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Month: February 2025

Adventure travel companies

Adventure travel companies

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Going on a vacation is one thing, but how about an adventure? There’s been a rise in adventure travel companies that can help you adventure through some of the most amazing places in the world in a way you’d never experience in a tour bus.

The market is definitely delivering some amazing, affordable deals – and it’s been driving some of the more overpriced companies like REI Experiences out of business. Companies like Much Better Adventures and Explore! are setting the pace by offering 5-15 day adventures for under $1500. You need to get yourself there and handle an amount of the logistics yourself but once there they cover most accommodations, transport, food, and activities with a distinctive local flair – often giving you time to explore on your own.

To be clear, you’re not getting a curated western experience at the Hilton and air conditioned bus transport. It’s probably not for families with younger kids. You’ll likely be working with local guides and staying at affordable, but safe local places. This almost exactly what I would have loved in my 20’s and 30’s – let me save money by doing the parts I can do, then let them handle the local stuff that would be difficult. Instead of a carefully packaged experience, you get to see how people live in the country you’re visiting.

I’m definitely looking into this for my next sabbatical.

The kind of innovation we need

The kind of innovation we need

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Silicon Valley loves to disrupt and innovation – mostly to make a lot of money. One of the more innovative ideas I’ve seen involves changing things for those with disabilities. Counter to modern thinking that illnesses and limitations are purely something to be blotted out, some brave innovative folks are tackling the problem and making everyone’s lives better. Not just those with disabilities.

One example is the success of OXO/Good Grips kitchen utensils that were created when his wife’s arthritis made them hurt her hands. Now they are popular with everyone for being easier to use.

Another is a set of restaurants called Dans Le Noir. I went to the one in Paris and have recommended it widely. At Dans, people have dinner completely in the dark – and the servers are blind people who are completely at home in the dark. They even teach you some of the techniques blind people use for dining.

Japan just recently had this restaurants called Dawn Avatar Robot Cafe (〒103-0023 Tokyo, Chuo City, Nihonbashihonchō, 3-chōme−8−3, Nihonbashi Lifescience Building, ３ １). The servers are all robots – but they are all controlled by people who have disabilities (often ALS). It allows them to have jobs, talk, and interact with people even if they cannot leave their homes.

These kinds of innovations are not just great for those with disabilities – but as in the case of OXO – improve the lives of able-bodied people as well.

This is why there is no such thing as a life is not worth living. We simply must value it higher than productivity and inconvenience.