Sometimes you want to get up early and make the most of your day, but you just don’t have the energy to go on a two-day hike, or learn how to wakeboard, or climb up the side of a mountain. Sometimes you want to get outside and do cool stuff, but you’d also quite like to be sitting down for, I don’t know, most of the day. These activities are for you, the lazy adventurer.
Some destinations have more adventure opportunities than others – but which ones have lazy adventure opportunities? These are the big questions we must ask ourselves when looking for things to do. Here are a few of my favourites to give you some inspiration.
Kayaking – In lakes, lagoons, bays, and anything else flat and calm
Kayaking can be exhilarating. It can be a great work-out, a white-knuckle water-based adventure around choppy waterways and lively shorelines… Or, it can be a leisurely paddle around an over-sized pond with a nice view. You can do it sitting down, and you can do it even if you’ve got weak, puny arms like mine. Some good kayaking spots for easy excursions in scenic places around the world include;
- Ha Long Bay, Vietnam (pictured above – watch out for jellyfish!)
- Lake Garda and/or Lake Como, Italy
- Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana
- Phang Nga Bay, Thailand
- Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia
- Lake Bled, Slovenia
Quad bike trips – check out sand dunes, jungles, woodlands and more
Driving a quad bike over sand dunes is wayyyyy easier than trekking along them, and the same goes for many other types of terrain. How fast you want to go is up to you – and if you double up like me and Evie did in Mui Ne (above), you can take it in turns to drive, which means you get to spend at least half your time doing nothing but admire the views. Some top quad biking spots around the world:
- The red and white dunes at Mui Ne, Vietnam
- Quad bike ‘safari’ in Corfu, Greece
- The Hidden Valley, Las Vegas
- National parks along the Costa del Sol
- Countryside around Siem Reap, Cambodia
- Dunes and desert around Marrakech, Morocco
Novelty adventures – one-of-a-kind days out, with a bit of silliness
Never take adventuring too seriously. Never take anything too seriously, really. One of my favourite days out was on the Battambang bamboo train in Cambodia, just rattling through the countryside lounging on a slightly mad, wooden flying carpet thing. Memorable silliness is the best silliness, and these are a few places you can have a grand day out without getting blisters:
- The Nory/Bamboo Train, Battambang, Cambodia
- Basket boat sailing & racing in Hoi An, Vietnam
- Undersea walking tours, Grand Baie, Mauritius (and elsewhere – SeaTrek say their tours around the world are suitable even for non-swimmers)
- The topless Tengzug Shrine in Bolgatanga, Ghana (although only women can enter, so men and non-binary folk, you’ll have to settle for enjoying the beautiful walk to the closest point you’re allowed to visit)
- Tandem paragliding (because letting a stranger push you off a cliff is a bit silly), I had a great time in Ager, Spain, but would also recommend options in the French Alps, and I’ve heard good things about Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Cape Town, South Africa
And if you do want to use your legs… easy walking and cycling routes
Sometimes you want to stretch them, perhaps after a long day of kayaking and quad biking around. If you like the idea of a picturesque walk through the countryside but you aren’t so keen on putting in a lot of effort, there are tonnes of strolling routes around the world you can head to. If you’re feeling REALLY energetic, you could even cycle. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t suggest anywhere that was going to feel like hard work.
- Rice paddies around Mai Chau, Vietnam (so easy even I could cycle it, and I can barely cycle)
- The Cinque Terre, Italy
- Forests around Koh Yao Noi, Thailand
- Free walking tours of Berlin, Germany
- Battlefield walks in France and Belgium
If you’re in the mood for something a little more energetic, a little more adventurous, there’s a great post on Adventure Travel in Southeast Asia on Travel Adventure Discover offering up suggestions for fantastic things to do, and for those of you with kiddoes, you might appreciate the Adventure Travel with Children post on Adventurous Parents.
