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Need adventure suggestions

teachingmyown

teachingmyown

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Can you wonderful, creative folks offer some suggestions? Dh wants to take our two teenaged sons on a Father/Son adventure outing. He imagines sharing some great time together doing something that they'll remember as being "awesome" for the rest of their lives. I'm charged with making the arrangements. Trouble is, a lot of the adventure ideas I've come up with aren't filling the bill....

Hiking is too "been there/done that" since they've been in Boy Scouts for years.
Snorkeling ... bt/dt as well, in Mexico last fall
Rafting...bt/dt (except for maybe something like Grand Canyon rafting...?)
Mountain climbing...a bit too strenuous for our desk-jockey fitness level
Deep Sea Fishing...nope, sea-sickness...
Racing School...YIKES! $$$$ Can't afford that one!


So, what's left?

tmo
 
Rock climbing? For her DH's bday a few years back, a friend of mine hired an instructor and he took her, her DH, and another couple out for a full-day private lesson, beginner level. They did it on a beautiful fall day on a "mountain" but I think the mountain had been prepared a bit with places to get a toehold. My friend loved it (no word on the bday boy!) and she is in just-okay shape.
 
Are you talking a week, or a day or two?

Regional area restrictions?

My older DS loved mountain biking, and my DH did it with him, they had an awesome time. Not very 'desk jockey,' but how do you put adventure and desk jockey together?

Camping trip?
 
I can assure you that snorkeling in Grand Caymen or the US Virgin Islands is nothing like Mexico. :)

How about riding in a submarine 90 feet down (St. Thomas / Aruba)?

Or racing through the tropical forest on zip lines like Rambo (St. Maarten)?

Swimming with Dolphins who interect with you and almost no crowds (British Virgin Islands / St. Anguilla).

Swimming with Rays (Grand Cayman)?

Hiking a national park for 3 hours downhill, hering tales from the Park Ranger, stopping at indian drawings from 2500 years ago, seeing a sugar factory and other slave era ruins, and swimming in a wonderful bay before a boat ride back to civilization (St. John - Reef Bay Hike)

Riding an unsinkable jet boat getting drenched by jumping your own wake at 50 miles per hour (St. Thomas)

John
 
Swim With The Dolphins...

...at Discovery Cove across the street from Sea World in Orlando FL.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 
I think the best adventure trips are to be found in places like Alaska and Iceland.

I haven't been to Alaska, but it is high on my list of priorities. I have been on an adventure hiking/camping trip to Iceland where I saw the most amazing things, all in one place, and I will NEVER forget! (Think smoldering vulcano one moment, glacier the next...)

Yes, I know they have done a lot of hiking, but so have I. This is unlike anything I had ever done before, but since I was an experienced hiker, I could enjoy the dramatic scenery so much more. And dont be fooled, easy it aint!
 
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I'm new to this forum and usually like to lurk. But I'd like to put in my suggestion for:

Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis) watching. It's best seen in the dead cold freezing nights up near the Arctic Circle.

It's "technically" not an adventure but they'll come back raving about how "awesome" it was and all their memories will be about how they stood outside in sub-zero temperature for hours watching the magic in the sky.

My husband, my brother, a few cousins from both sides went on an all-guys trip to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories a couple of years ago in December to see this and they still rave about it. It was one of the top 10 things my husband wanted to see so I gave it to him as a birthday present.

I booked it with a company who provided all the arrangements including transportation, equipment, cold weather gear, hot drinks and other wilderness-type tours in the area There was some other stuff included, like attempts at ice fishing, something which I don't quite understand the fun.

Min
 
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A few hours of flying lessons. You can decide how much you want to pay by how many hours. They'll all do some serious bonding, learn some math, weather and geography. Guaranteed- they'll never forget!

Jim Ricks
 
Alaska

michelle said:
I think the best adventure trips are to be found in places like Alaska and Iceland.

I haven't been to Alaska, but it is high on my list of priorities. I have been on an adventure hiking/camping trip to Iceland where I saw the most amazing things, all in one place, and I will NEVER forget! (Think smoldering vulcano one moment, glacier the next...)

Yes, I know they have done a lot of hiking, but so have I. This is unlike anything I had ever done before, but since I was an experienced hiker, I could enjoy the dramatic scenery so much more. And dont be fooled, easy it aint!
Click to expand...

Having done Alaska in the summer and winter during the past year, I can highly recommend it during either season! Summer is beautiful with the animals viewing and fishing opportunities . . . winter is wonderful for sled dog mushing adventures and the aurora borealis.

Alaska should be on everyone's "to do list" in their lifetime :)
 
Aurora - Alaska

AzMin said:
Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis) watching. It's best seen in the dead cold freezing nights up near the Arctic Circle.
Click to expand...

You can start planning for aurora/northern lights viewing as early as September or October . . . with "prime time" running through March. Fairbanks, AK is just below the Arctic Circle and generally within the auroral oval for viewing.

If you are interested in learning more about such a trip, please feel free to PM me as I just returned from a week long aurora viewing and winter adventure in Alaska's Interior Region. (You can also read about all of my Alaska travels with photos, on the IgoUgo travel site noted in my signature below.)
 
How about making the adventure not just something memorable, but also a learning experience??

Earthwatch Family Expeditions

(There are other opportunities somewhat akin to this. The above is both a suggestion and an illustration of the type of thing that I had in mind.)
 
our family

Hi;
I have two boys now 24 and 20. As young teens all the way til now they have loved two activities we do as a family.

The first is mountain biking. With a couple rental bikes you can explore an area close to home. Many websites give you trail reviews that can guide you into the right trails for your ability, fitness level, and sense of adventure. As 20 something college kids the one vacation the kids always take is our West Virginia biking vacation. My funny story on this. We were biking the lift served Killington trails. My sons were ahead of us as usual. They came across the BU biking club that were attempting over and over again a rather hard section of the trail. My kids cleaned it and were invited to join them. They said they couldn't as they were waiting for us to catch up. The group couldn't believe that they actually had parents on this particular trail so they decided to wait with them to verify. When I came chugging around the corner a whole chorus of cheers went up along with pats on the back etc (ah to be that young again). My guys had a great time the rest of the day with the group and somewhere buried on a web page at BU is my picture coming around the corner with the caption. "No Way".

The second is skiing. The kids have skied with us since they were 3. They will still stay with us on the trails as our skills have faded due to to bad knees and age.

Both have been great family experiences. BTW Mom joins us on all of these adventures too.

Wayne
 
Thanks!

:hi:
I knew you would have some great ideas!! I'm still working my way through the websites suggested and am excited about all the possibilities you've shared.

As far as time and budget, we are somewhat limited by work/college schedules and tuition demands (why the Racing School can't be considered a serious option) but are willing to spend a bit more than usual if we can find the right fit. He is hoping for something in the 3-7 day range, but that can also be flexed a bit if necessary.

I'm going back to checking out the sites & suggestions you've offered (and any more still to come) and I'll be sharing what I learn with him. Thanks so much!!!
 
Chilkoot Trail

Hike the Chilkoot Trail. Start on the US side out of Skagway, Alaska and ends in Bennett, BC (Canada). It's the original gold mining trail of 1898. It takes 5 days...7 are better. Tons to see. Extremely difficult...but definitely well worth the adventure. You take the train back to Skagway at the end. We did it on our honeymoon. Tremendous adventure!
 
Get certified as scuba divers... some weekends/evenings in your home town doing the pool and book work (male bonding without leaving home!), then come to Cayman to do the check out dives.
 
I agree!

TomCayman said:
Get certified as scuba divers... some weekends/evenings in your home town doing the pool and book work (male bonding without leaving home!), then come to Cayman to do the check out dives.
Click to expand...

I don't know about the male bonding - but that is exactly what my husband and I did. We did the pool/study stuff in Toronto_Our check-out dives in beautiful Grand Cayman have both of us hooked on diving forever ( 21 years now ). Diving Stingray City is a must.:banana:
 
Bicycle ride down Haleakala volcano on Maui.

If you are thinking about Alaska as has been suggested, in winter when you can see northern lights, and a sleddog mushing adventure, you also might time a trip to coincide with some of the great dog races there. There are some big spring races (faster, shorter, more exciting) as well as the more famous distance ones. You might contact race officials in advance and offer your help, a possible way for them to participate in an event and not be charged a fee.

www.sleddogcentral.com/racelinks.htm
 
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