Taking the Kids: On an Adventure

An adventurous child will step of their comfort zone and learn about the world.

Mount Kilimanjaro is a wonderful trip to make with family. Dreamstime/TCA

Don’t you love it when you find yourself ahead of the crowd?

I don’t mean budging in line, but rather when you have discovered something or someplace before most people.

That’s what I was patting myself on the back for when I read the The Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) 2025 Adventure Travel Trends & Insights report, drawing on data collected early this year from tour operators, based on their operations and sales last year.

I’ve long been a fan of getting the kids out of their comfort zones on vacation, whether hiking to the top of a mountain, whitewater rafting, trying a new sport like rock climbing, or simply navigating in an unfamiliar city or country.

Such experiences build confidence, resilience, and family bonds, I’m convinced. But that doesn’t necessarily mean roughing it.

Look at the explosion of glamping options around the country, including the growth of Huttopia (private bathrooms and electricity) and UnderCanvas outside national parks and including some so high end (at PAWS UP in Montana, for example) that they include butlers. For a city or a suburban kid, just sleeping in a tent might be out of their comfort zone.

The report suggests that there has been an uptick in interest in small-group itineraries guided by experts and designed for specific interests like gastronomy, nature photography and women-focused travel.

I’ve long advocated that food tours and cooking classes can be a terrific introduction to a foreign culture, as we experienced most recently in Amman, Jordan, at Beit Siti, a cooking school started by sisters in their grandmother’s house, and last summer, at a backyard cooking class in Valencia, Spain, where we learned the proper way to make and eat paella (always for lunch, never with seafood).

A man is cooking a huge paella, a Spanish traditional dish, at the beach (Nerja, Malaga) in the old-fashioned way. Dreamstime/TCA

There are also a growing number of women-only adventure trips from companies, including SisterhoodTravels which offers everything from national parks adventures to a Bali luxury escape and AdventureWomen, which is all about inclusivity, regardless of your fitness level.

Such trips can be terrific for sisters, moms, and daughters, as well as good friends. I climbed Kilimanjaro with my daughter, Reggie, when she graduated from high school and 20 years later, I still think about that experience as the first time she led the way for me. I’d never been more out of my comfort zone.

Such experiences don’t have to be expensive, nor do they have to be that far from home. In fact, the most popular adventure itineraries offered by tour operators in 2024 shared several defining characteristics: they were moderately priced, culturally immersive and often centered on active exploration. The median trip price rose to $3,000 for an eight-night itinerary, with 76 percent of that amount—about $2,280—spent with local suppliers.

Of course, they can also be much pricier, often once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like the families we met who had traveled across many time zones to Norway last winter to travel far up the Norwegian coast on a Hurtigruten ship to see the Northern Lights.

The ATTA report suggests that there is “a growing emphasis on specialization and deeper traveler engagement.” Culinary travel topped the list of trending activities, having steadily increased in the past five years. This was followed closely by safaris and wildlife viewing, hiking/trekking, e-bike cycling, wildlife/nature photography, and the always-popular cultural activities.

Adventure operators reported growing demand for expert-led, family-oriented itineraries, among others. Custom itineraries, soft adventures and remote destinations were also ranked highly by respondents.

Backroads, the active adventure company and a favorite of mine, has just announced new itineraries for next year, including more active culinary adventures. They offer different itineraries for families with different aged kids, including grade-schoolers, teens, and post college young adults. Now there are also trips for women and those who are now in their 30s and 40s (ready to hike hut to hut in the Dolomites?)

This fall, we are going on a G Adventures village-to-village trek through Sa Pa, the trekking capital of Southeast Asia, in Northwest Vietnam, designed with cooking demonstrations and interactions with villagers.

Of course, one person’s adventure can be someone else’s nightmare. That’s why it’s key to make sure everyone appreciates what they are signing on for. I remember the girls I met on a (soft) adventure trip in Costa Rica who were miserable because of the bugs and the lack of AC. They couldn’t have cared less about all the birds or the monkeys in the trees. They wanted to be at a big fancy resort in Hawaii but their dad had wanted this adventure.

Another time, in Antarctica, a daughter and her mom complained bitterly about the food and wine choices. The food was fine and as other passengers suggested, the trip wasn’t billed as a culinary experience. It was about the glaciers and the wildlife—penguins, seals, sea lions, and so much more.

It is tricky, of course, to join a group trip as there is always one outlier like the “stepmom from hell” we met on a hiking trip in Italy who couldn’t stop criticizing her step-kids to anyone who would listen.

There are positives to such trips, however—new friends and often the chance to have conversations you might not feel comfortable having with those you see all the time.

Many companies, including OARS, Austin Adventures, Backroads, and for luxury adventure, Abercrombie & Kent can arrange a trip just for your family group. It helps if everyone gets along. It also helps tremendously that there are experienced guides to field any issues or complaints.

Cooler climate destinations such as North-East Asia, Scandinavia, the Mediterranean, and Antarctica, are gaining popularity as travelers seek relief from the heat and demonstrate a growing concern about environmental impacts, the ATTA report said, as suppliers for their part work to make their trips more sustainable, helping local communities.

“…In a time of extreme division globally, travel offers some cure, as a way for people to understand each other better,” said Shannon Stowell, CEO of the Adventure Travel Trade Association.

At least we can all try.

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