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I have traveled to a very large places in the world, including most of Western Europe, Latin America, and North America. My favorites places include Vietnam, Thailand, Columbia, Bolivia, Patagonia (Chile and Argentina), Peru (both Machu Picchu and the Amazon River) Guatemala, Costa Rica, hiking in Switzerland Bavaria (Southern Germany), New Zeland, Northwestern U.S, and Western Canada.
Some of my trips were done independently, and some on organized tours or cruises on very small ships. My favorite independent trips were to New Zeland, Costa Rica, and hiking in Switzerland and Bavaria. My favorite tour companies:
- Overseas Adventure Travel. As of July 5, 2012, I have taken 12 tours with this company, and plan to take more. My favorites are Chile - Torres del Pine and Patgonia, Vietnam, and Columbia. Their itineraries are excellent, as are their guides. They limit the size of their groups to 16 for land tours, and 24 for groups involving a small ship. The cater to active people over 55 years of age.
They get you to the most interesting places and specialize in opportunities to meet local people. Guide often have us do some shopping it local markets (fun), and most trips have us dining as the guests of local people (with our group split up into several homes). They discuss everything about where you are, the good, the bad, the beautiful and the ugly. I leave their trip feeling that I have been immersed in a a foreign culture. Yet, the trips are always quite comfortable. I imagine, for example, leaving a walk through the hot Amazon jungle, only to board a comfortable air conditioned river boat.
Lodging is usually quite charming and always very comfortable - but no Hiltons, Marriots, or the like here. Guides are always well trained people, natives of the area in which you are traveling, who speak excellent English. Sometimes local guides specializing in specific cities or areas are hired.
Adventures are of the mind, body, and spirit. So while you should be in reasonable health to fully enjoy your trip, you needn’t be an athlete or rugged outdoorsperson. The standard of fitness is usually that you must be able to walk 3 miles unassisted, often over rough cobblestone or over trails, and participate in 6-8 hours of physical activities each day.
Many women, single or married traveling sans husband (good for them!), travel with OAT. They are very well cared for. Read OAT's 101+ Tips for Solo Women Travelers.
You can get a discount by mentioning my name, Gary Steiger, and my customer number, 686610.
- Un-Cruise provided the very best organized tour I have ever taken on its Alaska Ultimate Adventure. Read Below.
- Explore! Explore are specialists in Adventure Travel offering Cultural, Walking, Cycling & Trekking adventures in over 120 countries worldwide. Choose from a wide range of adventure travel options including walks and treks, cultural adventures, cycling tours, family adventures and much more. I traveled them when I was young, because the offered interesting trips at very low prices. This is a British company. Guides and most of the trip members are British. Sometimes local guides are hired.
I believe that guide books do a much better job of describing interesting places in the world that can I - I use the Lonely Planet series, plus extensive research on the internet. But I wrote up information on a few of my earlier trips, which I post below. Note the dates on these write-ups. They are all out of date, but still possibly useful, and perhaps entertaining. I do not intend to update them, so be sure to do your own research.
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