Lois' Adventure Travel Blog

If your kids are between the ages of five to 12, the Kids' Passport to Adventure will be your passport to taking the family outdoors this summer. The passport, available at all of the REI stores through Labor Day, comes with a complimentary adventure journal chock-full of recreational-related games, information and stickers, to help guide the family while exploring the outdoors. Visit REI Kids' Passport to Adventure, to learn more.

REI Adventures, has a prime list of weekend and longer hike, bike and other trips for all ages. Click on REI Adventures Offers Active Travel to learn more.

Photo © REI

Worried about heading to your favorite resort for some mountain biking, hiking or just exploring this summer? Before booking any lodging, call the resort chamber of commerce and ask if there's a "free gas" deal. Even tony Aspen in Colorado is offering free gas (up to $50, plus free bike rentals and bus passes) to travelers. Too ritzy a town for you? How about Big Bear in California, where the free gas card gives a traveler from $25 to $100 in gas, depending upon one's length of stay.

The number of "free gas" deals popping up to convince travelers to resort towns across the country is surprising - but understandable. Savvy resorts are afraid that even their regular "I've been going there forever" guests are cutting travel back with gas expected to climb to $4 or perhaps more by mid-summer.

Click on Deals and Discounts at Ski and Summer Mountain Resorts for links to resorts' websites, where you'll find travel packages with free gas, lower than normal room rates and added benefits to entice you into visiting this summer.

"The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull" movie starring the brash adventurer Indiana Jones opens May 22, and lots of tour operators are offering trips that follow Indy's footsteps or let you have similar experiences -- without being chased by the bad guys. If Indiana Jones is one of your adventure heroes, why not try similar adventures and see if you're as tough.

Photo credit: (c) Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used with permission

REI is offering its members up to $400 off six trips, but you need to act fast because the big anniversary savings sale is only available through May 11. The trips range from exploring the Galapagos Islands and bicycling in Italy's Tuscany region to a multisport experience on Alaska's Kenai peninsula and inn-to-inn hiking in Vermont.

If you don't have time for a long trip, check out REI Adventures last-minute escapes and learn about REI's carbon-neutral travel. REI Adventures is part of REI, the company with stores chock-full of clothing and gear for adventure travel.

You're a prime candidate for an all girls getaway if you want a temporary time-out from dealing with kids, a husband or work. Here's a list of companies that offer adventurous girlfriend getaways where it's okay to laugh with your best female friends, try some adventurous and new, and think about yourself first!

Mother's Day is coming up fast, so you might want to send a link to Great Sources for All Girl Getaways to your guy as a hint!

Are you a gal who wants to escape from the daily grind? (Or, are you a spouse/friend/lover man who wants to send your favorite lady on a trip?) The new television show - All-Girl Getaways - that debuted last week is on again tonight delivers the lowdown on planning and playing. Each of the 13 shows this season follows a different group of women as they plan then enjoy a weekend getaway. One group of horse lovers headed to a dude ranch and tried barrel racing in a rodeo. A group of female scientists decided that going unplugged at a resort in Hawaii was the antidote to the real world. Visit Adventurous Girlfriend Vacations to learn more about the All-Girl Getaways TV show.

Do visions of combining trekking and sea kayaking; or perhaps mountain biking, hiking and river rafting, make you smile? The hardest part about choosing between multisport trips, which are offered in such exotic locales as the Galapagos Islands, Iceland and Thailand, will be deciding where in the world you want to take an active vacation.

More Active Vacations
Top Adventure Travel Companies
Top Picks for Dream Bike Trips

This year's Earth Day theme - Walk, Bike, Row to an Earth Day Event Around the World - exemplifies ways to have fun yet help the environment. Earth Day is April 22 -- a Tuesday this year. If you can't play hooky, there are lots of Earth Day Activities, Events and Trips on surrounding weekends. If you want to attend a concert in San Francisco, New York or other cities; stay in a green hotel in a new locale; or participate in at a variety of Earth Day fairs, check out the links below the Earth Day Activities, Events and Trips article.

Image a website telling you which buttons to push on a telephone to reach a human in the customer service department at hundreds of companies. It's called GetHuman.com Whether you're trying to reach an airline, car rental company, travel insurance provider or even your bank or health care provider, this website offers specific directions for the buttons on your phone to push to reach a human fast!

The short answer is "probably." Los Angeles Times staff writer Hugo Martin lays out some excellent points -- with "wish I had" examples, in a Travel Insider column titled "Extra travel insurance for adventure sports a good idea."

More about Travel Insurance
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