Sarah Schachterle - HERLIFE Magazine

while rafting. If you’re looking for a starter trip, consider that
most rivers are classed from I to V based upon the difficulty
of navigating the water condition. Most whitewater rafting
companies offer adventures that start you at class II or III
(which offers easy rapids with mostly clear, predictable routes),
but seldom take you above class IV (which are long rapids with
high waves, irregular and powerful eddies, and require a lot of
work on your part to help navigate). The U.S. offers quite a few
well-known and beautiful rivers to float, and each venue has a
selection of rafting companies to choose from to help plan your
trip. For more information on choosing a whitewater rafting
destination, visit http://www.targetwoman.com/articles/whitewater-rafting-holidays.html.
Perhaps roping and wrangling puts a romp in your step,
and you are most at home in a saddle. Consider visiting one
of the dudette ranches offered with “women only” retreats.
Besides your standard horse care classes (where you learn to
saddle and bridle your horse, rope and lasso, and pack for a
backcountry adventure), you also get to enjoy massages, yoga
classes, campfire cooking classes, dancing and stargazing. They
range from working ranches (where you get your hands dirty)
to luxury ranches (where you learn the basics of cow poking
without all the work).These ranches are scattered across the
U.S. Visit ranchweb.com for a comprehensive list of options.
Sometimes you just need “girl time” with your sister,
daughter or best friend. Or maybe you need to get away by
yourself. Adventure Women (adventurewomen.com) and
Adventures in Good Company (goodadventure.com) are
companies that offer “women only” travel for gals who are into
adventure and a healthy lifestyle. Their trips are well-planned,
safe and offer a variety of choices. Maybe your dream vacation
is kayaking in the Caribbean, or hiking through Tuscany. Or if
you want to give back while you vacation, consider one of their
available humanitour packages. Their websites break down
vacations into dates of travel, fitness levels, prices, amenities,
etc.
Adventure Women’s President, Susan Eckert, started her
business almost 30 years ago exclusively for women because,
“We have a unique sense of discovery, an unabashed curiosity,
the easy ability to laugh at ourselves and the capacity to create
a non-competitive environment of support and encouragement
for each other. Under these circumstances, women feel free to
challenge themselves with a trek up a mountain, learning to
snorkel or scuba dive or immersion into an unfamiliar culture.
On an all-women’s trip, women tell us that they can be totally
and unequivocally themselves.”
Adventures in Good Company contributes 25 percent of its
pretax profits to sustainable organizations such as Sustainable
Travel International, Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project,
Oxfam America, Feeding America and Great Old Broads for
Wilderness. They also participate in green initiatives on a
smaller scale by limiting group sizes to 12 or fewer participants,
buying organically grown or locally sourced food and serving
shade grown fair trade coffee on our trips.
So dust off your hiking boots, break out your windbreaker
and head out into the great outdoors!
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