{"id":345,"date":"2008-06-25T14:08:24","date_gmt":"2008-06-25T19:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/06\/putting-a-little-adventure-in-your-family-vacation\/"},"modified":"2016-12-17T19:42:25","modified_gmt":"2016-12-18T01:42:25","slug":"putting-a-little-adventure-in-your-family-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/06\/putting-a-little-adventure-in-your-family-vacation\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting a little adventure in your family vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Family_travel_russell\"<\/a>By Tom Russell<\/em><\/p>\n

Adventure travel<\/a><\/strong> means something different to everyone — but as parents with three grade-school-aged children, it definitely does NOT mean sleeping in tents and climbing the ranges of Nepal. But you can still add some adventure to your family vacation<\/a><\/strong> and see some incredible scenery, as long as you are willing to get outside and get off of the beaten path.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, my wife and I took our three kids (then ages 13, 11, and 9) to the White Mountains of New Hampshire for 3 full days of hiking, before heading to the sandy shores of Maine for four days of relaxing on the beach. I had hiked up Mount Washington, the highest peak in the U.S. east of the Rockies, when I was a teenager, and wanted to take my kids to see this amazing part of the country.<\/p>\n

Mount Washington is located near Bretton Woods, N.H., and the Mount Washington Hotel<\/a><\/strong> is a historic property that sits at the base of the mountain. The White Mountain National Forest<\/strong> has over 1,200 miles of hiking trails that range from scenic day hikes to several-day true adventure treks. There are free shuttles that connect several popular trailheads, and lots of the trails offer a great opportunity for your family to get out and experience the White Mountains first-hand.<\/p>\n

Our family hikes included we made the short 60-minute round-trip hike to the top of the "Elephant," a large rock formation in Crawford’s Notch<\/strong> in the heart of the White Mountains, and a longer 3-hour round-trip hike up to the top of Mount Willard<\/strong>. While you definitely want to be in decent shape to make this hike, it was not that bad — even for our three kids. And the waterfalls on the way and views when we made it to the top were well worth the effort.<\/p>\n

We’ve found that hiking is a great family vacation<\/a><\/strong> activity — it lets you see the scenery first-hand, and it can really help your kids tell their friends back home about what they accomplished. We’ve also gone hiking in Sedona, Arizona<\/strong><\/a>,which is another great family-friendly vacation spot if you want to balance rest and relaxation with a touch of adventure.<\/p>\n

There are lots of resources available for you to plan hikes in our national forests<\/a><\/strong>. The key is to do some research in advance — but don’t plan out every minute — that takes all of the adventure out of your adventure trip! Instead, have a rough idea of what you want to do and see on your trip — and then decide for sure once you’ve arrived and gotten a lay of the land. Most importantly — don’t be afraid to get out and walk around — there is a whole world out there to explore with your family.<\/p>\n

Related Orbitz resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n