There are plenty of warm, mineral pools in the open air around the world. However pleasant they may be in the summer, there is nothing like getting into one in the winter, when snowflakes are falling from the sky and you are soaking in warm, mineral water, not caring about tiny details like weather forecasts or an air temperature more suited to polar bears…

How to do it (better):

Don’t forget to take a towel to dry yourself off as quickly as possible as you climb out of the pool. Also take your favorite warm drink in a thermos for pure bliss (coffee, cappuccino, tea and rum, only rum – we’re not judging).

Where to do it:

The Blue Lagoon in Iceland – The Blue Lagoon gets its name from the incredible color created by the mixture of fresh and salt water. It lies 40 km (24 mi) from the capital of Iceland – Reykjavík. The Blue Lagoon contains around 6 million liters (1.5 million gallons) of geothermal water, which renews itself naturally every 40 hours and its temperature is 37º C (98º F). Another cheaper and more tranquil option is the Myvatn Nature Baths nearby.

Japanese onsen – “onsen” is a type of spring that is very common in Japan. Visit Beppu, a city on the island of Kyushu, with its “Hells of Beppu” – geothermal hot spots, each differently colored due to the mineral content in the water.

*

Source: the book “203 Travel Challenges. Travel the World. Explore Your Inner Self.”

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This list of travel challenges is meant to make you step a little out of your comfort zone. If you like spending time in nature, then you’ve probably already completed some of these challenges. Nevertheless, there are ideas here that will help you plan your next outdoor adventure.

1. Roll around in the snow after taking a sauna (in the name of health!).

2. Organize a night picnic with lanterns/candles/campfire/the full moon.

Photo: Dave Lastovskiy/Unsplash

3. Go where 90% of animals and plants are unique and can’t be found anywhere else (we mean Madagascar, but if you find another place that meets the criteria, go ahead!).

4. Boil eggs in a valley of geysers – there are just over 1000 geysers on Earth, but it seems the influence of hot water on the human mind hasn’t been well studied yet because people tend to think of weird stuff to when they see a geyser. Like boiling eggs (there are hundreds of videos of this; check them out if you find the idea interesting).

5. Pop a bottle of champagne when you climb a new mountain peak. You deserve it.

Photo: © Lachezar Sokolov/www.203challenges.com

6. Spend the night in a hammock in a forest or on the beach.

7. Jump into a warm, open-air mineral pool while it’s snowing.

8. Bathe in a waterfall (one idea).

9. Hug a very special tree (a local attraction, a very old tree or a family tree).

10. Practice gökotta. Gökotta is a Swedish word that roughly translates as “to rise at dawn in order to go out and listen to the birds sing”. Read more about gökotta.

Photo: © www.203challenges.com

11. Try volcano boarding – hike up to a volcanic crater, enjoy the view, then try something more interesting: slide down the volcanic stones and ash with a special board at a speed of up to 75 kph (47 mph).

12. Discover sandboarding – slide down a sand dune with your feet fixed to a board.

13. Skinny-dip in a remote mountain lake.

14. Stand before the Gates of Hell.

15. Fly high in a hot-air balloon.

16. Breathe in the scent of lavender in Provence (between June and August is the best time to do it).

17. The most difficult challenge for active people: Spend a whole day doing nothing. Rest, observe the world around you, take a nap in the afternoon, have a cup of tea… Genuinely try to enjoy doing nothing.

18. Sleep in a floating bungalow (one idea here).

Photo: © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

All ideas are inspired by the book “203 Travel Challenges. Travel the World. Explore Your Inner Self.”.

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Need more inspiration? Take a look at our photo guide of our planet!

​This type of trip can inspire you to take a new path – enroll in a livestock breeder course, learn a new skill, or something else.

The post 18 travel challenges for nature lovers appeared first on 203Challenges.

[Psst, most of these are great ideas for dates!]

1. Go on vacation to a new city with your boyfriend/girlfriend, walk separate ways and try to find each other by the end of the evening (without using your phone!).

2. Organize a surprise trip for a loved one. The only information you need to provide them is the date and time, where to meet and what to bring (200 g of blackberries and a screwdriver, for example). Here’s a detailed plan how to organize a surprise trip for a friend for less than 30 minutes.

3. Show up at the airport with hand luggage only. Buy a cheap ticket for a flight leaving in the next few hours and spend the weekend there.

4. Visit all the cities and villages whose names start with the initial of your first name. You can limit yourself to just one county/state or dream big and challenge yourself to a whole country!

5. Build yourself a raft and sail as far as possible on it.

6. Think of a place that you would never go. Like, never ever. Now go there.

7. Walk around the city until you find a particularly beautiful or somewhat strange house. Jot down its address and send the owners a kind postcard.

8. Pretend to be a tourist in your own city. Speak to people only in a foreign language. Even if you meet friends, don’t break the game.

9. If a friend can’t join you on a trip, print his/her head in real size, add a tiny body below and shoot a photo story of this friend ‘traveling’ with you.

10. Organize a completely free trip. The longer, the better. [some ideas how to travel for free without feeling like a tramp]

***

Inspired by the book “203 Travel Challenges. Travel the World. Discover Your Inner Self”.

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Why is there so much fuss about giving an experience instead of an object?

If you need an idea for a really, really special and unforgettable gift for a loved one, choose an experience instead of just more stuff. Why? It has already been proven many times that experiences make us happier than objects, and that this happiness lasts longer.

To help you become everyone’s favorite gift-giver, read our list of 52 experience gift ideas, so you have at least one for every week next year. How thoughtful of us (and you)!

1. Opera/theater/show tickets (for the best seats, of course).

2. VIP concert tickets.

3. Plane tickets. Not really creative, but plane tickets are always a good idea.

4. A day at a spa center. Or, even better, at a warm outdoor swimming pool when it’s winter outside. Raise the stakes by bringing a flask of hot tea and rum.

5. A massage, preferably accompanied by a glass of wine or a cup of hot chocolate.

6. A thought-provoking book.

7. A book full of travel challenges.

8. Wine tasting. Beer tasting. Whisky tasting. Chocolate tasting.

9. A drawing/guitar/piano class.

10. A surprise trip (read How to plan the perfect surprise trip).

11. Bungee jumping.

12. Paragliding – a tandem flight.

13. A paragliding course (a whole new level where you can fly without an instructor).

14. Skydiving, diving, free diving

15. A day at a board games club.

16. A visit to an escape room.

17. A visit to a soundproof (anechoing) room – this is a hard task as there are just few anechoing chambers (absorbing every single sound and providing 99.9% silence) in the world, and they usually open only on specific days. They say that if you stay in an anechoing chamber for a while, you will start to actually hear your heartbeat.

18. A ‘coupon’ promising the recipient one day of your life together to do whatever they like.

19. Stargazing with a cup of hot chocolate.

20. A night at a Bedouin camp (for this particular idea you will need to already be in a country with Bedouins). If you are there anyway, use the chance to organize a great surprise by booking the night secretly, kidnapping your friend and taking them to the desert.

21. Glamping. Or champing (camping in a church) if you feel like scandalizing the religious society.

22. A dinner at a restaurant with such exotic cuisine that you can’t pronounce any item on the menu and you have to helplessly point to dishes to order them.

23. A whole day at a theme park.

24. A balloon flight.

25. A day on a yacht/boat with lots of champagne and a playlist with your favorite music.

26. A day snowshoeing in the mountains.

27. A cocktail night at a rooftop bar.

28. A night picnic.

29. A visit to a haunted/abandoned house.

30. A language course. Or step up your game by arranging a language course that takes place abroad.

31. A professional photo shoot.

32. If the person’s birthday occurs during a cold month, take them to a beach destination for a change. Or take them to a snow-capped mountain if they have never seen snow.

33. A party train ride. Book a whole compartment for the two of you, or for a bunch of friends. Bring goodies and drinks for everyone and let the party begin.

34. A hike in the mountain. Hide a box with a tiny cake and a bottle of champagne in your backpack. When you reach the peak, pop open the champagne and light the candles on top of the cake (you will probably have to buy non-extinguishable candles, because mountain peaks are windy places).

35. A night in a floating bungalow.

36. A dinner themed around the country of your most recent trip together.

37. Reunite the birthday person with an old friend who has been living abroad/faraway for years. Secretly arrange the friend’s arrival and, under the guise of a casual coffee with you, make the surprise meeting happen.

38. A membership for a museum, aquarium or a science center that lines up with the person’s interests.

39. A personal horoscope (if the person is into astrology). Substitute with a personal guided meditation, a human design, a personal coaching session or anything that will suit your friend’s soul.

40. A dance lesson.

41. Horse riding at sunset along the beach.

42. A subscription to yoga classes or any other sporty activity that will keep them healthy.

43. Anything homemade, because a homemade cake or herb-infused vodka is much greater than the product itself; it shows that you put time, effort and intent into creating it.

44. A luxury first night for a budget traveler. If you have a friend who spends most of their life on the road in crappy hostels and low-grade shared rooms, you can give them a ‘voucher’ for a first night in a luxury hotel for their next trip. After 26 hours of flying and interrupted dozes in airports, they will be more than thankful for a fluffy, cloud-like pillow and a real mattress in a soundproof hotel room.

45. Premium membership for their favorite app or online subscription. This could be Spotify, Calm or whatever service they love but would never splurge on.

46. Make one of their dreams come true. Has your friend always wanted to publish a book? To record their own song? Help them make their hobby a little bit more tangible by paying for the record or the publishing service.

47. Laughter. Have any of your friends been under the weather recently? Think of a way to make them laugh a bit: buy them tickets for a stand-up comedy show, take them to a comedy movie, or just organize a meetup with a mutual friend who is known to be light-hearted and always full of creative jokes.

48. A list of 52 challenges to complete during the next year. Make them fun and creative, and remember that some of them should be goofy and silly because that’s what friends are for! Thus, your gift won’t be forgotten for an entire year (and probably much longer). Browse through our Inspiration section to get some ideas.

49. A fixed sum of money with a catch. A 100-dollar note with a different kind of note, like: “On May 17, wherever you are, you have to spend this money on something unconventional, something you wouldn’t normally do. Spoil yourself, get adventurous or do whatever you feel like in the moment”.

50. A surprise party. OK, this is a classic. But if you haven’t done it yet, it’s almost always a cool idea.

51. A test drive of a fancy sports car.

52. A short video you secretly shot for this special person during your travels. Use a basic free video editor to make it shine a bit, then give it to the person on a memory stick wrapped in a ribbon.

53. Personal gift with print 🙂

I would also add a luxury pen to create memories. Or rather to preserve memories :)

Pin it now because you never know when you are going to need a list of good gift ideas:

Creativity is very important and a big plus in many ways.
For example, see who are creative agencies and what they do. You can inspire on the website hd-room.com 🙂

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Sometimes, in your lunch break, you’re in the mood to do something way more adventurous than eating lunch at your desk or hopping to the nearest coffee shop for a vanilla latte. We’re here to shower you with ideas so you know what to do during these rare moments of enlightenment.

Here’s our list of cool, weird and extraordinary things to do during your lunch break, so you can restart your mind at midday.

#1 Visit a museum or a gallery.

#2 Go to the movies.

#3 Organize a small reunion with a college friend whom you haven’t seen for years.

#4 Challenge your liver with a wine-tasting session (only to be attempted if you have a very cool boss).

#5 Visit a festival.

#6 Go to a faraway neighborhood to have lunch at a particular restaurant.

#7 Join a free tour of your city and learn new facts about where you live.

#8 Sweat it out in the gym.

#9 Go into a shop you would never enter and take a look around. Ask the shop assistant about what they sell and delve into details. This is a tiny exercise to help you expand your world.

#10 Join an art class and create something with your own hands.

#11 Meditate in a quite place.

#12 Go to church.

#13 Go for a walk amid nature – it’ll do wonders for your mental health.

#14 Go to the beach.

#15 Ride your bike (and listen to this perfectly themed playlist of cycling songs).

#16 Take a careful look at the menu and order something you would normally skip.

#17 Volunteer.

#18 Every weekday, go to a different place to eat, but order the same meal (like, pizza Margherita or Cesar salad). Rate every dish from 1 to 10 and then go back to the place where you had the best one to congratulate the staff.

Pin it for later to tick off every completed point:

The post 18 unusual lunch break ideas to restart in a creative way appeared first on 203Challenges.

#1 Bathe in a waterfall

Enjoy a free shower from Mother Nature while exploring unforgettable natural attractions.

Where: Havasu and Mooney Falls (Grand Canyon, USA). Twin Falls and The Seven Sacred Pools (Mawi, Hawaii). McWay Falls (Big Sur, California). Or just visit the nearest waterfall to you.

McWay Falls, California

>>> Read: 5 American waterfalls to bathe in this summer.

#2 Go white water rafting

Let the rapids boost your adrenaline as your inflatable boat bounces up and down along the river. Swimming is not a necessary skill – as long as you’re not afraid of water. 

Where: Along the Colorado River.

#3 Cross ‘via ferrata’

In Italian ‘via ferrata’ means “iron road”. If you are afraid of heights, you will need nerves of iron (pun intended) to cross this rocky route, although it’s completely safe and you will be secured the whole time. The system of ladders, metal ropes, suspension bridges and railings make the rock formation accessible to everyone, not just professional climbers. After this ‘appetizer’, you may want to try out actual rock climbing.

Where: Telluride (in San Juan Mountains, Colorado).

#4 Hug a very special tree

…and get fresh energy from nature.

Where: It won’t be so easy to hug the largest living tree on the planet – the giant sequoia General Sherman (which soars to 275 ft [84 m]) – because its circumference at ground-level is 102 ft (31 m) The tree is located in Sequoia National Park, California.

One more idea: In many cultures, trees are a symbol of family and kinship. Get the whole family together and plant a tree in a place where you all love going to. Then you’ll have a reason to go there even more often.

General Sherman Sequoia tree | Jim Bahn/Wikipedia

#5 Get close to an animal in its natural habitat

Our lives are so dominated by concrete and steel that an encounter with an animal in the wild is a rare and exciting experience. This challenge will push you to discover the natural habitats of your favorite animals and find a way to arrange a meeting with them.

Where: Take a whale-watching boat trip from Boston Harbor to catch a glimpse of a humpback whale or dolphins. Or just visit the nearest national park.

#6 Run a (crazy) marathon

There are marathons you run simply to prove that you can do it. Start with them. Then you can try your hand at a crazy marathon.

Where: Santa Speedo Run, in Boston or Atlanta. To run the annual Santa Speedo Runs across the USA you need a Speedo bathing suit (holiday colors are preferred). You will also need some Christmas flair (Santa hat, beard, Christmas socks, etc.). A warning: December weather in Boston is far from the ideal temperature for bathing suits. So runners are allowed (recommended even) to have a drink or two before the run.

Atlanta Speedo Run | TimotyJ/Wikipedia

#7 Drink whiskey straight from the source

Whiskey is a religion with its cults and rituals. If you also pray to this particular god, visit a distillery.

Where: Jack Daniel’s. Lynchburg, Tennessee is a legendary place to take a good walk while listening to stories about Jack and where, without any judgement whatsoever, you could share your very own personal encounters with him. If you don’t drink whiskey, you can join a ‘dry tour’ and delve into the distillery’s history fully sober.

#8 Ice skate at some of the world’s most beautiful ice rinks

Strap on your skates and show us a double axel (or triple fall on the ice – it depends on your skill level) at some of the most impressive ice rinks this planet has to offer.

Where: One of the world’s most famous ice rinks can be found just in front of the Rockefeller Center in New York.

#9 Discover a beach in the middle of the city

Life is better in flip-flops, they say. If the first thing that comes to your mind when someone mentions the beach is a solitary bungalow on a remote island, we challenge you to find some of the best city beaches in the world.

Where: Venice Beach, Los Angeles, is perfect not only for sunbathing but also for renting roller skates or a bike and going down a seven-mile bike alley to Will Rogers State Beach.

>>> Read 5 beaches in the middle of busy cities

#10 Sweat in a valley of geysers

There are slightly more than 1,000 geysers on Earth, many of which form boiling valleys. As it seems, the influence of hot water over the human mind hasn’t been well studied yet, because people tend to think of weird stuff to do when they see a geyser. Like boiling eggs (there are hundreds of videos of that; check them out if you plan to conduct a experiment).

Where: Yellowstone National Park houses thousands of hot springs, mud pots and at least 300 geysers – one-third of the planet’s total.

Yellowstone National Park | Ashley Knedler/Unsplash

Fun fact… Geysers exist on other planets. If you’re planning a trip to outer space, you can stop by Saturn’s moon Enceladus for a water vapor eruption or go to Neptune’s moon Triton for nitrogen eruptions.

#11 See the Northern Lights

Unsurprisingly, catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights is a dream experience for millions of travelers around the world. If the aurora is also on your list, here’s how you can see it:

When can you see the Northern Lights? Unfortunately, you’re at nature’s mercy. The Northern Lights like to play hide and seek, so you’d better stick around the observation area for at least a week, at best – two weeks at worst. Your best chance is from late August until late November and in February and March. However, the truth is, no one can guarantee when the lights will appear.

Where: The best places in the world to observe the Northern Lights are Alaska, Norway, Canada, Greenland, Lapland, Iceland, and Sweden.

#12 Drive along picturesque winding roads

Some of the most picturesque roads in the world are, unfortunately, some of the most unbearable for your inner ear. But, oh, they’re worth it!

Where: Big Sur, California, or Interstate 1, is one of the best-known roads in the States. You’ll see why when it leads you to the breathtaking viewpoint over the Pacific Ocean. The Interstate spans 90 mi (145 km) from San Simeon to Carmel and offers wild nature and steep rocks, overlooking the waves crashing against the shore.

Drive on! | adrian/Unsplash

#13 Have a drink at an ice bar

Put on your snow boots and fluffy headphones and order a drink at a bar where you won’t need any extra ice…

Where: Some of the world’s best ice bars are in the USA – like Bar Minus 5 (New York) and Aurora Ice Bar (Alaska).

#14 You want a raise? Take a holiday!

It’s proven that employees who use more of their vacation days achieve better results at work and have a higher chance of being promoted. Many people don’t use all of their vacation days as they fear that their long absence might show their bosses that the work can be managed without them. However, statistics in the USA and Canada reveal that for every 10 days off from work, employees’ results improve by an average of 8%.

How to do it (if your boss won’t give you a holiday): Show this article to your boss (or an employee who urgently needs to take a break)…

#15 Spend 45 minutes in a soundproof room

Imagine a room that isolates 99.9% of sound. Imagine you’re in that room, alone. You can hear your heartbeat and, after a few minutes in the room, even your lungs! In the soundproof room you become the sound. According to Guinness World Records this is the quietest place on Earth.

Where: This is a really serious challenge. Such rooms can be found in the USA, and more and more are opening in different places around the world. Usually, they announce several visiting days throughout the year, as the main purpose of these rooms is to test technological products. Google “anechoic chamber” + the country or town closest to you.

Could you spend 45 minutes in a soundproof room? | Malte Wingen/Unsplash

#16 Join some of the craziest festivals in the world

If you feel like doing something really crazy, there are hundreds of festivals around the world created just for people like you.

Where: Burning Man – this festival is a must for every free spirit. It’s hard to put the experience into words; you have to be there to understand it. For two weeks every year, tens of thousands of people gather in the desert near the city of Reno, to create a temporary metropolis dedicated to exchanging knowledge, skills, creativity and art. Nothing is sold; there are only acts of gift giving. The culmination of the event is the symbolic ritual burning of a large wooden effigy – “the Man”, which lends its name to the festival.

Source: the book 203 Travel Challenges. Travel the World. Explore Your Inner Self. 

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Organizing a cool surprise trip as a gift looks like a big hassle, but it’s totally doable in less than an hour. Just stick to this guide and avoid all distractions, please!

1. Choose the topic [2 minutes] – you shouldn’t need more than a minute to decide what your friend (wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, mom, dad, etc.) is most into. Animals? Consider visiting a farm or an epic zoo, or booking a nature safari. Wine? Find the best winery offer tastings in the region. Еven if you are a fan of wine, you will probably still be surprised by wine with a different and nice taste.
2. Choose the destination [20 minutes] – there’s no need to browse through thousands of properties – the fact that it’s a surprise will make the experience special anyway. Google something like ‘the best places for animal lovers in X destination’. Choose the main attraction of the trip. Then choose a hotel or guesthouse nearby. Don’t close any of the tabs with the destinations you’ve chosen and then…
3. Make sure the birthday boy/girl has no other plans for the day. Then proceed to the booking [3 minutes] – make a casual call to ask your friend if they have already planned something for their birthday, using the excuse that your colleagues are inviting you to go to the theater on the same day. Don’t reveal that you are planning something. If the answer is ‘no’, proceed to booking. If the answer is ‘yes’, try to get an idea of what it is and who is invited. I’ve reached such levels of plan sophistication that I called every single guest to tell them the birthday would actually take place at another place and time, and they should keep the secret and pretend to be attending the event organized by the birthday person. It worked perfectly well.
4. Send a mysterious invitation [5 minutes] – use free online software (like Canva or BeFunky) to create an fancy invitation. Include only this information: when and where the person should be and what they should bring. If you are taking them to a warm place, include flip-flops and sunglasses in the to-bring list. If it will be a wine tasting, you can ask them to bring aspirin. You’re done! Now wait until the birthday when you can…
5. Blindfold them for extra suspense – just when they think the mystery will finally be over, add some more anticipation by blindfolding them and playing their favorite songs while you arrive. Unless you need to board a plane. Unfortunately you can’t sneak a blindfolded person onto a plane…
6. Surprise!

…romantic

…add a spa treatment for two or a dinner at a rooftop restaurant to make it more memorable.

…adventurous

…book a bungee jump, a skydive or ride on horseback in the wilderness.

…kid-friendly

…because kids like surprises too. In fact, every trip is a trip full of surprises when you travel with kids (at least for you) because you can never know when little Jimmy will spill a whole plate of spaghetti on his sister’s head, while using the tablecloth at the restaurant as a cape. So just look up the best children’s activity nearby and bring the kids’ favorite toys and games. Kids are also usually happy to join in everything the adults do – if you let them. My friend’s daughter went paragliding for the first time when she was five years old, and she even asked to go for a second time.

Pin it because you will have friends with birthdays, like, every year:

Discover more gift ideas here: 52 best gifts that are actually unforgettable experiences

The post How to plan a surprise (birthday) trip in less than 30 minutes appeared first on 203Challenges.

A couples escape, a family holiday or a cliche-free solo trip – here’s a selection of our favorite quirky Christmas getaway ideas for a not-so-ordinary holiday season.

Because if you don’t bring the Christmas spirit in your heart, you won’t find it on your travels, even if you venture as far as Lapland.

Plus, if the legend is true, Santa will find you wherever you are.

This list will guide you through all the cool and unusual things you can do this Christmas that turns out to be one of the best Christmas gifts for your friend with whom you are going on a trip during the holidays.

#1 Spend the night at a Bedouin desert camp

Sand, heat, camels: this image is the antithesis of every stereotypical Christmas card. So if you’re looking to do something different, why not head straight to the nearest desert? It doesn’t need to be a rough experience – you can stay in a luxury tent.

A luxury tent at Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan | Christian Piatt/Flickr

#2 Enjoy the glorious van life

This article says it all in a very inspirational way:

#3 Go skiing in a Santa costume

Cover yourself in a dollar-store Santa costume and stir up a little holiday confusion on the slopes of your favorite ski resort.

#4 Build an igloo and have a festive dinner inside

If you have kids, make them build the igloo while you prepare the dinner. Bring candles, warm blankets and woolen socks for everyone.

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A post shared by Filippo Scrivani (@filipposcrivani)

#5 Go on a Christmas road trip

We’re not suggesting just any old road trip; for this challenge, you need to decorate the car. Head somewhere that’s open on Christmas Day, like a nature park or the historical center of a nearby city.

#6 Go boating or kayaking

Book a ticket on the nearest available cruise and sail the holiday season away. Or, if you’d rather travel under your own steam, swap the cruise ship for a kayak.

#7 Just go somewhere colorful

Head to Guatemala, Colombia, Venice, Thailand or anywhere with colors more vivid than a photoshopped image.

Guatemala | Ronald Cuyan/Unsplash

#8 Soak in a warm mineral pool (especially if it’s snowing outside)

There is nothing like immersing yourself in an open-air mineral pool in the winter. You’ll feel like you’re cheating nature as you watch snowflakes falling from above while you soak in warm mineral water, not caring about tiny details like weather forecasts or temperatures more suited to polar bears… Bring hot drinks with you.

#9 Spend the day in the company of animals

Don’t get me wrong, humans are okay… but I prefer animals because (other than parrots), I’ve yet to hear one assault my ears with “‘Tis the season to be jolly” for the 1,056,669th time in a row. In fact, I respect animals’ ability to detach from the holiday craze. Find some furry friends at a farm, a nature park or a zoo – whatever you have at hand will do.

A puffin in Iceland who doesn’t know a single Christmas carol | Jonatan Pie/Unsplash

#10 Fly to the cheapest foreign country available

Check your favorite airlines’ websites or a flight comparison website to see where you can escape at the last minute… and just do it. Life is short – you should make more silly decisions.

#11 Go surfing

Surfing is a cliche if you are Australian, and an unconventional treat if you are not.

Surfing on Christmas Day? | Conner Murphy

#12 Rediscover yourself at a retreat

Why not head on a silence retreat, a meditation retreat or a nature getaway during the holidays? When the materialistic world becomes too overwhelming, it’s time to run away from it all and sit in silence to rediscover your inner self.

#13 Go skinny-dipping

This challenge is not for the faint of heart if you live close to one of the poles… but it’s still worth it if you want a Christmas to remember.

#14 Embark on a refreshing bicycle ride

If the weather isn’t too frightful, hop on your bike and enjoy a long, serene ride, making sure to occasionally glimpse through the windows of the houses you pass to see what other people do on Christmas Day. The best part about this is that the streets will be empty. Like, zombie-apocalypse empty. Have you checked out our bicycle-themed playlist to keep you company during your ride?

Santa, is that you? | Robert Couse-Baker

#15 Return to your pagan roots

Christmas is rooted in Christianity, but Christianity is rooted further back in time. Add a pagan flavor to the holiday season by using your days off to visit an ancient monument. It could be a megalith, a stone circle, a tomb or whatever ancient landmark you have nearby.

#16 Organize a snow picnic

Wrap yourself in warm clothes, pack some baked goodies and flasks full of tea and coffee (and rum, and whiskey…), and head out for a picnic in the crisp air. It’s a good idea to pack extra blankets and spare gloves. Here’s our full guide how to organize a winter picnic in the snow.

A picnic is always a good idea, no matter the weather | picseli

#17 Change the season

If you have spent your whole life celebrating snowy, white Christmases scented with the smell of chestnuts roasting on the open fire, then a little change will be more than refreshing. Head to another climatic zone and see what the change of scenery has to offer.

Change the season this Christmas | Thomas Kelley

#18 Travel to a neighboring city to eat at an exotic restaurant

As there is no Christmas in China, Bangladesh or Thailand, restaurants serving these national dishes will probably be open. Choose a nearby city and check which international restaurants there have the highest rating on Google, Facebook or TripAdvisor.

#19 Book a remote cabin in the forest

The more remote, the better. Keep it warm and cozy, staying by the fireplace and preparing your own mulled wine. Take advantage of the fact that you are close to nature and practice the Japanese art of ‘forest-bathing’: shinrin-yoku.

Go somewhere remote | Paul Itkin

#20 Climb somewhere high for a gorgeous view

Depending on your preferences, this may be a skyscraper, a mountain peak or a just a tree.

#21 Eat your Christmas lunch on a plane, train, etc.

Most public transportation continues running even on Christmas Day. Even if you are not forced to be on a plane or train on Christmas Day, you can arrange a journey for yourself and make the most of the trip. Bring some cookies and special cinnamon latte with you if you’re worried about missing the holiday spirit.

Pin it for later, because the Christmas craze may eventually become too overwhelming and you may want to escape:

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#1 Go far away from the city at night to gaze at the stars

City lights prevent you from seeing the sky in all its splendor. Go a few miles out of town and you will see so many more constellations. Take a blanket to lie on the ground comfortably. Download a constellation identifying app (like Sky Map, for example). Find Mars, Venus, Saturn, the Zodiac constellations.

#2 Bathe in a waterfall

Enjoy together a free shower from nature.

#3 Lost and found couples challenge

Go on a vacation with your loved one in a faraway city. Once you arrive, split up and try to find each other. The biggest question is how you will play the game: whether you will do what you usually do so that your partner can find you; or you will look for activities you think your partner will be doing? Romantic cities with compact city centers (like Vienna, Bratislava, and Amsterdam) are a good option.

Lost and found couples | Photo: Tord Sollie/Unsplash

#4 Climb a new peak and open a bottle of wine there

Hike up in the mountains and feel like deities looking over their lands. Celebrate reaching the top with a bottle of champagne and share it with your special one. This is an achievement worthy of a proper celebration!

#5 Create your own romantic travel challenge – the crazier, the better

The world is full of crazy people who fulfill their own crazy challenges. Create your own freaky idea and set to accomplishing it together. It could be anything from walking every street in your town to visiting every national park in the country or eating ice cream in front of every castle in Europe.

#6 For thrill junkies: go bungee jumping together

Sharing moments of thrill makes the bond between you stronger.

#7 Jump in the snow after taking a sauna

Spice up your spa day with something many Scandinavians do. Cooling down after a sauna is as important as heating up. It shouldn’t happen too abruptly but if you go to Finland in the winter, you’ll see people jumping into the ice-cold water of a lake or rolling in the snow after a sauna. Not that it’s strictly considered normal, but it’s not an uncommon sight, either. After this shock to your body, don’t forget to pat yourself down with the birch twigs that can be found in every Finnish sauna.

#8 A monthly date on a bench

Choose a favorite bench at a beautiful place that fills you with energy (it could be in the mountains, in a park, in a favorite town). Sit on it together every month. Take 12 photos and make a collage of them. Notice how everything around you changes and how you have changed.

Monthly date on a bench | Photo: Gary Bending/Unsplash

#9 Have a bottle of local wine with a view

“Years, lovers and glasses of wine; these things must not be counted”, said someone and we completely agree.

Not every date needs to be in a fancy restaurant. Keep this date simple and local; buy a bottle of local wine. Find a place with a view (of the sea, mountain tops, over the city) and share the bottle with your loved one. No hurrying, no talking required.

#10 Have a drink at an ice bar

Put on your snowboots and fluffy headphones and order a drink at a bar where you won’t need ice with your drink… Some of the world’s best ice bars are in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, at Hotel de Glace (Quebec, Canada), Chillout Bar (Dubai), Bar Minus 5 (New York, USA), Aurora Ice Bar (Alaska, USA), Xtracold Ice Bar (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), Ice Club Roma (Rome, Italy).

#11 The random stop date

Set out at least once on a journey with only one point on your itinerary – the starting point. Sometimes it’s good to leave things to fate. And fate always has interesting ideas about who and what to introduce you to.

Here’s a complete guide to spontaneous travel with specific ideas by car, by train, etc.

#12 Soak in a warm, open-air mineral pool while it’s snowing

Find the nearest warm, mineral pool in the open air and visit it in winter, when snowflakes are falling from the sky. Take your favorite warm drink in a thermos for pure bliss (coffee, cappuccino, tea and rum, etc.). Read the full idea here.

#13 Join a night sky watch

Find the nearest astronomical observatory and check possible dates for a night sky watch through a telescope. Some observatories host special events, such as dinners under the sky.

#14 Organize a completely free or almost free trip

#15 Celebrate a traditional holiday in a non-traditional way

Traditions are to be changed from time to time. Bring something different into your life (and that of your loved one) by turning a classical holiday upside down. It will certainly be a holiday you will remember for years to come. Here are our guides with 21 unusual Christmas travel ideas and DIY: a cheap and unusual Easter travel idea.

#16 Sunrise and a morning picnic

Get in your car and drive at night. Go to the beach or another beautiful place to watch the sunrise. Watch the sun coming up with your loved one. Have a picnic in the morning and then take a short nap on the blanket.

>>> Discover more fun and unusual picnic ideas.

Photo: ©Maria Angelova/203challenges

#17 Sign up for a crazy marathon together

What a better way to make people closer than difficulties? These crazy marathons held around the world have enough difficulties to make you lean on each other and to make you feel you’ve accomplished something really big.

When two people are participating in the competition, you can work together in one direction, encourage each other, and help each other. This is the real purpose and meaning. You can customize love marathon or half marathon medals for the competition you participated in this time, keep them at home, and they will be a sweet memory to see in the future.

#18 The slow return trip date

Choose a destination and go there as quickly as possible. But on the way back home choose the slowest possible transport and way of returning. Swap the several-hour flight for a several-day exciting road trip. Stop, change transport, take detours, postpone your arrival – even if only by five minutes. Enjoy every place, every encounter and your time together.

#19 Organize a surprise trip for your better half

The birthday boy/girl may think they have plans for the special day until you kidnap them in an unknown direction… Here’s our foolproof 30-minute guide to organizing a surprise birthday trip.

Photo: ©Maria Angelova/203challenges

#20 Get lost on purpose

Getting lost in an unknown city is the best way to find interesting things and experiences, to meet interesting people (who are rarely among the crowds of tourists) and come across unexpected treasures. Choose a random remote part of the city you are visiting and get lost together.

#21 Close your eyes, turn the map of your country three times and then point to a place

Оpen your eyes and discover your destination for next weekend. Well, if you live in Canada or the USA, you may want to take a map of the state/province or county.

#22 Go to the rooftop of a building in your own city and see the city from above

When in a foreign place, tourists are ready to pay significant amounts of money to go up the Empire State Building or other observation decks upon skyscrapers. They don’t do it in their own town, though, where the pleasure is most probably free. Even if there are no skyscrapers around, find a tall building where a friend of yours works or lives, go to its rooftop and have a drink while enjoying the view.

#23 Cycling

Cycling is a wonderful date idea that allows couples to explore new places and enjoy the beauty of nature. You can choose a scenic route that takes you through picturesque landscapes, beautiful parks, or charming towns. Moreover, riding a bike is a fantastic date idea for couples with children because it provides an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, get some exercise, and spend quality time together as a family. If your child is too young to ride their own bike, you can bring a bike seat (for instance, this one https://threo.co.uk/product/front-mounted-child-bike-seat). It is not only fun but also healthy and great for bonding. So, gear up and hit the road for a memorable cycling date with your loved ones!”

#24 Go to the concert of a favorite band abroad

Tickets for a concert of your favorite band are a perfect romantic gift but they are even better if you add plane tickets to them. For music fans it’s a double win – they listen to their favorite artists live and visit new places. Check regularly the websites of your favorite bands for concert dates in countries you’d like to go to anyway.

#25 Have breakfast at home. Have lunch 200 miles away. Have dinner abroad.

One of my all-time favorites.

#26 Go to the airport and buy a ticket for the cheapest destination of the day

Go to the airport with your luggage packed. You can go together with your friends. The destination is not important. Spend the weekend there.

#27 Ski or snowboard only in your underwear

Or even without.

#28 Go skinny-dipping in the nearest lake

Just because.

The post 28 unusual and adventurous date ideas for travel loving couples appeared first on 203Challenges.

Planning can take over all aspects of our lives.

Family. Social life. Friends. Relationships. Marriage. Children. In this day and age, it’s so easy to get carried away and let our anxiety for the future control our life, forcing us to over-plan. How often do you stress about a plan B or a worst-case scenario instead of just going with the flow?

As John Lennon once said:

“Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.”

Traveling is one activity that can require meticulous planning, with flights, hotel reservations and itineraries all begging to be organized in advance. But if you get too caught up in planning, your relaxing holiday could turn into a stressful, inflexible experience. This begs the question: how do we keep travel fun, challenging and spontaneous?

Here are a few tips for enjoying an unplanned trip:

1. Be spontaneous! Follow an interesting sign and change your plan

We think the ability to abandon your plans and venture into the unknown is directly proportional to your enjoyment of traveling (and life) in general. So, even if you have a plan, the next time an unexpected sign or an intriguing place name piques your interest, follow your intuition!

2. Thinking of turning something down? Say yes at the last minute!

We challenge you to accept the next travel suggestion that you would normally say no to. Spontaneity goes hand-in-hand with an open mind!

3. Take the random stop challenge

Forget the destination – we challenge you to set out on a journey with nothing more than your starting point planned. This is your chance to be spontaneous and leave the rest to fate. We promise it will be a trip to remember!

How to do it:

By train – Go to the station and catch the next train. Get off at the third (or fourth, or tenth…) stop and explore.

By car – Take a friend, then once you hit the highway ask them to close their eyes and give you random directions, such as “take the third exit, then turn right after four streets”. Who knows where you’ll end up?

By plane – This option is for advanced travelers only! Go to the airport and get on the next available flight to anywhere. Have your luggage packed. You can go alone or with friends (if they’re brave enough to accept the challenge). The destination is not important, so you can aim for the cheapest or the most exotic – whatever tickles your fancy. Spend the weekend there and see what fate has to offer!

4. Embrace the slow return challenge

This challenge is all about taking the easy way there and the scenic route home. That could mean taking a flight to your destination then meandering back over several days by bus, train, or even sticking your thumb out on the side of the road. If you’re driving, take the highway there and the back roads on your return, stopping at every town or landmark on the way to really get a feel for the area. We’re sure you’ll enjoy every place, every encounter and every moment on the road!

5. Spend a weekend in the wilderness without bringing food or a tent

Mountain tourism is incredibly popular these days, partly because even the most casual mountaineer can find good equipment, tents and waterproof clothes. If you’re really in adventure mode, however, you might challenge yourself to spend two days close to nature without all of the creature comforts. Search for food and water, hunt, build a shelter, and start a fire the old-fashioned way without matches or a lighter.

6. Get lost on purpose

Getting lost in an unknown city is the best way to be spontaneous, to find exciting things and to meet interesting people (away from the crowds of tourists). You’ll be amazed how quickly you stumble upon unexpected treasures and off-the-beaten-track experiences.

7. Trust a friend to organize your trip

Set a budget and leave the organization to a close friend. Before you leave, you’ll simply receive an envelope with reservations, GPS coordinates and a list of necessary things to pack. Sounds quite spontaneous, doesn’t it?

8. Close your eyes and spin!

Still haven’t got plans for the weekend? You don’t need any. Just spread out a map of the country/continent in front of you, or, if you’re feeling particularly brave, grab a globe and give it a spin. Close your eyes and let your finger be the travel agent – wherever it lands is your next destination! We should point out that if your finger lands in the middle of the ocean, you might want to take a second stab at it…

9. Cure your boredom with an adventurous challenge

Stop. Take a deep breath. Grab “203 Travel Challenges” (it was designed as a travel book but it also acts as a random challenge-generator). Open the book to a random page and complete the challenge waiting for you there. Prepare to get out of your comfort zone and leave the rest to serendipity!

How many of these challenges have you done? Share your experience and become an inspiration to others. Send a story and a couple of photos to office@203challenges.com.

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