What type of adventures appeal to you? The kind where you push your body or your mind? Adventure travel is not one thing to all people. Some people would be thrilled and exhilarated to raft down a river in Colorado. For other people, that's a regular weekend activity. Not too adventuresome at all. Those people might love to try hang gliding or sky diving, while for the former person, this is tantamount to committing suicide. Obviously, these people's definitions of adventure travel vary greatly.

That's what's so great about it, though. You can tailor-make a vacation to fit your wants and needs. You just have to know what you want, and where you want to go. Write up a list of the top ten or so things you want to experience in your life and that will get you started as you look through all the fabulous opportunities out there for adventure travel.

If you want to really get outside your personal comfort zone, there are any number of adventure trips you can take that will do that. You can try bicycling along the Tour de France route or hiking fourteen miles in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. How about zipping at 30 miles per hour on a wire line strung between two trees in the jungle, catching air on your snowboard in a Super pipe or white water rafting on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon? Parasailing, riding in a bi-plane or piloting a fighter plane, and rock climbing up a sheer canyon side each provide different thrills too. If you're out for thrills, think carefully about the extent of adventure you'll really enjoy.

Does this sound like too much adrenalin for you? Floating overhead in a hot air balloon while watching lions stalk prey on the plains below or walking through Cambodia's Angkor Thom, where temple ruins nearly smothered by giant trees, are gentler styles of adventure travel. So is walking on trails through the Amazon jungle looking at parrots or catching sight of caimans (types of alligators) sleeping on the river banks at night. To the more laid-back person, this is about adventuresome as you can get.

Adventurous trips are not necessarily something that puts your life at risk. They are travels that change you, enchant you and ensure memories for a lifetime. Some travelers go for the physical thrills and the opportunities that stretch a body's physical capabilities to the utmost degree. Other travelers would rather use their minds, eyes, hearing and cameras to enhance their experiences.

Each person's definition of adventure travel is unique. What's yours? Just don't go on a trip that has activities that you would never participate in. Remember, what is adventuresome to you, might not be to someone else. If you're still deciding, call up a few travel agents for ideas, or visit your local library for exotic places to visit and things to do. Scour the web for packages and deals, and before you know it, you'll be having the time of your life, doing what you've always wanted to do.