12 Outside-the-Box Experiences for Your Trip

A food tour offers a quick and easy way to step out of your comfort zone, no matter where you are in the world or what foods you generally eat back home. We love the same recipes, visit the same restaurants, and even order the same dishes over and over again.

But new food might taste good and is an interesting and tangible introduction to the culture of a region. New spices or familiar ingredients used in a different way can teach you about the history of a city or the heritage of a family restaurant.

It is easy to find comfort in food, familiar places, and personal cultural references, hence the name “comfort food”, but biting into a new dish offers the same exhilaration as a fresh adventure.

Challenge yourself:

• Try a guided street food tour focused on unfamiliar cuisine. If you grew up eating Italian, try a Thai food street tour in Bangkok. Raised on Vietnamese dishes, embark on a Spain food tour.

Walking is a great way to get your bearings, but it also offers an immersive experience when traveling to new destinations. On a guided walking tour, you can engage with locals or uncover hidden monuments and histories otherwise overlooked.

A walking tour encourages you to stop and look at your surroundings, with a knowledgeable guide offering extra context. As you pass a recommended restaurant, a quaint boutique shop, or a previously unrecognized photo opportunity, discovery and exploration become part of the purpose.

A walking tour is not confined to cities or towns. It can also take place in the open landscape or along an ancient pilgrimage route. The tour combines culture and physicality with purpose, as walking becomes paramount to the experience.

Challenge yourself:

• Take little steps with a guide to discover the diversity of walking tours in Tuscany, where visiting historic Renaissance cities can be equally as compelling as walking between vineyards scattered across rolling hills.

Art is all about perspective. From linework to shadows and light, the demarcation of a horizontal line, or new ways to create three-dimensional compositions, perspective is a way for the artist to interact with the audience, while immersing that audience in the work.

Like with travel and food, art is personal. How a piece speaks to you relates to what you see as beauty or a challenge to the status quo, a modern reflection of society or an embodiment of timeless grandeur. Art in all its forms is subjective. When you find an artist who speaks to your sensibilities, you can often discover a school the artist follows or has started, one other art-makers lean into.

While we often think of art in relation to Picasso’s Guernica, Michelangelo’s David, Hokusai’s The Great Wave, or even the architecture of the Khmer Empire’s Angkor Wat, art takes many forms. From the preparation of culinary ingredients to the display of dishes, the movement of tango or traditional Maasai Eunoto dancing, and the way we capture photos all speak to our love and need for art from all perspectives.

Challenge yourself:

• There is more to art than meets the eye during a Graffiti Tour of Medellin, Colombia. Discover how these artists create their work and why every piece speaks to the culture from which it emerges, whether as a political message or a local story.

Adventure is in the eye of the beholder. It all depends on how far you are willing to push your curiosity. A guided excursion is a gateway into the unique to discover more about your destination, while gaining a deeper understanding of yourself.

Travel deep into the icefields of Patagonia, crunching crampons into the ice, wander into a rainforest in the dark in search of nocturnal kinkajou, or take the thrilling leap while bungee jumping. From river rafting to rock climbing, an adventure excursion is about exhilaration and exploring your limits.

The adventure is not found in the ultimate, all-encompassing adrenaline rush, but in the possibilities. For one person, it could be horseback riding in the Andes; for you, it could be zip lining through the jungle.

Challenge yourself:

• Whether interested in pushing the boundaries of maritime exploration or eager to uncover the wilderness of South Africa in a new way, you can find inspiration for your trip with our active adventure vacations and tours.

One of the most exciting ways to connect with a new culture is through food. The dining table brings together people from all over the world with different views in a friendly way. The term “to break bread” has become synonymous with trust and comfort. The phrase stems from the millennia-old tradition of breaking bread during meals and sharing it.

A cooking class takes the idiom metaphorically and literally, depending on what you cook. While a food tour may show you flavors and dishes of a particular area of the world, a cooking class offers an enriching connection with the chef, their vision, and the outcome, before you take the recipes home to relive your trip and the experience.

A cooking class is a helpful nudge in a new direction within the kitchen. It shows us exciting ways to use familiar ingredients, spices that blend well, and may erupt in flavor explored through typical or traditional local dishes that may seem novel to us.

Challenge yourself:

• We all find comfort in the dishes we know, and by learning to follow or taste new recipes, we open the floodgates to endless possibilities. Our Vietnam food tours and vacations can help you step away from your culinary comfort zone.

We love our comfort zone because it is reliable and safe, but learning a new skill is a great way to grow. An artisan class acts as the foundation for growth, with art enlivening our senses. It’s been proven that those who practice art without expectation are happier and healthier. Instead of creating art to compare, the artist creates for the sake of creating.

Artisans demonstrate the beauty of their work and the value of that beauty with every piece they make. By transferring that knowledge to you through a class, you can continue practicing the art form at home. Learning a new skill also has the added benefit of connecting different areas of the brain by stimulating many senses at the same time, such as vision, touch, smell, sound, and movement.

Challenge yourself:

• Find beauty, charm, and new ways to express yourself by uncovering the past with our Discovering the Lost Artisans of Morocco Tour. Make exceptional connections to artisans, art, and the importance of culture while learning an incredible new skill.

Photography can feel much easier now that phones, tiny cameras, and video feeds can all take great pictures that help us capture moments on our travels. Dedicated photography takes into account a variety of elements to make a good photo great or a great photo unforgettable.

A private photography session offers you perspective, artistically and experientially, no matter where in the world you visit. Pose with your partner in front of the fountains of Versailles under the guidance of a professional photographer. Learn the angles, light composition, and patience required for an inspiring picture of a gorilla in the Uganda mountains, under the instruction of an award-winning wildlife documentarian.

Whether eager to take your interest in photography to the next level or simply interested in understanding new techniques for improving your photos, a private photography session can unveil the diversity of the art, while giving you priceless memories.

Challenge yourself:

• Photography captures the dynamics of life in all its diversity. Our Japan Photography Tour: Cities, Castles, Landscapes, Nature & More gives you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the country’s culture, history, and nature through the lens.

Travel offers the opportunity to discover the perspectives of others, if only for a moment. Seeing the world through another person’s eyes opens our horizons and gives us a new way to view a space culture, tradition, and more.

Whether participating in a local religious celebration different from your own or learning about a historical event from the perspective of those on the other side of a regional conflict, you may gain insight into contrasting ideas or concepts that upend your original understanding of a situation.

From visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam to meeting with a Nubian family in Egypt, touring the Apartheid Museum in South Africa to meeting an Aboriginal leader in Australia, you will gain an appreciation for often-overlooked histories, heritage, and stories.

Challenge yourself:

• Venture into the Kalahari Desert to meet with the local San people on the Botswana Vacation: Okavango Delta, Wildlife, Bushmen & Victoria Falls. Experience how the small community lives in the remote landscape, hunting, foraging, and protecting traditional ceremonies.

Discussing religion is often considered taboo in polite society, but when traveling, you can open your eyes, ears, and mind to how people connect through their spiritual beliefs.

When traveling to a new country, you may find stores closed on particular days or entire communities coming together for devotional rituals that might be out of the ordinary for you. It’s a moment in which you can view how beliefs may shape a local, regional, or national system, while also reflecting on how religious values may shape similar systems back home.

Learning about a new religion through important spiritual sites is not about questioning it, but gaining an understanding of where and how religious beliefs can inform history and modernity.

Challenge yourself:

• The definition of sacred can mean different things to different people, depending on their religious or spiritual beliefs, and you can explore more of the monuments, temples, and significant religious centers on this Best of Northern India Tour: Jaipur to Varanasi.

Hiking and cycling are great ways to move you away from your comfort zone. In the fast-paced environment in which we live, the activities force you to slow down and interact with your surroundings in a new way.

Hiking the Via Francigena in Italy following the former pilgrimage path to Rome or biking the winding paths connecting the vineyards in South Africa’s Franschhoek require focus and energy, while providing rewarding experiences those with limited time will not find.

Taking the scenic route on a short vacation can feel like you are wasting time between destinations, until you realize the journey is part of the destination. Travel becomes about the overall experience rather than checking sites off a list.

Challenge yourself:

• Combine the joy of movement with the rewards of tenacity and the beauty of travel. For a unique and immersive island journey, experience the wonder of Cuba on Wheels: Cycling Tour from Havana to Trinidad.

No matter how comfortable you are as a swimmer, diving beneath the waves will take you out of your comfort zone.

Dive deep to find fish or sharks, passing through crevices, floating past colorful coral, and staying below the water’s surface for longer than a person can without the assistance of a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Scuba diving is exhilarating and relaxing, where you focus on your breath and the surrounding marvels of the marine world.

Whether searching for whale sharks or cage diving with great whites, scouring the Great Barrier Reef or enjoying the view of Moorea’s protective reef, the weightless sensation you experience when under the water may feel freeing.

Challenge yourself:

• Combine the intrigue of scuba diving with the excitement of viewing the world's largest known fish species when Swimming with Whale Sharks & Exploring Coastal Wonders of Australia Tour.

Stepping outside of your comfort zone with a surf lesson unveils the beauty and unpredictability of the ocean and its raw power.

No wave or ride is ever the same, making surfing a new experience every time you get into the water. From Costa Rica to Tahiti, New Zealand to Brazil, every beach has its own personality and surf season. The unpredictability of the sport makes it less about the water and more about innovation and the ability to adapt to each new wave.

Experiment with different boards, try new maneuvers, and discover the way your body moves best.

Challenge yourself:

• With exceptional history and culture, gorgeous landscapes, and coveted beaches, Portugal is about much more than just surfing, but our Adventurous Family Discoveries of Portugal Tour introduces you to the art of the sport and the joy you can find in the water.

Comfort zones are specific to individuals. What you find exciting or scary will be different for other travelers. Stepping outside of your comfort zone can be a small step or a giant leap, but no matter how you approach the challenge, you will have everlasting memories to share.

From cage diving with sharks to making jewelry, learning photography to touring a new city, you can find inspiration for your next thrilling trip with our Signature Tours.