Intrepid Tours (Vacations)?
Sep 4, 2022 14:21:03 #
I'm wondering if anyone on the "hog' has taken this company and your comments about it. I am considering a non-traditional, I guess, trip next summer for my 60th birthday and a hiking trip through the Inca trail piqued my interest. In the end I might decide on a luxury trip or something else...just looking for ideas now. I don't want to wait too long, though.
Sep 5, 2022 08:24:04 #
The Inca Trail would be awesome. Make sure your knees and your lungs/heart are in good shape! I hiked a very small section of it that was nice and wide - but straight up on one side and straight down on the other. It was a little unnerving. Well - a lot unnerving! That was decades ago when my knees worked well and there was no titanium involved! I don't know about this organization, though...
Sep 5, 2022 08:45:21 #
I had e-mailed the company yesterday, and unfortunately, that trip in question was only for 18-29-year-olds. I guess they don't think old men can't handle any exercise and we have to be cooped up in fancy hotels and buses. Maybe they offer a similar trip for guys like us or another company. I just want to try something totally different. Also thinking about a safari. Thanks for the response.
Sep 5, 2022 10:05:58 #
MosheR
Loc: New York City
Hello,
I have to begin this by explaining that my wife and I are very experienced travelers, having visited and explored 140 countries on all seven continents during our fifty five years of marriage. We were both teachers, took great advantage of our long summer vacations, and traveled abroad or cross country during every one of them. Then we retired in 2001 at the age of fifty eight and have since gone schlepping around the world two or three three times a year until Covid hit.
We trekked with Intrepid back in the nineties, when we were in our mid fifties … a few years younger than you are about to be. That adventure mostly took place with the hill tribes of Thailand and Vietnam. It was really difficult, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. The only caveat is that Intrepid has been under new management since then, so I cannot truly speak to it regarding the quality of their present tours, or their guides.
However, you still have many options. The first I would refer to is Eldertreks. This is a Toronto based adventure travel company that specializes in us old folks. Our last trip with them was to a bunch of countries in West Africa three years ago this November. On the next to last day of that trip, I scrambled hand over foot up the side of a very steep, many hundred foot cliff in order to reach the canopy of a jungle on which there were strung a series of swinging rope bridges from which one could observe the abundant wildlife way down below. As it happened, this was on my seventy seventh birthday, and no one told me that because of my age I should not attempt it.
Other companies offering similar fare for the post fifty generation are Adventures Abroad, located in Vancouver, Overseas Adventure Travel, from Massachusetts, and Original World, which I think is somewhere in California. We have used all of these many times, and have (almost) always been completely satisfied.
I’m sure there are several other companies offering adventure fare for the hardy post fifty generation, but I have not had personal experience with any of them. In any case, good luck to you. Happy sixtieth and, above all, continued happy trails.
Mel Rabinowitz
I have to begin this by explaining that my wife and I are very experienced travelers, having visited and explored 140 countries on all seven continents during our fifty five years of marriage. We were both teachers, took great advantage of our long summer vacations, and traveled abroad or cross country during every one of them. Then we retired in 2001 at the age of fifty eight and have since gone schlepping around the world two or three three times a year until Covid hit.
We trekked with Intrepid back in the nineties, when we were in our mid fifties … a few years younger than you are about to be. That adventure mostly took place with the hill tribes of Thailand and Vietnam. It was really difficult, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. The only caveat is that Intrepid has been under new management since then, so I cannot truly speak to it regarding the quality of their present tours, or their guides.
However, you still have many options. The first I would refer to is Eldertreks. This is a Toronto based adventure travel company that specializes in us old folks. Our last trip with them was to a bunch of countries in West Africa three years ago this November. On the next to last day of that trip, I scrambled hand over foot up the side of a very steep, many hundred foot cliff in order to reach the canopy of a jungle on which there were strung a series of swinging rope bridges from which one could observe the abundant wildlife way down below. As it happened, this was on my seventy seventh birthday, and no one told me that because of my age I should not attempt it.
Other companies offering similar fare for the post fifty generation are Adventures Abroad, located in Vancouver, Overseas Adventure Travel, from Massachusetts, and Original World, which I think is somewhere in California. We have used all of these many times, and have (almost) always been completely satisfied.
I’m sure there are several other companies offering adventure fare for the hardy post fifty generation, but I have not had personal experience with any of them. In any case, good luck to you. Happy sixtieth and, above all, continued happy trails.
Mel Rabinowitz
Sep 5, 2022 15:52:11 #
Great, complete reply :) I haven't heard of most of the tour companies you mentioned, but in 2016 I went to Israel with OAT and enjoyed every minute of it and celebrated my birthday on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (but my late mom (1932-2022), who was injured on an OAT trip in Costa Rica) had tried to convince me not to go with them because the T.D. never even told the company the accident happened - they didn't find out until my mom and sister returned to the states in a Learjet (emergency medical evacuation due to broken back and leg). My dad couldn't find a lawyer with enough guts to sue because the accident happed in another country. Probably took over a year to get a partial refund of the rest of the trip they missed and for hospital bills to get paid (insurance covered a vast majority, but my dad had to initially shell out an extra $3,300 to get my mom from Ft. Lauderdale back to STL!!) This year I had my birthday dinner at the Moulin Rouge - fantastic show and decent food, too. I've only been to 9 countries on three continents - one was a mission trip to Honduras, but my mom, who was a travel agent had been to more than 80 countries (lost count a while ago) on 6 continents. When I retire I will concentrate on travel since I'm single. I can't do much now on my income as a school bus monitor working nine months of the year part time. I'll check out the companies you mentioned. On my ever expanding bucket list is Thailand, New Zealand, Japan, India, Africa and I want to go to Antarctica because that's the only continent she hadn't visited. I'm very jealous of your adventures!
Sep 5, 2022 18:46:16 #
MosheR
Loc: New York City
Really sorry about what happened to your Mom. That must have been horrible. My wife broke her wrist on a tour when we were in Patagonia, but the tour guide, and the company, took care of everything very well. She had surgery, and was able to finish the rest of the trip, which ended up on Easter Island ... where I twisted my ankle 180 degrees. So we were two for two.
In any case, if money is an issue, I might also recommend SmarTours. They're a very well organized, large group tour company. You travel with about forty people, but the way they handle it, it feels as if you're going with only a few other folks. Their buses are very roomy and comfortable, and they stay in top of the line places. You really get your dollar's worth with them, and I would certainly look into them if I were you.
Good luck in whatever you chose to do.
In any case, if money is an issue, I might also recommend SmarTours. They're a very well organized, large group tour company. You travel with about forty people, but the way they handle it, it feels as if you're going with only a few other folks. Their buses are very roomy and comfortable, and they stay in top of the line places. You really get your dollar's worth with them, and I would certainly look into them if I were you.
Good luck in whatever you chose to do.
Sep 6, 2022 12:04:55 #
My wife and I have taken several Viking tours in Europe. The Rhine trip is great. Really great buses from the dock, to the city centers. Sample the local food, and wines. No rush, no fuss. Your hotel is your long boat.
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