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.

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

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We’ve selected 8 creative and inspiring travel challenges that will turn your trips into personal adventures. Our source of inspiration is a book – “203 Travel Challenges. Travel the world. Explore Your Inner Self”.

Traveling is something personal, so take the ingredients of the following challenges, stir them, move them and change them to create your own challenges to spice up your trips.

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

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: 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, etc.).

2. Night Challenge

There are many attractions which stay open even when it’s dark outside. There are also events created to make your night more interesting. It’s a different world when you trade the light of the sun for the light of the moon and the stars.

A couple of ideas for night events: European Night of Museums (every year on a Saturday, around 18th May – the International Day of Museums), European Literature Night (in May – celebrities read excerpts from European works of art), European Theatre Night (in November). European Researchers’ Night – research centers and museums open doors to show their achievements (every year in late September). Open-air cinema to enjoy a movie under the stars.

A couple of ideas for attractions open during the night: Every summer from May until October the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, is open until midnight on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (reservation necessary). In New York the Brooklyn Museum has free admission until 11 p.m. the first Saturday of each month (except September); the Top of the Rock observation deck at Rockefeller Center offers 70th floor views of Manhattan until midnight (last elevator up is at 11 p.m.), and the Empire State Building’s observation deck is open until 2 a.m. In Bangkok, Thailand, every district has its own night market where you can find all kinds of food, goods and fun activities, at the same time immersing yourself the best way possible into local life. Try the biggest market, Rot Fai, or the bohemian JJ Green Night Market.

For seasoned travelers: Take a night walk through the mountains. Under the only light of the moon or a headlamp – with an experienced guide or along trails you know like the back of your hand. Night walks are an experience that is hard to forget.

3. Go out of range for 24 hours

Go out of range, see the sunrise, read a book, talk to people. 

You are constantly online. You follow the events on the social networks and sometimes it’s as if the real world has disappeared. We challenge you to go for at least 24 hours to a place where electronic devices are out of range. We challenge you to feel that you are here and you are here now, instead of drifting through virtual space.

For seasoned travelers: Deliberately turn off all your devices for a day. Get out of range for a week.

4. See a shooting star and make a wish come true

Seeing a shooting star to make a wish may seem to you like pure chance. The truth is, you can help chance come your way by being in the right place at the right time. Every year, around 12 August, the sky night fills with hundreds of shooting stars (or meteorites to be exact). The reason is the annual meteor stream called Perseids.

Fun fact… The meteors are called Perseids because when we look at the sky it seems like they come from the constellation Perseus. In fact, the shooting stars we see in the sky are part of the comet Swift-Tuttle.

How to do it: The Perseids peak around 12 August (look up the date for the year) when hundreds of meteorites can be seen every hour.

A couple more ideas: There are other meteor streams throughout the year (Geminids in mid-December, Lyrids in mid-April, Quadrantids in late December – early January) when you can see a shooting star.

5. Bathe in a waterfall

Enjoy a free shower from nature. If you try to find pictures of the waterfalls listed below, without a shadow of a doubt you will want to shower there next time.

A couple of ideas:

Skogafoss (Iceland), Havasu (Grand Canyon, USA + more ideas for waterfalls you can bathe in the USA), Ouzoud (Morocco), Skradinski buk (Croatia), Kempty (India). Or just visit the nearest waterfall to you.

6. Celebrate the International Picnic Day

On International Picnic Day (every year on 18 June), enjoy one of the best ways to be close to nature. The importance of picnics dates back to the Victorian Age when young men and women could spend time together in the open. Back in the day, they would bring fancy meals, sandwiches, sweets and crackers. Nowadays picnics require far less effort, but they can be a good reason finally to go somewhere you’ve been meaning to, but haven’t had the chance.

How to make it more interesting: You can give the picnic a theme – everyone to wear red, to bring only Italian cuisine, tea and board games, a candlelit picnic, etc. To make it more fun, you can throw in a kite, slackline, hacky sack, badminton or a frisbee.

Fun fact… According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the biggest picnic in the world was organized in Lisbon, Portugal, on 20 June 2009 with more than 20 000 participants.

7. See a shipwreck – without going underwater

It’s human nature – we are drawn to tragedy and decay. We roam around abandoned villages, enter buildings carrying legends of ghosts and dive to reach sunken ships. If diving is not your passion, we challenge you to visit one of the most famous shipwrecks in the world… without having to dive.

A couple of ideas:

Zakynthos, Greece – At Navagio Beach, you will see the remains of a vessel washed ashore. You can take a peek from the high rocks or reach it by boat.

Muynak, Uzbekistan – Outside the town of Muynak (or Moynaq) in Uzbekistan, in the direction of the Aral Sea, you will witness a sinister view along the road – the skeletons of ships and fishing boats abandoned long ago in the desert. Up until about 30 years ago Muynak was a sea harbor, but today it is in the middle of the desert, 50 km (30 miles) from the coast, after the rivers were diverted for irrigation purposes, and so the road leading to the Aral Sea turned into a ship graveyard.

Sydney, Australia – Homebush Bay in Sydney has become the final resting place of no longer operating ships. Some of them were swallowed by mangroves, growing over the rusty decks.

8. You want a raise? Take a holiday!

It is a proven fact 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. A study, however, shows that employees, who take all of their vacation days, show better results at work. Statistics in the USA and Canada reveal that for every 10 days off from work, the employee’s results improve by an average of 8%.

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If you have used boat that you want to sell, you can use platforms like Grays.

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#1 Walk to work

If you usually go to work by crowded public transportation or by car, choose a nice sunny day and go to work on foot.

How to do it: When not in a hurry, people usually walk at a speed of 5 kph (3 mph). If you live 6 km (3 mi) from your workplace – it will take you about 70 minutes. Get up earlier than usual. Plan time for a coffee or a breakfast break on the way (you can prepare breakfast at home and eat it in a nice park). Choose your route so that you pass through as many parks and quiet streets as possible – thus walking to work will be a genuinely refreshing and recharging experience.

#2 Go to a live performance of a new, unfamiliar band

You might like them, even though you haven’t heard of them before, and it will liven up your evening.

#3 Check into a hotel in your own town

Check into a boutique hotel, an Airbnb, a winery or a spa hotel in your own town. Pick a special weekend to recharge your batteries not by traveling long distances but by choosing to leave all worries aside – from what you will have for dinner to wondering whether to change the sheets or not…

#4 Visit a temple of a religion, other than yours (if you’re an atheist – pick one of the many)

When you’re on a holiday abroad, you visit mosques, Buddhist temples, synagogues…, but you don’t do it in your own country. Have you ever thought of that? Pick a temple of a religion different from your own and learn something about its history. It could be a church, mosque, synagogue, a temple of an ancient civilization…

#5 Get on the public transport and get off at the last stop

Pick a bus/tram/subway line whose route you don’t know well. Discover new neighborhoods, interesting places or people. Take at least half an hour to explore before you leave.

Read more: Where to go when you have no money (or literally a few dollars)

#6 Get up really early and practice your favorite sport outside before work

Too few people will be thrilled when they read a challenge starting with “get up really early”. The truth is, exactly this kind of early rising will make you feel so refreshed that you will certainly want to do it again sometimes. If you think that coffee is refreshing, try at least once mountain biking early in the morning on a weekday, only to see how fresh and full of energy you can feel at work, even if you got up at 5:30 am. 

A couple of ideas (tested): In winter, when the fresh snow falls during the night, take the skis or snowboard and go up the nearest slope to enjoy the snow powder with a slide down. Tell your boss that, due to personal reasons, you will be late to work by an hour or two. In summer, cycle in the mountains. If you prefer more relaxed activities, go to a beautiful place outside of town and do yoga, or try gokotta.

#7 Have dinner in an exotic restaurant (Indian, Thai, Peruvian, etc.)

It’s a culinary trip in itself, with no passport needed.

Read more: 18 travel challenges for nature lovers

#8 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.

How to make it more interesting: Download a constellation identifying app (like Sky Map, for example). Find Mars, Venus, Saturn, the Zodiac constellations.

#9 Put a message in a bottle

This rather romantic gesture isn’t very eco-friendly, not to mention that too many rivers unfortunately carry so many bottles that it’s unlikely anyone will open yours and read the message inside. That’s why, instead of throwing one more bottle in a river or sea, leave the message at a more strategic place – in the park, in the foyer of a public building, etc. Tell your story or pay forward the most positive lesson life has taught you. It’s surprising how therapeutic this can be both for you and the person who will read your message.

#10 Go to the rooftop of a building 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 lemonade while enjoying the view.

Read more: 50 fun summer vacation challenges (+printable list)

#11 Go where you’ve been numerous times before

…and don’t leave until you find out at least five new things/stories/people.

It’s very possible this challenge will be among the last ones you will complete. Probably because we suggest you go where you think you know everything. The idea of the challenge is to show you that you might miss a lot by thinking you know everything.

How to do it: The easiest way is to imagine that you’re going there for the first time. Look for the details, talk to people, ask questions you know the answers to (often, the answers you get are unexpected). 

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There are many attractions which stay open even when it’s dark outside. There are also events specially created to make your night more interesting. It’s a different world when you trade the light of the sun for the light of the moon and the stars. Here are a few examples just to kick off. 

Late night events:

European Night of Museums – This is the night when many museums and galleries in Europe remain open until midnight and host special events. All comes with a sweet free entry. It takes place every year on the Saturday closest to 18th May – the International Day of Museums. Official website is here. 

European Literature Night – Celebrities read excerpts from European works of art. It takes place in May. Official website is here. 

European Theater Night – Theaters and opera houses open their doors for tours and special events. Plays are sold at special prices. It’s held in November. Official website is here.

European Researchers’ Night – research centers and museums open doors to show their achievements (every year in late September.

Open-air cinema – enjoy a movie under the stars at the closest cinema near you.

Attractions open during the night:

The Colosseum – Every summer from May until October the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, is open until midnight on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (reservation necessary).

The Brooklyn Museum – In New York, the Brooklyn Museum has free admission until 11 p.m. the first Saturday of each month (except September).

The Top of the Rock observation deck at Rockefeller Center offers 70th floor views of Manhattan until midnight (last elevator up is at 11 p.m.).

The Empire State Building’s observation deck is open until 2 a.m.

Night markets in Thailand – in Bangkok, Thailand, every district has its own night market where you can find all kinds of food, goods and fun activities, at the same time immersing yourself the best way possible into local life. Try the biggest market, Rot Fai, or the bohemian JJ Green Night Market.

Other night adventures:

Join a night sky watch through a telescope – find the nearest astronomical observatory and check possible dates.

Organize a night picnic with lanterns/candles/campfire.

Go far from the city lights to watch the Perseid meteor shower in mid-August.

Take a night hike through the mountains – Under the only light of the moon or a headlamp – with an experienced guide or along trails you know like the back of your hand. 

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