Travel With Maps from Maps.com

Maps.com bills itself as the world's largest map store - and the selection of maps, guidebooks, globes and map accessories is astonishing. The Maps.com website may offer one-stop shopping, if you're looking for maps and travel guidebooks for specific states or countries. If you want to visit Thailand, for example, maps.com has more than 30 different maps and guidebooks. Choices range from Insight's laminated Flexmap, which won't fall apart from constant use while traveling, to city maps for Bangkok and Chang Mai, and the Lonely Planet's guidebooks to Thailand, Southeast Asia and much more.

Travel Maps, Guidebooks, Globes and More

Looking for digital maps, build-your-own custom radius maps or a world, USA or international atlases? You'll find them here. Adventure travelers who love to explore should check out the World Risk Map, which has topics such as health risks, common threats to travelers, and security tips, that are presented both in graphic and text form. The map also has contact information for countries around the world, plus phone numbers and websites to obtain up-to-the-minute information if available. You can even find historical maps from the National Geographic archives.

Maps.com Website

Visit Maps.com for maps and atlases to travel guides and map games. Check out the link to "Free Stuff" on the top of the home page.

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How to Start Scuba Diving

At some resorts scuba divers can just walk offshore, sink downward 30- to 40-feet and be in a coral garden or swimming through a school of fish. Once you've learned to scuba dive, you can also arrange to swim with dolphins in the ocean or protected bays, and even take a highly structured dive with the sharks. But before you start scuba diving alongside coral walls that are 90-feet deep, or with dolphins or sharks, there's a lot you need to learn. Here's an quick primer outlining how to get started.

Ways to Get Certified for Scuba Diving

Take a scuba-diving course in a pool near your home, then follow your dive master's suggestions for the open water dives required before you can be certified. The choice for an open water dive can range from the Blue Hole, a frigid "hole" that is part of a New Mexico cave system to the underwater coral gardens in the Cayman Islands and Bonaire in the Caribbean.

Wrap a vacation around getting certified. You can take a scuba diving course anywhere from the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean to Hawaii or Fiji, depending upon how exotic a trip you want to take. Keep in mind that if you plan to take the full certification course during a week-long trip, there probably won't be much time to do anything else, including laze on the beach or explore the locale.

Take a resort course. These scuba diving certification courses range in length from one-day to three-day courses. If you take the shortest course, which usually includes a shallow dive in the afternoon, understand that your training is limited. Even the two- and three-day courses don't give you as much experience in dealing with underwater emergencies as the full courses offered by PADI and NAUI, two of the major scuba-diving certification operations.

What's it going to Cost?

The cost of a scuba-diving certification course varies considerably, depending upon where you are taking your certification course. If you take a course in a pool near your home the cost of getting to where you're going to take an open-water dive for final certification will impact this price dramatically. The two- or three-day resort courses can cost several hundred dollars. Hiring a private tutor at a hotel to take a full certification course, which can take up to a week, is much more expensive. But, doing all of your book work sitting in a lounge chair beside the ocean is a really great way to study.

Where to Learn More

On the About.com scuba diving Web site, there are excellent articles about how and where to get certified.

Best Islands for Diving and Snorkeling Off the Shore

If you enjoy walking off the shore and scuba diving or snorkeling in coral so colorful you'll think you are in an underwater garden, go to Best Islands for Diving Off the Shore. Here's where you go if you want more information about learning how to start scuba diving.

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Working Cattle Ranches

If you're a horseback rider who enjoys spending hours in the saddle and getting your hands dirty, a vacation at a working ranch or helping during a cattle drive could be the trip of a lifetime. What you do, whether it's moving cattle between pastures or helping with daily chores, depends upon what the ranchers needs. One thing's for sure: you'll be tired and hungry when you reach the dinner table(or chow wagon) after a day of riding on a working cattle ranch or during a cattle drive.

At the Hunewill Ranch, a working cattle ranch just east of Yosemite National Park, guests can learn to help cowboys gather and sort some of the 1,200 cattle that must be herded into corrals for vaccinating or branding. Riders with advanced horsemanship skills may learn to rope and help with more advanced maneuvers. The traditional fall cattle drive to winter quarters in Nevada covers 60 miles. Week-long packages start at $1,071 for adults; rates are less for shorter visits in the fall.

For total immersion join a Cowboy Adventure week at the Colorado Adventure Company. Mornings at this working cattle ranch, you’ll join the ranchers handling daily chores, such as helping collect cattle, brand calves, check the fences, water and salt, and whatever else must be done the week you are there. Afternoons, you can learn team penning, cutting roping and other activities just for fun. The six-day weeks are $1,649 per person. Shorter visits may be available off season for $329 a day.

Be as involved as you want with driving cattle to new pastures, checking fences, shearing sheep and weaning calves and lambs for market at the Burnt Well Guest Ranch, a working cattle ranch where there's only room for 10 guests. Old-fashioned cattle drives are held a few times each year. Contact the ranch directly for dates and more information.

This special 87,000 acre working cattle ranch, located 35 minutes south of Colorado Springs, offers a variety of packages, including a Working Ranch Experience, an Advanced Ranch Experience (where a higher level of horsemanship is required while helping herd and brand cattle), and the BoxT Cowboy Camps where you live on the land to work with the cattle. Six-day packages for Advanced experiences are $1,495 for adults; for a Box T Cowboy Camp the six-day package is $1,750.

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Canopy Tours

Shhh. Keep quiet or you’ll scare away the animals. You’re on a canopy walkway or taking a zipline tour and the goal is to see birds, monkeys and other animals as they move around the tree tops that surround you.

Canopy Tours on Swaying Bridges

To reach the wiggling wooden bridge that is 90 feet above the jungle floor you’ve climbed up steps nailed into the side of a tree trunk. Now you’re faced with walking from the platform you are standing on across the walkway with a wooden-slat floor to another platform 50 feet away. The trick to walking on these swaying bridges is to hold onto the steel cable sides and walk slowly. That’s okay, because now you can look around see how different the animals look when you’re so much closer to them.

Glide From One Tree to Another On A Zipline Tour

If walkways are too tame for you, try a zip line tour for a faster route between the trees. Considered one of the hottest new adventure sports, on a zip line you traverse via cables from a platform set on one tree to another, reaching speeds of more than 20 miles an hour. The action usually comes with an explanation of what's happening with the animals and flora in the environment around you.

Jungles and rain forests are prime places to take canopy and zipline tours. You can find zip line tours easily if you’re going to countries such as Costa Rica, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Mexico and Peru. One place to start looking is Canopy Tour The walkways are more scarce. You'll find a few in the Peru's Amazon jungle and others in Ghana's Kakum National Park and Gun Palung National Park, Borneo.

How do you find zipline tours?

Start at Top Zipline and Canopy Tours. If you already know where you are vacationing, many vacation packages offer a zipline tour option and other countries you can usually book them through the hotel concierge or front desk. You can also book before you go directly with a company via its Internet site.

How to Take a Zipline Tour?

If you want to know more about zipline tours, if any training is needed (and the answer is minimal) and where to find companies offering these tours visit taking a zipline tour.

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Take Copies of Key Documents

Suppose you’re walking down a street in a foreign country and a thief cuts the strap on your waist pack or slips your wallet out of your pocket. Or, you were laughing at a friend’s comment when leaving that outdoor cafe and forgot to grab your purse that was hidden under the table. Either way, your money, credit cards and maybe even your passport are gone.

What do you do now?

If you have photocopies of your passport, credit cards, driver’s license, health-insurance information and other important travel documents it will be easier to replace the originals faster. With a copy of your passport information and number, for example, you can go to the nearest embassy and have your passport reissued more quickly than if the number had to be tracked down and you have to prove that you are “you.” The copy showing the back of your credit cards should have the telephone numbers to use if there’s a problem.

Make Photocopies Before Leaving Home

Even if you’re in a last-minute rush to prepare for a trip, don’t forget to make copies of the first page of your passport, the front and back of your credit cards and details about any medicines you must take on a regular basis. (The wisest approach, of course, is to make these copies long before leaving on a trip.) If you must take a written copy of your passwords and personal ID numbers for the credit cards don’t keep them with the photocopies.

Where to Keep the Copies?

Put one set of copies in the travel bag you are taking on the plane. If you’re traveling with a companion, each take the other person’s photocopies. If your hotel room has a safe, leave the copies in it. Leave another set home with someone you trust.

What Not to Bring

Don't bring any credit cards you don't intend to use. Leave home all passwords and personal identification numbers, especially for bank accounts, that you might have tucked in your wallet.

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Cliff Diving

If your friend or commander told you to dive off a cliff as a sign of your courage and loyalty, would you? This ultra sport - cliff diving - started, it's believed, when Hawaiian King Kahekili commanded his men to leap off the cliff on the southern end of the island of Lanai, as a test of courage and loyalty to him. They did!

King Kamehameha later refined the jumping into cliff diving competitions at the same site. Today, there are cliff diving competitions around the globe. Red Bull runs one of the most dramatic competitions, when skilled cliff divers leap off cliffs or platforms set up to 85-feet above lakes or oceans.

Watching Cliff Diving

Most people would rather watch pro divers than try this risky sport themselves. At La Quebrada Cliffs in Acapulco, Mexico, spectators sit in a restaurant atop the cliff and watch the divers fly over a 148-foot cliff into the water. These divers, who have been part of the evening's entertainment for years, time their entries carefully so they land in the ocean when the waves come in and water is deepest.

The annual Red Bull Cliff Diving competition draws hundreds of spectators to the sites around the world. The dives are acrobatic in design, and watchers hold their collective breath as the competitors take off from picturesque rocks of platforms set high on cliffs. The 2009 eight-country tour includes stops through Europe starting in France and the finals are in Greece, September 20.

Do Not Try Cliff Diving Without Proper Training

Cliff divers are highly trained divers. Todd Walton, who has been a part of the cliff-high diving world for some 20 years, stresses the need for a sound technical education and extensive training before taking the first dive off a cliff. He suggests starting by diving in pools and gradually increase the height of one's dives.

Control of both body and mind is essential when cliff diving. Cliff divers who are highly trained know to check out sites carefully before making a dive. This includes, among other things, checking the wave action, the height of the cliff at where one will dive, the wave action, the depth of the water, and the rocks and other obstacles on the side of the cliff and underwater. Checking with locals is highly advised.

To Find Cliff Diving Information and Pictures

If you want to learn more about cliff diving, visit World High Diving Federation. Click on the "more images" link below the picture at the top of this article to see two more images from Red Bull Cliff Diving Competitions. If you want to learn more about the Red Bull Cliff Diving Competition and see more pictures of the pro divers, visit Red Bull Cliff Diving.

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Nature & Wildlife Adventures

Nature and wildlife adventure travel trips are growing in popularity. Would you like to dive with tiger sharks, watch wildebeest thunder across the Serengeti-Masai Mara during the annual animal migration in Africa or track wolves with your camera in Yellowstone National Park. Here's a selection of exciting natural and wildlife adventure travel trips and tours. Some of these adventurous nature and wildlife trips take place a few times a year, others just during specific seasons, and yet other trips are offered year-round.

1. Swim with sea lions and walk among blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos

International Expeditions

Exploring blue-footed boobies on the Galapagos Islands and swimming near playful sea lions and giant tortoises in the surrounding ocean is the equivalent of setting yourself inside a nature flick. And, this is why so many travelers are choosing to spend days on a boat exploring these islands. Many companies offer Galapagos trips throughout the year. Some companies offer family friendly weeks. The best nature trips have a naturalist onboard the ship. The award-wining Ecoventura, International Expeditions and?Geographic Expeditions offer trips throughout the year.

2. Is That Shark Rattling Your Cage?

Shark Diver

Shark Divers offers a variety of intimate encounteres with great white sharks, tiger sharks and even giant squid, depending upon where you want to travel. How about a cage dive to view great white sharks off Isla Guadalupe during a five-day trips leaving from San Diego, California, or Ensenada, Mexico. Shark Divers offers trips in the Bahamas to see tiger sharks, vacations in Mexico to watch giant squid, and has a deep dive-submarine so you can see giant sharks in Roatan. ShermansTravel.com chose Shark Diver as one of the Top 10 Extreme Vacation Providers in 2007.

3. African Photo Safaris During the Annual Animal Migration

Steve Turner/International Expeditions

Many companies offer trips to Africa during the annual wildlife migration when more than a million wildebeest race across the Serengeti-Masai Mara grasslands. Among the animals you may photograph are lions, leopards, buffalo, elephants, rhinos and perhaps even cheetahs. Time is also spent learning more about the Masai tribes, which stay true to many of their traditions despite the encroaching modernization around them. Overnights can be in simple to luxury lodges or tents, depending upon how much you want to spend. Some of the companies offering these tours include International Expeditions, Natural Habitat Adventures and Abercrombie & Kent.

4. Arctic Dog Sled Odyssey Tours

Steer your dog sled in the wilderness and alongside the fjords north of the Arctic Circle on the east coast of Canada's Baffin Island. You''ll mush from a wilderness lodge and be led by an Inuit guide. Trips are nine days, but shorter experiences can be arranged from March through June. You can return to the hotel nightly, or stay out in the wilderness.

5. Summer and Winter Yellowstone Field School Ed-Ventures Tours

The Yellowstone Association Institute offers a wide array of daily tours, Lodging and Learning programs, field seminars and backpacking courses. The Lodging and Learning programs, designed in cooperation with lodge operator Xanterra Parks & Resorts, are multi-day packages that can include wolf watching, learning more about the park from naturalists and other activities. The Yellowstone Association’s summer Ed-Ventures include such programs as Geysers, Mudpots, & Hot Springs: Old Faithful Area; Natural History & Geology: Yellowstone Lake & Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Winter Ed-Ventures include Wildlife Watching on the Northern Range, and Yellowstone by Ski or Snowshoe.

6. Island Expeditions With Seacology

Adventurous travelers are lining up to join Seacology’s island expeditions. Seacology’s island expeditions are “win-win” for travelers and local communities. During each one, whether the goal is to help islanders create a faux eco-reef to set near a dying reef, or help with a water purification tank installation, travelers combine vacations on intriguing islands with a chance to help locals.The ecologically minded who prefer armchair travel can enjoy by osmosis; simply visit Seacology’s website to read travel dispatches and look at photos from Fiji or some of the other 80plus islands where there are Seacology projects.

7. Eco-Tours With Wild Planet Adventures

Wild Planet Adventures

Wild Planet Adventures offers ecotours designed to bring you into the natural habitats of exotic wildlife in Costa Rica, the Galapagos, Peru, Panama, Belize and other locales. Each trip promises experiences led by local guides who often take you to sites where there won’t be a lot of other tourists.

8. Horseback Riding in Mongolia

Several companies offer horseback ridingn Mongolia, some with reindeer herders and others on trails at follow Ghengis Kahn's footsteps. Equitours, a company that offers horseback riding tours in the US as well as more exotic locales, runs a variety of riding trips in Mongolia. One is to a remote region of northern Mongolia that's inhabited by the Tsaatan people, nomadic reindeer herdsmen. Black Ibex Expeditions offers two-week trips, where riders follow a nomandic path. Mongolia Horseback Riding run many trips through the year.

9. Take an Orangutan Tour, Visit Camp Leakey and Learn About the Dayak Tribes

Adventures Indonesia puts together this trip to the jungle, which includes a boat trip down the Lamandau river to learn more about orangutans, visit Camp Leakey where older orangutans are re-introduced to the rain forest, and visit Dyak Tribe villages.

10. Watch Grizzly Bears in Their Native Habitat

Tom Rivest

Wildlife viewing, with twice-a-day opportunities to watch grizzly bears in their natural habitat, is the focus for guests at the floating Great Bear Lodge, May through October. Guests take a seaplane to reach the lodge, located about 50 air miles from Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada. One- to seven-day visits can be booked. Visit the website for streaming video of bear and wildlife excursions in the spring, summer and fall.

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Hot Air Balloon Festivals

Here's a round-up of spectacular hot air balloon festivals that occur annually every summer and fall. Click on the festival's Web site to collect the specific dates and more information about next event.

Hot Air Balloons Block Out the Sky in Albuquerque

The Dawn Patrol shows, America's Challenge Gas Balloon Race and the colorful Balloon Glow events in the evenings are just some of the reasons the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, held every October, is arguably the most popular balloon festival in the country. The 2010 festival is Oct. 2-10. You can read all about the annual balloon festival in Elizabeth Mitchell's lively account about her first hot air balloon ride. Many of the hotels in this New Mexico city book up a year in advance but there's usually lodging available close to the date in surrounding towns.

The Great Reno Balloon Race

Standley White, About.com's Guide to Reno and Tahoe has the Great Reno Balloon Race covered. "It's a spectacle to behold. Each morning from September 10 through 12, 2010, over 100 hot air balloons will rise in mass ascension from Rancho San Rafael Park, filling the sky with blobs of color in the dawn light." To read all about it visit Great Reno Balloon Race.

It's Target Tubing Time in Snowmass

Target tubing games, nocturnal flights and "Dawn Quixote" are among the events spectators love to watch during the annual Snowmass Balloon Festival in September.

Balloons Framed by Snow-covered Swiss Alps

Brass bands lead everyone to the take-off field for the initial rising of the balloons en mass during the annual Festival International de Ballons in Chateau-d'Oex, Switzerland, every January. (The next festival is January 23-30.) Flights during the day, nocturnal ballets of the balloons and parachute drops from the balloons are all part of the week-long party during the annual balloon festival in this city perched high in the Alps.

Where Are the Festivals

Colorful balloon festivals are held around in many locations. Visit HotAirBalloon.com for a list.

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The PacSafe VentureSafe Adventure Daypack With Theftproof Features

I couldn't beat it up and I tried. I kept stuffing the pack and it took everything I gave it - from all of my electronics, camera, a change of clothes, books and more for more than 20 hours on a plane and a week in China. Tossed it on the rough cement that covered the portion of the Great Wall of China I was hiking, wore it without concern about someone stealing it while sliding through crowds in Beijing, and rested my feet on it during the lengthy plane rides.

But, it's the theftproof features that made me really love the pack, from the steel wire woven into the straps and other parts of the pack, to prevent thieves from cutting it off my back, to the way the zippers could be locked down. Read my full review.

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Heavenly Zipline

You'll get a spectacular view of Lake Tahoe while flying down the zipline at Heavenly Mountain Resort in California. The resort claims the Heavenly Flyer is the longest zipline in the United States, stretching 3,300-feet. Be prepared for a fast, steep descent because the 525-foot vertical drop matches that of the Space Needle. The zipline is open year-round, so whether there's snow on the ground or the slopes are summer-green, you're guaranteed spectacular views as you descend.

The Heavenly Flyer zipline propels riders over treetops at speeds up to 50 miles per hour - and the total ride time is about 80 seconds. With two separate lines, you could even zip down side-by-side with a friend.

Weather permitting, the Heavenly Flyer zipline is open 10:30 am to 5 pm in the summer and 10am to 3 pm in the winter. During the winter months, the Heavenly Flyer is offered at Adventure Peak, with other snowsport activities including cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, tubing, sledding and snowbiking. Summertime, you can fly down the Heavenly Flyer zipline in between scaling a 25-foot-high multi-ability climbing wall or taking a hike on the trails threading the resort.

Lift tickets and sightseeing tickets are sold separately and are required to take the Heavenly Gondola then the Tamarack Express chairlift to reach the zipline's Launching Pad.

For more information visit Heavenly Resort.

Find Zip Line Adventures Around the World

Zip lines adventures keep growing in popularity. Once you had to travel to Costa Rica, Thailand, South Arica or other exotic countries to go on a zipline, but today there are zip lines around the globe. Click on Top Zipline Adventures to see if there is one near you, or one in the locale you're planning to explore on your next trip.

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Zipline & Canopy Tours

Zip lines are sprouting as fast as foliage in the tree canopies you'll slide through during a zipline adventure. Once, considered an exotic way to view nature from above, now days, you can find a zipline adventure (sometimes called a "canopy tour") in dozens of places around North America, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Peru, New Zealand and many other countries. Click on any of the links below to learn more about specific zipline and canopy tours. In many locations, zipline tours are offered year-round.

What is a Zipline Adventure?

Zipline adventures let you soar from tree to tree in rain forests, across canyons and through a variety of landscapes, giving you a bird's-eye view of the world surrounding you. Imagine flying high, wrapped in a body harness (picture a massive diaper) that's clipped to a steel line strung through a canopy of trees. As you fly along, you may see monkeys and birds in the trees or a chasm below you, depending upon where you are taking your zipline adventure. On many of these zipline tours you reach the ziplines by climbing stairs or ladders to platforms high in a tree. On other canopy and zipline adventures you'll also walk across bridges strung between trees.

10 Best Zipline Adventures inthe U.S.

Do you agree these choices are the 10 Best Ziplines in the U.S.?.

A Zipline Adventure in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

You can take zipline tours in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, after a day on the ski slopes in the winter or a round of golf in the summer. This five-zipline adventure takes you through the dense forest between the adjacent Whistler and Blackcomb ski mountains. Whistler Zipline Ecotours offers zipline adventures where you'll move from one zipline to the next on a network of boardwalks and trails, and by aerial stairways and bridges at heights reaching eighty feet above ground.

A Zipline Adventure at Heavenly Resort in California

Be prepared for a fast, steep descent if you're zipping down the Heavenly Flyer, which stretches 3,300-feet, because the 525-foot vertical drop matches that of the Space Needle. This zipline at Heavenly Resort, which straddles the California and Nevada state line, is open year-round, so whether there's snow on the ground or the slopes are summer-green, you're guaranteed spectacular views of Lake Tahoe as you descend.

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A Zipline Adventure in Tsitsikamma, South Africa

Zipping along 10 zip lines in one trip was a wild intro to the world of zip line adventures. But that's what you get when you take the Zip Line Adventure at Tsitsikamma Coastal National Park in South Africa. (Adrenalin junkies note: When you've done this, head over to Bloukrans Bridge and do the bungie jump.)

A Zipline Adventure in Maui, Hawaii

The Haleakala Skyline Tour take you on the slopes of a massive volcano on Maui, Hawaii. The zipline tour by Skyline Eco-Adventures includes a short hike, five picturesque zipline crossings, and a walk across an "Indiana Jones" style swinging bridge.

A Zipline Adventure in Kauai, Hawaii

During Kauai Backcountry Adventures seven- zipline adventure you'll descend a mountainside. It's a spectacular way to see Hawaii's Garden Isle.

A Zipline Adventure at Utah Olympic Park near Park City

Even if you've already been on ziplines elsewhere in the world, the Xtreme and Ulta Ziplines at the Utah Olympic Park, just outside Park City and less than 30 minutes from Salt Lake city, Utah, will give you a thrill. The steep Xtreme Zip takes you right over the K-120 ski jump hill.

Zipline Adventures in Thailand

Contestants in Amazing Race Asia 3 flew along the Flight of the Gibbon ziplines and you can, too. If you're on a trip to Thailand and visiting Chiang Mai, take the Flight of the Gibbon. You'll spend three hours zipping along cables and walking on bridges high in the Mae Kompong rainforest. Treetop Adventures runs this tour. There's a video of the Amazing Race contestants stop here, and how they felt about going on a zip line, on the Web site.

Side-by-side 160 meter zip lines which come off a wooden deck nestled along the side of a limestone karst cliff - and zip on down to a tree-lined meadow. Located just 2 Km NW of Chiang Rai at Boomerang Adventure Park.

A Zipline Adventure in Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, Alaska

The ZipRider cable ride at Icy Strait, Alaska claims to be the longest zipline in the world at 5,330 feet, and includes a 1,300 vertical drop. During the ride - when six people head downhill side by side at the same time - you'll pass through woods then over open ground ensuring spectacular views of Port Frederic and Icy Strait. This locale caters to cruise ships, so if you're taking an Alaskan cruise that stops here, book early. Click on Icy Strait Point for more information about the ZipRider, but you must book through your cruise line.

A Zipline Adventure in Costa Rica

About a quarter of Costa Rica is covered with rain forests and many of Costa Rica's national parks have canopy and zipline tours. Your choice might be dictated by where you are staying. Click on this link to learn more about the companies that offer canopy and zipline tours, and the specific tours. The Original Canopy Tour company has several zipline and canopy tours in Costa Rica, and other countries including Jamaica, Belize, Nicaragua and Mexico.

A Zipline Adventure in Mokai Gravity Canyon, Taihape, New Zealand.

Definitely for thrill seekers, a ride on the Fox is a straight shot off a ledge toward the river below in Gravity Canyon. Click on Gravity Canyon to learn about the Fox, and the other stomach-droppping rides.

A Zipline Adventure on the World's Largest Cruise Ship

On the Oasis of the Sea, the world's largest cruise ship, you can ride a zipine strung nine decks above Boardwalk. If you want to see what it looks like, About.com's cruise editor, Linda Garrison, has a picture of someone flying overhead on the Oasis of the Sea zipline, while people shop below.

How to Take a Zipline Adventure

Before you hook onto a line and start zipping, reputable zipline tour operators give you basic training, which may include a fast ride on wire close to the ground. Click on How to Take a Zipline Tour to see how easy it is to take a zipline tour. Pre-teens to grandparents are loving canoy and zipline adventures.

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Top Adventure Travel Companies

Here are are some of the top adventure travel companies that offer an interesting and eclectic array of adventure travel trips. Biking in Morocco, hiking the Inca Trail in Peru and rafting through the Grand Canyon are just the briefest sampling of the experiences these companies offer travelers. Each company's website lists specific adventure travel trips, with detailed itineraries, pricing and images that give a taste of the adventures waiting for you.

1. Quick List Access to Specialty Adventure and Sports Travel Companies?

If you want to zero in on specific adventure travel styles, visit the links below this paragraph. Keep in mind that most of the 20plus adventure travel companies in the master list have impressive trips covering all aspects of adventure travel.

Are you looking for Dream Bicycle Trips & Adventures?
Are you looking for adrenalin-charged Multi-sport Trips?
Are you looking for Best Rafting Trips Worldwide?
Are you looking for sources for great Family Adventure Travel Trips?
Are you looking for entertaining Learning Vacations around the world?
Are you looking for Women's Adventure Travel?
Are you looking for Extreme Adventures?
If you want to look at all the top companies, keep scrolling down this page.

2. Gap Adventures Open Up the World

Gap Adventures

Gap Adventures has again been recognized by National Geographic Traveler in the magazine's 2011 "Tours of a Lifetime" list.? For seven consecutive years, National Geographic magazine has selected a Gap Adventures tour as one of its "25 Best New Adventure Trips of the Year". This company offers a choice of more than 1,200 adventure travel trips to all seven continents. Check out the "Specials" section, where you can find discounts on fascinating trips.

3. Geographic Expeditions Adventurous Trips

Geographic Expeditions

Geographic Expeditions offers a portfolio of overland tours, treks, walks, and expeditionary voyages to the world's most astonishing places, ranging from journeys in China, Nepal and Vietnam to Mongolia and Ghana.

4. Austin-Lehman Adventures

Austin-Lehman Adventures

If you're looking for adventure travel trips that kids of varied ages will enjoy, or trips for you and your teenagers, check out Austin-Lehman Adventures. Multi-Sport trips -- bike, hike, climb, paddle, ride -- go to such scenic places as Alaska, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, and Bryce, Zion and Yosemite National Parks.

5. Ecotourism and Nature Trips With International Expeditions

International Expeditions offers small-group eco-tours and nature travel trips to exotic locations including the Amazon, Egypt, Galapagos, India and Kenya during the annual animal migration. the company offers in-depth itineraries designed to explore the soul of a region, through behind-the-scenes access to places and experiences. The group leaders are either naturalists or historians, sometimes both.

6. Off-the-Beaten Path Adventure Travel With Intrepid Travel

Intrepid Photography Competition 2007, Bathtime, Thailand - Wendy Broekx

Intrepid Travel is a niche adventure travel company that focuses on taking travelers off the beaten track to more than 90 destinations around the globe. On these generally small-group trips you’ll travel in ways similar to the local people, respecting their culture and the environment. The groups take mostly public transportation, stay and eat in small-scale locally-owned establishments.

7. Classic Journeys Specializes in Soft Adventure Trips

Classic Journeys

Classic Journeys specializes in boutique, small-group, soft-adventure travel. The company operates three types of trips: cultural walking adventures, family journeys and culinary tours. Any Classic Journeys trip can be transformed into a private journey.

8. REI Adventures Offers Great Active Travel Trips

REI Adventures offers great active travel trips, such as canoeing on a lake here in the U.S., cycling in Vietnam, or sea kayaking and hiking in Croatia. And, these are just a few of the 90plus weekend-to-multiweek trips offered by REI Adventures, part of the REI that has more than 80 stores in the U.S. chock-full of equipment and clothing for adventure travelers.

9. Canadian Mountain Holidays Heli-Ski and Heli-Hike Trips

If heli-skiing or heli-hiking are on your adventure-travel radar, check out the variety of trips offered by Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH). In the winter this company offers heli-ski for advanced intermediates to expert skiers and snowboarders. In the summer, the heli-hiking trips for novices to experienced hikers and for families. CMH also has mountaineering trips.

10. River Rafting & Other Adventure Vacations with ROW Adventures

Row Adventures

ROW Adventures offers river-rafting trips and adventurous vacations as diverse as snorkeling with sea lions and turtles in the Galapagos Islands and camel trekking in Algeria. Some of ROW's trips have been included in National Geographic Traveler Magazine’s “Tours of a Lifetime” for three years running, and Outside Magazine’s Top Ten New Trips for two consecutive years.

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Picture Yourself Paragliding With Birds of Prey

Can you see yourself soaring through the sky on a tandem paraglider?? The bird of prey - perhaps a hawk or a vulture - soars ahead to find the best thermals for your flight. Then, the bird returns and gently lands on your gloved hand for morsel of meat, a well-earned treat.

Parahawking is a unique blend of paragliding and falconry.? The video is great armchair viewing, even if you never intend to take one of the actual flights.

Photo: (c) Scott Mason

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Intrepid Travel Adventures

Intrepid Travel Profile

"Real life experiences" are the focus on Intrepid Travel's adventure trips. Intrepid Travel was started in 1989 by two men who had a passion to get travelers off the beaten track in Asia. Today, Intrepid Travel offers trips to more than 90 destinations around the globe. The styles of trip include active adventures; challenges, where travelers combine cycling, trekking and some volunteer activities; independent travel; family travel; and Basix travel, which is definitely grassroots-style. On these generally small-group trips you'll travel in ways similar to the local people, respecting their culture and the environment. The groups take mostly public transportation, stay and eat in small-scale locally-owned establishments.

The Intrepid Travel Boss' Pitch:

"We wanted to develop a style of travel that was all together different, where as travelers we became a part of country - and not just tourists looking in. Wherever we go in the world, we take a responsible attitude with us. That means traveling in a way that both respects and benefits local people, their culture and the environment. Our travelers get the change to meet local people and really get to know their culture first-hand. You'll contribute directly to local economics and help develop cross-cultural understanding. In other words, enjoy a real life experience." says Darrrell Wade, Director and Co-founder, Intrepid Travel.

Popular adventure travel trips with Intrepid Travel

When you check out the pricing on some of these continually popular journeys, you'll be surprised at how much less they cost than ones with similar itineraries offered by other adventure travel companies. But, keep in the mind that many of these are "grassroots" trips and the lodging is chosen with a live-like-the-locals bent. The 9-day Taste of China goes from Beijing to Shanghai. The 22-day Rajasthan Adventure roams from Old Delhi to meeting with local tribes people at Karni Mata to visiting a royal residence. The 9-day Road to Angkor bounces from the floating markets in Thailand to the Angkor's temples in Cambodia.

Where to learn more about Intrepid Travel

For more information about the many trips, including the Canada Dog Sled Adventure, visit Intrepid Travel or call 800-970-7299.

More Top Adventure Travel Companies

Here's a link to my picks for top adventure travel companies - tour operators that can make your dream trip come true. Take a look. If your favorite company isn't on this list please let me know in an email. Send it to adventuretravelguide@about.com, or send me a note via the Adventure Travel Forum.

Looking for Specialty Adventure and Sports Travel Companies?

Are you looking for Dream Bicycle Trips & Adventures?
Are you looking for adrenalin-charged Multi-sport Trips?
Are you looking for Best Rafting Trips Worldwide?
Are you looking for sources for great Family Adventure Travel Trips?
Are you looking for entertaining Learning Vacations around the world?

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Volunteer Travel

A growing number of teens on spring break, baby boomers and well-traveled seniors are taking volunteer vacations to help causes abroad or in the U.S. Feeding African lion cubs, building homes in a Third World country, or helping preserve Caribbean reefs while diving -- all are forms of Voluntourism.

Combining a vacation or trip abroad with volunteering on local projects is one way many travelers choose to immerse themselves in local cultures and make a difference. Here are suggestions for the route to deciding if volunteer travel -- VolunTourism -- is for you. Returning travelers say it's a life-changing experience.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: A few hours of research, phone calls and personal assessment

Here's How:

1. Choose an organization that follows your passions. Do you feel strongly about protecting wild elephants from extinction? Do you feel compelled to build houses for hurricane or tsunami victims? Would you like to help farmers till the land?
2. Do your research. Visit websites that list volunteer programs and trips. Some sites, such as i-to-i and Volunteer Abroad let you search by typing a country name in a search box or clicking on a map, specify the preferred length of a volunteer trip and the type of volunteer work you would like to do.
3. Do a reality check about your own personality. If you are doing volunteer work in a culture that is alien to you, will you be open-minded enough to accept and respect the views of the people you are helping?
4. Think about how much time you want to spend working on a volunteer project and how much time you would like to do touristy activities. If you want a mix, companies such as i-to-i offer "Meaningful Tours" that include some volunteering and lot of sightseeing.
5. Once you’ve found a few projects of interest, email or call to ask exactly what type of work will you be doing. Teaching in a classroom? Construction? Working with wild animals? Take time to seriously consider if this type of voluntourism is in sync with your physical conditioning or mental skills.
6. Ask the trip organizer what the country and the specific region the project is located are like. Is the project in a big city? A small town or a rural location where there might not be indoor plumbing and you have to live in a shack or a tent?
7. How long is the project. A day, a week or months? How many people will be involved in the project? Two or three, a dozen or more?
8. I want to take my family on a vacation that includes a volunteering component. How do I decide if it’s a good family trip?
9. Who runs the trip? A non-profit organization in the U.S. or in the country where the project is located? A local organization? What’s the organization’s background?
10. Travelers typically pay to go on volunteer vacations but ask exactly what the money covers. Does it cover lodging and food for you? The in-country support staff? The staff working behind the scenes to make the trip possible?
11. If you're a high school or a college student, especially one studying pre-med, ask if there is an internship. If you work for a living, will the volunteer work you do during this trip enhance your resume?
12. Once you’ve chosen a project, ask about the type and amount of support offered. Once you book will you get pre-departure help arranging your travel? Information about what shots and vaccines might be needed? A packet of information about the country and the project? What about support during the trip and even afterward?
13. Does the organization have a charitable foundation, in case you decide that a trip isn’t right for you but you'd like to make a donation to the cause.
14. These trips and experiences are as close as building homes in New Orleans or a far away as helping in orphanages in Romania or elephant camps in Africa. To see a list of organizations that offer volunteer travel trips and vacations (where you spend a few days of a trip volunteering and explore a new country the rest) click on Top Sources for Volunteer Vacations.

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Your Chance to Visit Curacao For Diving, Hiking and Other Adventures

The island of Curacao is on sale. Diving, hiking, biking, and the lodging you'll need to collapse in after you've played hard all day are all being offered at big discounts. Book before Oct. 15, and you can travel through December 15. You can walk off the shore here or take a boat to reach more than 60 marked dive sites around Curacao.

Photo by Linda Gettlemann

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Colorful Prints & Wall Murals of Adventures Around the World

If you? want to decorate your walls with colorful and sometimes artistic framed prints or wall murals, take a look at Lonely Planet's collection of travel? posters. There are dozens to choose from, taken in locales around the world. Some of the prints with adventure and sports vacations themes range from surfing and scuba diving to hiking over sand dunes and biking in Vietnam. Lonely Planet is offering them through AllPosters.com.

Photo provided by Allposters.com

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Sightseeing Around Shanghai, China, in a 1930s Sidecar Motorbike

Despite the high temperature and the humidity, it was breezy as I tooled around Shanghai in a vintage sidecar motorbike. A professional was doing the driving, so I was free to enjoy the kaleidoscope of colorful scenes in this Chinese city. The guide, who spoke excellent English, passed along entertaining anecdotes and tidbit of history as we explored.

Shanghai Sideways Tours, a company started by expats, has a fleet of 30 vintage sidecar motorbikes. You can book customized sightseeing trips lasting from an hour to all-day, or into the evening.? It is a novel way to see the city, and can be booked in advance by anyone visiting Shanghai.

Photo: ? 2011 Lois Friedland

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