On the 10th February this year, the teams started out from PRIMERA ANGOSTURA, Chile. The first of 18 legs was meant to start on sea kayaks. However, was cancelled due to extreme winds.

All 14 teams have been through extensive training and a rigourous selection process before taking part in this battle within one of the harshest places on earth. Some times teams will go hundreds of KM with out seeing a single soul.

When talking about the race this year, race organisers were quick to reassure the press that this year will be full of new challenges; ‘The land is diverse, the challenge real, the adventure untamed’.

For more information on the race go to; http://www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com/

Australian born Adventurer, Mark Kalch, has just completed a journey that even the most hardened travellers would consider a serious undertaking. Mark was travelling in an area that is the centre of some serous political debate and controversy. Mark arrived at his destination on the 18th January 2010, 60 days and 1700km later.

Mark Kalch trekked the entire length of the Republic of Iran from the coast of the Caspian sea in the north, to the Persian Gulf in the south. This epic journey was across mountain and forest under the persistent sun of the middle east. Mark is a professional explorer and adventurer but for him this journey was a kind of protest.

Mark set out across Iran to discover its people, culture and attitudes toward the outside world. He was welcomed into every village with open arms and found startling similarities between the west and the every day Iranian that he met.

Read more at http://www.markkalch.com/

The film by Randy Ericksen shows the adventurer riding/sailing/surfing/paddling his kayak down snowy single and double tracks. Super nice.

Check out the full video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS2KLiyjMrU&feature=player_embedded

He will cover 80,000 km, through 50 countries. His travel’s will take him from the UK down through Europe and the Middle East, down through Africa to South America (by boat) and then all of the way up to Alaska where another boat will be taken to Japan, then another to Australia, then it’s over to Indonesia and finally back to the UK via the Eurasian landmass.

The expedition aims to raise money for the health charity, Merlin. Merlin is the only UK-based charity which responds with vital healthcare to worldwide areas suffering from natural disasters, conflict, disease and health system collapse.

Donation instructions, along with details of the route can be found on his site, cyclingthe6.com. Budding adventurers can also follow him on twitter @cyclingthe6.

Zephyr Kitesurf have offered a 1 day introduction into kitesurfing, based in the UK, in March next year.

To be in with a chance of winning this fantastic taster session simply register and write a review on any adventure travel provider that you have used. The more reviews you write the greater your chances of winning this exciting prize. And remember, if we don’t have the adventure travel provider listed just let us know and we’ll add them.

It perches precariously on the very northern tip of Europe and is surrounded on two sides by the extreme North Sea. Norway is still undiscovered by the more relaxed adventure traveller and remains a safe haven for the skilled, the committed and the just plain crazy.

Britain has been a launching point for many adventures in Northern Europe, and Norway has seen its fair share of visitors. However, Norway is the subtler adventure that leaves travellers wanting more.

Moran Mountain organise every thing you need from a mountaineering trip from their new base in Aurland on the edge of the Sognefjord in Western Norway. From beginner ice climbing to more advanced guided mountain trips, Adventure Travel Providers like Moran Mountain are getting you more accustomed to Norway.

But, its not just mountains and the snow that draw people in. Norway has stunning Fjords and archipelagos that are begging to be explored on the water. With Southern Sea Ventures you could spend 14 days on the water in an expedition sea kayak exploring Norway.

Norway has so much to offer from the extreme sport junkie looking for their next adventure, to the casual long week away or just doing something different.

Contact: Moran Mountain : martin.moran@btinternet.com
Southern Sea Ventures: ssvtrips@southernseaventures.com

How can you stop the travel companies reviewing themselves?
How can you prevent competitors posting bad reviews about travel companies?
How do you know if the reviewer has even had contact with the travel companies?
How do you know it’s not just an automated post?

The truth is that, without breaking privacy laws, it is very difficult to answer these questions with any certainty. But today, beouthere.com hopes to give a few tactics to help the everyday traveller brush these concerns aside and see the real benefit to travel reviews:

1. Strength in numbers – read 100 reviews from 100 different people all saying that a place is bad and, in all honesty, it’s not likely to be great. Equally, reading one review saying that a place is perfect will not necessarily be the whole truth. Use the strength in numbers rule and if you are ever sceptical consult point 3 on this list, Review Content.

2. Reviewer History – some review sites, like TripAdvisor, allow you to see the reviewing history of the reviewer in question. From that, you can often spot trends. Whether it be a string of bad reviews for hotels in one city, with one exceptionally good one that stands out or if only very good reviews are posted, there are trends to be spotted and reviewers to be wary of.

3. Review Content – there are a few things to look out for when considering other travellers’ reviews. Firstly, is it actually about the hotels, tours or companies in question or is it a generic piece of text that could be pasted over and over for different hotels, tours or companies? Secondly, is the review full of directions to the hotel, email addresses for the adventure travel provider or a phone number for the travel agent? Commonly reviews posted by the company being reviewed contain helpful hints as to how a potential customer might reach them, by location, email or telephone. If you’re unsure about the review, copy some of the body text into google and see what comes up, 10 sites with the same text usually means that you’ve got a spammer. Finally, take a broad look at the reviews on the site – if they are all favourable, and not ever negative, then it is likely you’ve found a site where the publisher is being paid to write good reviews.

4. Topic – review sites exist because of choice. More hotels, electronic goods or insurance providers than the world really needs and millions of consumers needing to know which is best for them. Legitimate reviews are far more probable on sites with more traffic, usually in less of a niche, like hotels or electronic goods. Trusting all reviews on a site that considers types of shirt buttons is not advised.

5. People (Honesty) – despite what much of the world’s 21st Century media might tell you, the world’s population is largely honest. That’s right, honest. There are unscrupulous types, but they largely stick to the Internet Marketing scene(!) We are adventure travellers. We are honest and friendly. We are open to new things and new places. We can be trusted.

Sea Kayaking In Chile

The waterways and fjords of Chile are barely matched by any other on the planet. With mountains rising up in the distance, primeval temperate forests, glacial valleys and picturesque islands dotted all around, southern Chile offers some truly stunning views. And that’s just looking up. Looking down, adventure travellers might be able to glimpse dolphins, sea lions and penguins. Because it is such a vast and beautiful area, there are many adventure travel providers aching to show you around. One of our favourites is Expediciones Chile. These guys have been around for a while, offering all types of trips ranging from luxurious to truly epic. That’s probably why beouthere.com like them – they’ve got that ‘out-there’ factor. Our preference would be the 10-day Patagonia River Odyssey – Chile Sea Kayak Traverse. It has it all – landscapes, wildlife and friendly people. The trip involves whitewater and a border-to-ocean traverse (of which only 3 individuals have done the whole thing!!!)

Mountaineering In Peru

Peru is home to the longest exposed mountain range – The Andes. At over 7,000 miles long there are mountaineering opportunities of all levels from unclimbed (simply ridiculous) peaks to 1-day treks. Peru is one of the best countries for mountaineering and other related activities, if for no other reason than the quality of it’s adventure travel providers. Of course, many of these providers will happily take you over the border into Mendoza in neighbouring Argentina, to tackle the tallest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua. The choices of provider are extensive. One of our favourites is Andean Destinations who offer a variety of packages to suite all levels. Perhaps the best being the highest in Peru: South Huascaran. At 6,768 MASL this 8 day climb is both tough and rewarding. Look for adventure travel providers who have a real UIAGM accreditation.

Eco Tours In Ecuador

In terms of endemic species and ecological diversity, it doesn’t come much better than the Galapagos Islands. Forget Darwin’s theory of evolution. beouthere.com’s theory of evolution is thus: go a tourist, come back a conservationist. That’s evolution. Like so many of the countries in South America, Ecuador is swamped with bad to very amazing adventure travel providers, so be careful who you use. Also worth noting is that continental Ecuador (rather than it’s brother – Little G!) still provides thousands of incredible tours of pristine jungle and the unbeatable Andes. We believe that some of the best trips to Ecuador are provided by Nature Trek, an international adventure travel provider, based in the UK. They offer an 11-day birdwatching tour in the Napo River basin. Enjoy rare species and the tropical forest landscapes of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Overland Tours In Argentina

Arguably one of the best ways to see a large country, with limited time available, is to overland your way through. Where one would usually get up and personal with a country by backpacking or cycling through, over-landing gives adventure travellers the opportunity to see much more in much less time, with hardly any loss of a true sense of adventure. There are hundreds of places to see in Argentina, but perhaps the most noteworthy are covered in Dragoman’s Bolivia and Argentina Overland expedition. During the course of this trip you spend 10 days seeing some of the most impressive sites in Argentina including, the colonial City of Salta, the Argentinean wine region, the high Argentinean mountain passes, horse-riding and finally you get a chance to explore Buenos Aires – probably one of the coolest cities in the world.

Kite Boarding In Brazil

Kite boarding or kite surfing is a relatively new adventure sport (in comparison to say mountaineering), but nevertheless has boomed in almost every location where the winds are conducive. In fact, some locations like Cabarete in the Dominican Republic or Tarifa in southern Spain have used their original windsurfing fame to draw millions of new adventurers into Kite Boarding. This has it’s advantages, but also it’s drawbacks. At beouthere.com, we are big believers in finding adventures that are still fresh, still a bit raw. For this reason, we think that Brazil is THE destination for Kite Boarding. If you can get over there Kite Adventures will give you the time of your life. The tour to go for is the 10-Day Dowinder which involves a string of downwind sessions, including a 10km wave-riding downwinder into Paracuru, river crossings, ocean coves and lagoons.

To be included in future articles and blog postings for free, please see our beouthere.com/advertise page.

Simply put, adventure is the act of taking part in an activity or experience that is exciting and usually hazardous in nature. And, by definition, this means that to find adventure you must be equipped – physically and mentally. So, here’s beouthere.com’s take:

How To Adventure – 5 Essential Tips

1. Buy a map – pin it up and at least once a month point to a place you have never been. Find the best topography, aspect and level of wilderness to suit you thirst for adventure. Work out how long you need to be there, what you can do (mountain biking, kayaking, skiing etc) and who you are going to do it with. Then go.

2. Buy a head-torch – don’t let the daily phenomenon of the sun going down reduce the opportunity for adventure. How to adventure? Be prepared.

3. Take the long way home - you know this path, this track and this trail. So find a new one. And if you are running or riding, do it faster. Find alternate routes for your daily run or ride and never maintain a routine.

4. Go further – go beyond the limits of the trails, get off the beaten track, travel further than you usually would. At beouthere.com we are very good at ignoring our own limits. We knew that we could only mountain bike 50 miles off-road on a hot summers day, so trying to ride 120 miles was certainly a bit ambitious. But, by the end of the 85 miles we covered, we were two things: 1. exhausted. 2. brimming with the warm fuzzing feeling that only proper adventure can provide.

5. Unplanned - have you ever noticed that the best adventures are unexpected and unplanned? Whilst poor preparation can lead to tragedy, there is much to be said for spontaneous adventure. It might be soloing an easy rock-climb, free-running through a city, following your nose rather than a map or stripping off and swimming in a river. Whatever the best adventure happens to be, it is usually a departure from what was planned.

Bonus Tip:

6. Adventure is all the better for the hot meal at the end of it. Always have enough food.

Dogsledding in Svalbard

Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago consisting of three islands: Spitsbergen, Bear Island and Hopen. Spitsbergen is the most frequented of the three by tourists. That said, it is by no means crowded. As with the following four Arctic adventures, Svalbard provides the experience of pristine wilderness that so many adventure travellers desire. One of the best ways to see the island and it’s wildlife (polar bears, Arctic foxes and reindeer), is by dogsled. The main adventure travel provider is Svalbard Huskies who offer 3.5 hour tours.

Skiing in Canada

Any adventure traveller will tell you that Canada offers almost any adventure any person could wish for. Furthermore, Canada largely offers the best landscape to enjoy those different adventures in. Adventure travel in Canada can range from ice climbing to caving to ballooning. But today beouthere.com want to promote one of the oldest and purest of them all: Skiing. Vast, inaccessible, landscapes are opened up by skiing and, to a greater extent, if you care to jump into a helicopter. One of our favourite adventure travel providers is Yamnuska Mountain Adventures. Their programs open up the Canadian Rockies in some truly adventurous ways, including Backcountry Skiing. You can start with introductory course and then progress to 4 to 6 day traverses of some of Canada’s greatest landscapes.

Eco Tours in Greenland

The Arctic Circle is home to some of the most fascinating wildlife on Earth, including the world’s largest carnivore, the Polar Bear and the largest species of dolphin, the Killer Whale. Who wouldn’t like a chance to see just one of those incredible animals. Well, there are many adventure travel providers who offer such opportunities. Whilst nothing is a given, going with the right adventure travel provider can mean the difference between seeing an endangered species or not. Arctic Kingdom Marine Expeditions offer leisurely cruises in the Greenland region. With wildlife photography at the top of the list, AKME pursue Bowhead and Humpback whales in Greenland’s Disko bay.

Sea Kayaking in Iceland

Sea Kayaking in Iceland. How good does that sound? beouthere.com don’t need to convince you. But we will anyway. Iceland is a minute Canada. Magnificence, stunning scenery, wilderness. European travellers should really investigate Iceland as a real alternative (at least once anyway) to Canada. The breadth of adventure travel opportunities is only exceeded by the sense of adventure you will have by enjoying them. Sea Kayaking is just one of many ways to attain this notion. Borea Adventures offer such an adventure. For 6 days, budding adventurers can enjoy the scenery of the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve or the peace of Sea Kayaking in the Icelandic wilderness.

Dog-Sledding in Alaska

The largest and least densely populated state of the US, Alaska is one of the last great wildernesses. And where there’s wilderness, there’s adventure. An article about the various adventure travel opportunities in the Arctic would not be complete without a mention of dog-sledding. Especially in a place that is home to the world’s largest wildlife refuge – the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Whilst there are few simple short tours in this region there are a number of expeditions. Several of which are offered by Alaskan Arctic Expeditions. Wildlife, wilderness and weather. The three highlights of a 12 to 21 day expedition around the ANWR. Start saving now. Expeditions run February, March, April and May.