I have read your books, columns, anything you have written that I can get my hands on and thoroughly enjoyed all of it. I have been reading Outside magazine since I was introduced to it in college (1980) and save every issue for reference for all of my exciting travel adventures. Which leads to my question and frustration. I have not been able to take any of those exciting adventures. How can I, a 35-year-old woman with a five-day-a-week job, two young children, and a stack of overdue bills from life, get in on the action? Do you have some great ideas, tips, advice for someone with minimal resources on how to take that life-affirming adventure? I do the weekend exploration thing and even lived in Key West for a while for adventure, which it was. But I find myself completely frustrated at times while reading your work, because I am not there. How can I get there?

Thanks again for your work. If I can't be there, at least I can read about it from someone who appreciates life and what it all means.

Terry Doss
tdoss@louisberger.com

Tim: Dear Terry,

I'd suggest an adventure travel trip with a commercial group. Try Sobek/Mt. Travel. Get their catalogue. See which trips you like. Some are as cheap as $1,000. The trips are planned to get you to the area in question post-haste, so you're not wasting a two-week vacation waiting around a lot. (See the answer to the question about waiting around).

If you like the trip you take, you may want to travel to that area on your own the next time. It's cheaper, and quite a bit more adventurous.

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