Adventure Travel Trends in 2018

If you need proof that birds are starting to fly north right now, check out the flight of an osprey that’s being tracked on the website Westport Osprey. A 13- year-old named Hudson left Venezuela on March 9th and through the use of satellite technology, we see him making his way to his summer nesting ground on the Westport River in southeastern Massachusetts. As of yesterday, he had reached the Hudson River, less than 150 miles from his final destination. Westport Osprey was also tracking another osprey named Ozzie, who spends his winter in Cuba. He must be enjoying the Cuban music scene, because he hasn’t left yet.
This morning, Maine Huts & Trails will be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate their latest addition, a new 14.2-mile section of the trail that connects Grand Falls Hut to the Forks. This completes the first phase of the Maine Huts & Trails effort to create a 180-mile, 12-hut recreation corridor. They now offer 45 miles of groomed trails and 3 backcountry lodges located between Rte. 27/16 in Carrabassett Valley and Route 201 in West Forks. If you haven’t yet checked out this gem in the Maine wilderness, put it on your schedule for 2012. You’ll thank me.
Peering at the sailboats slicing through the harbor from the sixth-floor roof-deck bar of the new Envoy Hotel, it finally dawns on you that, yes, Boston really does rest on the shores of the Atlantic. For some silly reason, Boston has never taken proper advantage of its ocean setting. When the Institute of Contemporary Art opened in a gem of a building on the edge of the harbor in December 2006, publicists started to dub the evolving neighborhood the Seaport District. Yet, five years after the ICA opening, not much changed. A sea of parking lots continued to surround the ICA and wharves still lined the harbor of this industrial port.
If you want to visit New York at a discount, then head to the city during their Fifth Annual Hotel Week in early January. Both Gansevoort properties, the Refinery Hotel, Library Hotel and many other top-tier lodgings cut their rates considerably during this time. For example, the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Tribeca will only be $100 a night, more than 50% off their usual rate. Hotel Week NYC™ was created by PR maven Nancy J. Friedman in 2010 to address the occupancy dip most hotels experience after the holiday season. It’s a perfect time to visit Manhattan without the crowds.
And now some good news from Paris. Opening this week in the 8th arrondissement, off the Champs-Elysées and close to Place de la Concorde, is the boutique La Réserve Paris Hotel. Housed in a former mansion once owned by the designer, Pierre Cardin, the hotel features 26 spacious suites and 14 rooms. Suites include personal butler service and an in-room wine cooler. The hotel’s French restaurant, Le Gabriel, will be run by chef Jérôme Banctel, previously at the helm of the two-star Michelin restaurant, Senderens. A spa will offer three treatment rooms, gym, sauna, and a 52-foot indoor pool. Ooh la la!
Moab is to mountain biking what Hawaii is to surfing. It’s home to the legendary Slickrock Trail, a 12 mile pedal through a stunning labyrinth of deep narrow canyons that twist and turn sharply, without reason, like the scribbling of a 5 year-old. Trek Travel, the travel arm of the bicycle manufacturer, is taking advantage of this spectacular terrain by offering two mountain bike camps in Moab in October and November 2013, where you’ll get to ride with mountain biking legend, Gary Fisher, and pro couple, Heather Imerger and Jermey Horgan-Kobelski. The five-day, four-night Moab Ride Camp features trips to Porcupine Rim, Amasa Back, and Pipe Dream. The trip culminates with The Whole Enchilada, where you descend 4500 feet from alpine forests to the Colorado River valley. It’s an epic experience of challenging terrain and spectacular panoramas. Cost is $1199, including all meals, lodging at the Gonzo Inn, use of a Trek Remedy 9 or Lush SL full suspension mountain bike, and guided rides with experts who will only enhance your biking skills.