the world to have adventures, with the right attitude, you can discover adventures all around you, even in your own back yard.
I re-learned this lesson in a vivid way on my recent five-day foray to LA.
What do the words Los Angeles conjure for you? For me they have long conjured smog-shrouded urban sprawl, an almost infinite cityscape of houses and office buildings punctuated here and there by isolated stands of skyscrapers. It’s a relentless – and to be honest, relentlessly bleak – urban landscape.
But on this trip I discovered an altogether different side of LA. It all began when I met with a friend named Ariane on Thursday. Ariane has been living in the LA area for xxxx years, and at one point in our conversation she began describing the day-hikes she loves to take in the wilds of the Santa Monica Mountains. Mountain day-hikes? In LA?
My packed plans hadn’t included a day-hike, but DG’s road rule #1 is this: When serendipity offers you a gift, open it. That’s adventure travel! With a little schedule-scrambling, I figured I could carve out space for a Sunday morning hike and still get to LAX in time to make my mid-afternoon plane.
Happily, Ariane was able to re-scramble her schedule too, and three mornings later, we met in the parking lot at Temescal Gateway Park, just beyond the car-swooshing, brake-grinding, engine-revving intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon Road in Pacific Palisades. She led me on to the Waterfall Trail, and within ten minutes we were in a completely different world: surrounded by dense scrub brush, berry bushes, and sycamores, heady with the scents of new mud and rain-nourished brush, sweet-strung with the chirpings of birds; ahead rose great green folds of mountain and beyond them a crystalline blue sky.
We huffed and puffed up the winding trail, my city shoes and slacks taking on a chic muddy sheen. We paused briefly at the reduced-to-a-trickle waterfall – “you’ll have to come back after there’s more rain,” a fellow hiker advised – then joined the Temescal Ridge Trail.
After about 45 minutes, we emerged out of the brush and branches; a few dozen steps more brought us to the trail top -- and a truly mind-stretching panorama. To the left was my stereotypical LA: the vast urban valley and the skyscrapers of Westwood and Century City and beyond them downtown. But that sprawl morphed westward into a shimmering slice of coast, sandy beaches arcing uninterrupted from Santa Monica, Venice, and Marina del Rey to Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, all the way to the misty green hills of Palos Verdes. The scene in front of me was the antithesis of the urban sprawl I’d associated with LA: elegant – and some just plain over-the-top -- homes gracing winding suburban streets, swimming pools and lawns glinting blue and green. And to my right, looking north and inland, the Santa Monica Mountains rolled away in lush green waves. Except for a line of extravagant homes perched on the tip of the ridge, this land was wild, all tree and brush and bird, pristine.
Ariane and I stood for a long time in the sun at the top, swigging water, absorbing this scene.
A fresh breeze blew off the ocean, and I thought about inertia and discovery, about the clichés we construct and the everyday adventures that, when we are lucky and open to them, sweep those clichés away.
Then Ariane turned to me, her smile as wide and bright as the day. Opening her arms as if to embrace the entire visible world, she said,
“Welcome to LA.” |
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Backroads: Experience Asia
Backroads' definition of adventure travel centers around the enrichment that comes from venturing off the touristed trial, exploring new places and meeting diverse people. Traveling with Backroads in Asia provides an amazing array of unique cultural experiences and connections. Kayak to a floating fishing village on Vietnam's Halong Bay for an intimate look at local life rarely seen by visitors to the area. Visit with a Tibetan family in their home and try some butter tea. Pedal through small towns in southern China and greet "real life" characters-from pig farmers to brick makers-along the route. Hike to Bhutanese dzongs for an opportunity to interact with novice monks, local officials and local worshippers.
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Bushtracks Expeditions:
Casablanca to the Cape
Start your adventure in Morocco – Casablanca and Marrakech - then on to Mopti and Timbuktu in Mali. Traveling on our private jet, you will explore the best of the west coast of Africa - the Sahara, Gabon, Namibia and South Africa. Highlights of our previous trips have been to meet the BaAka Pygmies in Central African Republic and to stay in our private tented camp in Timia, Niger. Full brochure here. For other information please visit www.bushtracks.com or call 1-800-995-8689
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Canadian Mountain Holidays: Beyond the Canadian Rockies
Are you looking for a transformational experience? Do you need to escape from the day to day? One of our guests wrote of the moment when “the helicopter darts away. We’re perched on an airy ridge. We look down at the thick brambly forest below and out at an ocean of wildness, of tumbling glaciers and elegant peaks, hidden meadows and sparkling lakes. And we sense a symphonic, hundred-million-year silence. We know that in a hundred or ten thousand years no one but us might ever stand here. Then we know we’ve entered a new world.” Under the watchful eye of our dedicated and professional hiking guides, these mountains are just waiting for you and your family to uncover this summer with Canadian Mountain Holidays. Three, Four & Six Day escapes to our remote mountain lodges are available from Banff, Canada. Visit our website
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Geographic Expeditions: New Citys & Ancient Landscapes From Shanghai to Hong Kong
This inventive trip is book-ended with two of the world’s most mind-boggling megacities, Shanghai and Hong Kong, 24-hour festivals of urbanity, sky-scraping, and money majesty (tempered with many priceless delights). In between, it offers a chance to revel in back-country serenity in some of southern China’s most beautiful locales.
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Lindblad Expeditions: Sea Kayaking
Guests on Lindblad Expeditions (LEX) voyages can connect with the ruggedly beautiful natural wonders of Alaska, Antarctica, Baja California, and the Pacific Northwest at “elbow height” as part of LEX’s Sea Kayaking program.
Designed for kayakers of all levels, from beginners to more experienced paddlers, LEX’s Sea Kayaking voyages provide guests with daily opportunities for long, vigorous paddles of up to four hours. More leisurely forays are also available for less experienced kayakers. All participants receive complete assistance from LEX’s knowledgeable Expedition Leaders, and kayakers are accompanied at all times by a Zodiac landing craft, both for safety and for retrieving tired kayakers.
LEX’s Sea Kayaking voyages represent the state-of-the-art in expedition-style travel. The company pioneered polar-region kayaking, and last year became the first expedition travel company to gain unique permits to “drop” kayaks in the Galapagos. For more information, go to www.expeditions.com
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Micato Safaris: Take the road less traveled on Micato Safaris’ brand new Hemingway
Wing Safari.
Visit all of East Africa’s legendary game parks and stay in not one, but two luxurious tented camps on this 14-day sojourn. Experience all the romance and adventure of a classic African safari, visiting the bustling metropolis of Nairobi, before winging your way to the Great Rift Valley, the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and more.
Visit traditional Maasai villages and connect with a culture and way of life that has changed little in hundreds of years.
Safaris depart every Tuesday in 2007. Land prices from $5585 based on double occupancy.
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Natural Habitat Adventures: Ultimate Churchill
A total immersion into the world of the polar bear and the Northland!
While the giant males gather on the western shores of the bay, mothers and cubs tend to congregate in areas where they are protected from the dominant adult males. On these exclusive itineraries, we complement our tundra trips, where we view polar bears, Arctic fox, Arctic hare and other northern wildlife from our polar buggies, with an exploration of Churchill and its rich culture. We’ll visit with native northerners who offer us an even more intimate look at life in the Arctic, the tools and traditions of its people, and what it takes to survive in such harsh conditions. For thousands of years, rich and vibrant nations have flourished against incredible adversities in this bitter Arctic environment, and this fascinating presentation will give us a glimpse into their struggles and successes. We may also visit the Eskimo Museum, home to artifacts collected from thousands of years of local cultures. If we are lucky, we may even help build an igloo. This trip is particularly exciting as we now offer an optional helicopter journey to the female bears’ denning area where we can, remarkably, have the chance to crawl inside an unoccupied polar bear den. This Ultimate Churchill adventure offers a captivating northern experience. Read More.
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NOLS: Year in Patagonia
This extended expedition combines outdoor skills and international culture to create one of NOLS’ most unique adventures. From mountain travel on never-before climbed peaks to sea kayaking Chile’s fjords and rock climbing at the foot of the Andes, this is an unparalleled immersion into Patagonia. With a strong focus on Spanish language and cultural interaction, you’ll spend one section learning Spanish and another living and working with local families on mountain campos. This is your chance to put your language skills to use while fully experiencing the unique Patagonian poblador culture of subsistence living. You’ll also see more of this area’s remote and breathtaking scenery than most visitors. Along with a strong experience of the culture and region, the course offers several certifications for students interested in outdoor careers around the world, including Leave No Trace Master certification, Avalanche I and the Wilderness First Responder (WFR). For more information visit here or call (800) 710-NOLS.
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O.A.R.S.: Highland to Islands Fiji Multi-Sport Adventure
Fiji is a cultural crossroads where a blend of ethnicities brings a surprising diversity in the form of food, customs, language, and much more. A highlight of the trip will almost certainly be your visit to the village of Nakavika where friendly locals will welcome you with a tour, a traditional kava ceremony, and a lovo dinner cooked by our native hosts with hot stones buried in the ground.
This unique departure on Fiji's island of Viti Levu also offers rafting on the Upper Navua River through a magical canyon covered in a tapestry of verdant jungle plants, cascading waterfalls and crystalline pools, a journey through the dense jungle into the rainforest for a two-day kayaking adventure on the ‘Luva River, sea-kayaking along white sand beaches and over elaborate coral gardens, as well as snorkeling above a tropical aquatic fantasyland. Read more.
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Off The Beaten Path: Uniquely Chile: Experiencing the people and places of Chilean Patagonia
THERE’S MORE TO PATAGONIA THAN MEETS THE EYE; more than snow-capped mountains, sparkling fjords, and wide-open spaces. There are people: rug makers, gauchos, farmers, herders, hosteria operators, environmentalists, salmon farmers, and the list goes on. Meet some of those people on this special journey into the soul of Patagonia. Take two days to visit and learn about an unusual program to conserve large tracts of temperate rain forest, grab a day and a night to refresh and relax at a rain forest spa, and spend six interesting and exciting days walking, fly-fishing, horseback riding, and bird watching on the historic 360,000-acre Estancia de los Rios with ranch managers and gauchos. Attend the local La Tapera gaucho festival with your hosts for a memorable interaction with rural Chile. You’re not a tourist on this trip, you’re a guest.
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About Adventure Collection
Formed in 2000, Adventure Collection comprises 10 of the world’s leading independent active travel companies: Backroads, Bushtracks Expeditions, Canadian Mountain Holidays, Geographic Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions, Micato Safaris, Natural Habitat Adventures, National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Outdoor Adventure River Specialists (OARS), and Off the Beaten Path. For more information, visit www.adventurecollection.com.
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