#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. 

The post 16 fun travel challenges to experience the USA in a unique way appeared first on 203Challenges.

Using the sun as a guiding point may save your life in the wilderness, backwoods, the Sahara or any other place where you find yourself lost and without a compass (or, of course, Google Maps). It’s also an essential skill if your compass fails you. Above all, this give you the chance to brag about your incredible survival skills to friends and strangers.

Ingredients:

1 x sun

1 x long, straight object (a stick)

Time:

15-20 minutes

Execution:

Take a long, straight object (1 m/3.5 ft long is perfect!)  – a stick is best, but you can also use a ski pole or whatever straight object you have at hand in the above-mentioned wilderness, where you might not have many options. In the worst case scenario, you could be the “straight object”, but we doubt you would be willing to stand still for 20 minutes under the sun.

Insert the object into the ground at an angle of 90 degrees (it is important for the angle to be as close to 90 degrees as possible) and mark the end of the object’s shadow with a pebble or twig. Wait for 15-20 minutes: in that time, the shadow will move. Take another pebble and mark the new end of the shadow. Draw a straight line between the start and end point of the shadow’s movement (the two pebbles). This line points east–west: the first point is west and the second is east.

If you stand with your left shoulder pointing west and your right shoulder pointing east, then you will be facing north, while south will be directly behind you.

Pin it for later:

The post How to determine the direction using only the sun (and a random stick) appeared first on 203Challenges.

While researching what to see and do in and around Larnaca, Cyprus, I came across the exciting information that flamingos fly over to this Mediterranean island for the winter. As a dweller of a non-flamingo country, I felt my pulse skyrocket, and leggy pink birds turned into the main theme of my trip to Cyprus.

Here’s a quick guide on how to see greater flamingos in Cyprus, along with some other useful information and interesting facts.

When to see flamingos in Cyprus:

Between November and March.

Where to see flamingos in Cyprus:

#1 The Salt Lake in Larnaca

Cycling at Larnaca Salt Lake, Cyprus | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Larnaca Salt Lake is located just off the main road to Larnaca Airport and is easily accessible from the city through a beautiful park area. There are paths, benches, and observation decks following the lake’s banks. Bring a packed lunch and enjoy the sun and the views.

How to make it better: Hire bikes from the beach and ride to the lake through the beautiful Patticheio Park. Don’t ride too close to the lake – the mud is extremely sticky and you’ll have a lot of trouble cleaning your bike (as I did!).

Fun fact: Once, the salt obtained from the lake was one of the major exports of Cyrpus. It used to be carried by donkeys and piled in enormous heaps on the banks of the lake until the end of the 1980s.

#2 Limassol (Akrotiri) Salt Lake

Flamingos sometimes hang around at Akrotiri Lake near Limassol, even after winter has passed.

Another favorite flamingo haunt is Limassol Salt Lake, also known as Akrotiri Lake. It is the biggest lake in Cyprus, although it remains remarkably shallow; its deepest spot is only 3 feet (1 meter) in winter, while in summer it’s all dust and a shining white salt crust. Between 2,000 and 20,000 flamingos call it home from November to March. Akrotiri is the only lake in Cyprus that enjoys the company of (at least a few) flamingos all year round, because it doesn’t completely dry up in summer.

Fun fact: Two years in a row – in 2015 and 2016 – there was a black flamingo visiting Akrotiri Lake, so keep your eyes open for this unusual guest.

#3 Oroklini Lake

Watching flamingos at Oroklini Lake, Cyrpus | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Watching flamingos at Oeroklini Lake, Cyrpus | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Watching flamingos at Oeroklini Lake, Cyrpus | © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

This was pure chance; just half a mile from our seaside hotel near the village of Oroklini, 10 mi (15 km) from the center of Larnaca we came across a roadside observation hideout, where we could admire Oroklini Lake’s feathered inhabitants without disturbing them.

How to make it better: Plan to visit the lake shortly before sunset. The soft light and the bright colors of the sky set the perfect background for flamingo-spotting.

What else you should know:

The salt lakes are protected areas – don’t litter, chase the birds for a selfie or interrupt their life in any other way.

Bring your long-focus lens to shoot better images.

Pin it to your flamingo board, because everyone needs a little pink in their life:

The post Where to see flamingos in Cyprus: a nature lover’s guide appeared first on 203Challenges.

>>> Read an excerpt from Lost With Directions here!

We reached out to Rob to ask him a few very important things about challenges and adventures.

– Who is Rob Erwin and what are his dreams?

– I’m just a small-town guy from Illinois who’s spent most of his life doing things I really had no business in doing. I never played a minute of football in my life, and then went on to coach college football for seven years. I never swam a lap in pool in my life until a few years ago, and now I’m training for my first Ironman triathlon. I had no formal writing training, and managed to write a best-selling travel book last year. My goal is to continue learning from all my adventures and experiences, and eventually share something great with the world. I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it.

– Why is the leap from ‘I have a boring job’ to ‘I’m following my dreams’ so hard for most people?

– We’re all afraid of something.

For many, the greatest fear in their lives is what will others think of me? In particular, what will others think of me if I fail? 

The thought of failure, and the pain we associate it, is sadly what keeps many of us from taking chances in our lives.

But what really hurts more? Going on a great adventure, even though you might fall short of your ultimate destination? Or following the herd, and successfully arriving somewhere that, in the end, doesn’t really matter? That’s the question for me.

– What was your biggest ‘mistake’ on the road that you laughed at later?

– The time in the Pelican Valley of Yellowstone, when I sprayed myself in the face with bear spray definitely stands out. And, no, there wasn’t actually a bear involved.

– Why does the wild backcountry attract you?

– Depending where you’re at, the backcountry can be a pretty scary place when you’re out on your own. But I love the adrenaline rush. It’s frightening going through dense brush in grizzly country, or being miles from anyone else in a mountain valley where you just watched a wolf chase down an antelope. But it’s also really exhilarating. You have to dig deep and find the courage to keep going, and for me, that’s always been a rewarding and exciting experience.

– If you have to list five reasons for people to travel more often to small towns, what would they be?

1) You never know what you’re going to find. (Big cities are already well-traveled, it’s really hard to find something that hasn’t already been written about 1,000 times.)

2) You never know who you’re going to find. It takes an uncommon kind of person to live in small-town Appalachia, or the Northwoods of Minnesota, hours away from the closest major city. I’ve met some pretty incredible individuals in these types of towns. (You’re also bound to run into some pretty unusual characters, as well.)

3) Great food. I always eat better in small towns.

4) Cheaper. You won’t break the bank staying the night.

5) Unexpected history. Many of America’s small towns weren’t always so quaint and sleepy. As the population migrated towards the cities in the 20th century, they left behind some pretty incredible stories in their former frontier outposts, boomtowns, and rural hubs.

– What’s your next travel challenge?

– My next travel challenge is a pretty big project, which I’ve already started.

Several years back, I came across the travel series Departures on Netflix. It followed the multi-year journey of two travel companions around the world, and it truly changed my life. The whole time I was watching, I just kept saying to myself, “These guys are living at a different level than the rest of us.”

Departures inspired me to go on the journey that eventually became Lost with Directions: Ambling Around America, and it’s also the inspiration for my latest project, my own travel miniseries.

I’ve currently filmed two installments, with the ultimate goal of four episodes. Each one explores a different part of America, and is shot in a different season. For instance, the Summer episode takes place across the American West, while the Winter episode was shot in the Northwoods of Minnesota and Canada.

It’s been an amazing process, and I’m excited to share it with others. (Anticipated release in December 2018.)

All photos: Rob Erwin. Discover more about his book on its website Lost With Directions. 

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