17 Adventure Trips That Will Leave You Broke and Bored
Many of us seek out adventures that will set the bar high on thrills and expose us to new and exciting worlds and landscapes, but often what we experience doesn’t live up to our expectations, but costs us twice as much. It can be disappointing to take a chance on an exciting trip only to come back broke and bored.
If you plan on booking an expedition anytime soon, you might want to know what to expect and how to avoid spending money on an adventure that delivers little but costs more than you can afford.
Mount Everest Base Camp Climbing
Everest’s Base Camp is the ultimate adventure, but it’s not glamorous. You’ve got a mountain you’re not even allowed to climb, altitude sickness, and high gear rental prices to deal with. It won’t be long before you start wondering if you should’ve just watched a documentary.
Hiking the Appalachian Trail
At over 2,000 miles, the Appalachian Trail has scenic views, wildlife, and solitude, but it will also be a workout. Hours and hours of forest, sore feet, and nights in the same old tent will have you missing a warm bed and a hearty meal. The excitement of getting to Maine starts to fade when you’re on day 52 and still in the middle of nowhere.
Touring Patagonia’s W Trek
Patagonia is beautiful, but the W Trek isn’t the hype it’s made out to be. The weather is never friendly and this hike is tough. If you’re lucky you’ll get to see the view for a minute before the clouds roll in, otherwise you’re stuck staring at fog and asking yourself why you spent so much for the trip.
Australian Outback Exploring
The Outback is rugged and exciting but it’s also a lot of red dirt, heat, and flies. The land seems barren and endless and not worth the hassle to see a few kangaroos.
Biking Death Road in Bolivia
Bolivia’s infamous cycling route named ‘Death Road’ is not as exciting as you might expect. With dirt, rocks, and dust, it can be really dangerous, and the thrill factor wears off very quickly once you consider the danger.
Scuba Diving – Great Blue Hole, Belize
The Great Blue Hole is not quite the magical dive you might think it is, although from above it is undeniably impressive. It’s a deep dive into marine life, shrouded in utter darkness. The high cost of scuba diving may leave you feeling a little short-changed.
Climbing Kilimanjaro
Climbing Kilimanjaro is a ‘bucket list’ mountain climb, but it’s not nearly as exciting as you’d imagine. It’s a slog and it’s tedious. At the top, you might feel underwhelmed as you join a host of other exhausted climbers. For the money, there are better climbs out there.
Camping in the Sahara Desert
Camping in the Sahara might sound like a dreamy escape, but it’s a battle against sand, wind, and discomfort. The daytime heat is brutal, and amenities are sparse. You’ll wish for a little less ‘adventure’ in no time.
The Trans Siberian Railway ride
The Trans Siberian Railway has a nice ring to it, but it’s long, the views are monotonous, and cabin fever is very real. The idea of travelling across Russia by train is epic, but the reality is hours of the same scenery and very little leg room. You’ll be wondering why you didn’t fly.
Backpacking Through the Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon sounds like the ultimate adventure, and it is, but it’s a lot harder than you’d think. Being bitten by relentless mosquitoes, sweating in the mud, and constantly terrified of poisonous critters does not make for an enjoyable scene. The excitement wears off fast when you are soaked, bug-bitten, and exhausted.
Ice Climbing in Iceland
Iceland is spectacular, but ice climbing isn’t the best way to see it. Between freezing temperatures, slippery slopes, and high costs, scaling icy cliffs isn’t appealing. If you’re not a hardcore climber, this could be an expensive way to freeze, and you don’t need a weather app to tell you that the temperature will be less than ideal.
Namibia’s Skeleton Coast
The name alone is enough to get you interested but the Skeleton Coast isn’t as exciting as you would think. It’s shipwrecks and fog but not much else, and the scenery is barren, windswept, and desolate. It’s a harsh, quiet place, and most adventurers feel more isolated than they imagined they’d be.
Visiting Easter Island
It’s pricey and time-consuming to get to Easter Island’s famous statues. You’ve done all you can after you’ve taken a few photos of the statues. Its the kind of spot that looks good in pictures but also makes you think, was it worth it?
Heli-Skiing in Alaska
Alaska Heli-skiing has a thrill factor but the reality doesn’t always live up to expectations. It’s far more hassle than adrenaline, with harsh weather, high costs and you only get so many runs. Then add the risks and this ‘once in a life time’ adventure can become a gamble that at times doesn’t pay out.
Trekking to Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is iconic but the trip to get there is too expensive and too crowded. Many travelers say the trek itself is overly commercialized, with too many people on the trail. When you arrive there, it feels rushed and you barely have time to enjoy the experience.
Rafting the Grand Canyon
Rafting the Grand Canyon is thrilling yet challenging, exhausting, but often filled with moments of peaceful stillness, however, if you’re looking for nonstop rapids, you’re going to be a bit disappointed. Not only is the experience expensive, it may not be what you imagined.
Overlanding in Mongolia
Mongolia is rugged adventure, but overlanding the plains is too rough and remote. The vast openness can be isolating and It offers few creature comforts, so the allure of ‘roughing it’ doesn’t last long. Sometimes they’re just endless steppes.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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Even if you’ve been on a safari in the past, an African photo safari is something you want to experience or at the very list add to the top of your bucket list.
But first, what is a photo safari? The phrase “photo safari” is not a common sentence structure but its meaning can be deduced easily. An African photo safari in general context means going on an adventure with the sole purpose of taking high-quality pictures.
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