Wild Escapes: The Energizing Benefits of a Short Adventure
In the ideal world, we’re all free to be year-round travelers, booking one month-long voyage after another and never having to worry about jobs or commitments at home. Until we make that utopia a reality, not every vacation can be a multi-week extravaganza, but short trips are anything but a consolation prize—on the contrary, a shorter voyage can come with a host of upsides that make it an enticing option. Ahead, a few reasons why a short trip might be just right for you and yours—and a round-up of 11 action-packed itineraries to consider for your next getaway.
Stretch Your Vacation Days
Travelers explore by Zodiac in San Jose, Costa Rica. Photo: Willy Alfaro
According to the Pew Research Center, 46 percent of Americans don’t use all of their hard-earned PTO—and it’s no wonder, between vacation decision paralysis and a lingering sense that you should save some days off just in case.
A shorter voyage, timed right, lets you maximize those days that might otherwise go unused, ensuring you still have plenty left to sprinkle long weekends and extended getaways throughout the year.
For example, spend six action-packed days exploring Costa Rica or Iceland on a Wild Escape with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic and you may only need to use four vacation days, making multiple meaningful adventures over the year a real possibility.
Test Out a New Adventure or Destination
Before you embark on a new-to-you type of adventure it can feel a little terrifying, if perhaps thrillingly so—just ask any scuba or skydiver about their first experience. Finding your sea legs for the first time on a no-holds-barred 35-day voyage to Antarctica might be understandably daunting. The majority of our Wild Escapes range from five to seven adventure-filled days, making them just the right size to decide if expedition travel is right for you.
Learn more about what to expect on an expedition cruise >
Shorter voyages also give you the chance to get a taste of a new destination before you commit to a three-week deep dive. Wild Escapes are the perfect compact, yet action-packed way to whet your appetite. If six days in Baja California among the gray whales goes by in a blink, you can plan to come back for a 15-day expedition—and a brand new look at a now-familiar place.
Porpoising dolphins are a common sight in the Gulf of California. Photo: Sven Lindblad
Give Your Mental Health a Boost
The long-term health and happiness rewards of being a regular traveler are legion—and you don’t have to be venturing out on lengthy trips to benefit. A 2003 study that compared medium-length vacations with those longer than ten days found the two equally effective at reducing stress and burnout. And in one study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, German researchers found that short vacations—as little as four days—had a major impact on stress recovery and well-being that lasted even a month and a half after a trip’s completion. The takeaway? Short trips, taken often, can be a stress-relieving buffer from the grind of everyday life.
Make Big Family Trips a Reality
The wild wonders of Alaska will captivate kids (and adults!) of all ages. Photo: Andrew Peacock
Finding a two-week stint when multiple families’ school and work schedules align can feel like a logistical nightmare—but short-and-sweet expeditions ease the burden of planning and calendar coordination, ensuring you’ll have minimal school absences or make-up homework and none of the post-vacation-work-pileup that can happen on a longer getaway.
Book it during summer vacation and suddenly you’ve found the ideal way to get the whole extended family in one place for the first time in who-knows-how-long. And with the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic exclusive hands-on program for kids, even the youngest adventurers will be fully immersed in the destination at hand.
Wild Iceland Escape • 6 Days
Venture to the Land of Fire and Ice with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic and you’ll find yourself zipping from the dynamic streets of Reykjavik to the windswept Westfjords and beyond, all without wasting a moment. Spot gyrfalcons diving above glacial rivers in Skagafjörður, wander past bold-hued buildings and sweeping harbor vistas in the town of Ísafjörður, and hike among the mossy crags of the Bererkjahraun lava fields on this jaunt through a geological paradise.
See Trip >Photo: Courtesy of Eleven Experiences
Wild Costa Rica Escape • 6 Days
It’s all about tropical forests, white-sand beaches, and underwater wonderlands on our active escape through the Guanacaste province in Costa Rica’s northwestern corner. You’ll spend days paddleboarding among mangroves on the Papagayo Peninsula, watching for howler monkeys in the cloud forest of Rincón de la Vieja National Park, or soaring through the canopy by zipline. The protected, wild places we visit in the region’s conservation area are a sensory feast at every turn, from forests abuzz with birdsong to reefs brimming with riotously colorful marine life.
See Trip >Photo: David Vargas
Wild Baja California Escape • 6 Days
Get up close with gray whale mothers and calves on this transformative expedition that takes you into the secluded birthing lagoons nestled along the Baja California peninsula. These magnificent creatures traverse thousands of miles to return to Magdalena Bay to breed and rear their young—and you’ll have a front-row seat to observe the whales as they prepare for the long journey back to Arctic waters. Along the way, go fat-tire biking on pristine, desert-isle terrain, visit a frigatebird colony on Isla Santa Maria, and kayak in the vast, coastal mangrove forest.
See Trip >Photo: Ralph Lee Hopkins
Wild Greenland Escape • 7 Days
In the icy fjords of Western Greenland, you’ll spend a week getting to know the natural marvels and anthropological stories of this northern isle. Learn about the Inuit on the island of Sallinnguit, take a local boat through the towering spires of the Ilulissat Icefjord, hike to the resting place of the famous Qilakitsoq mummies, and keep your eyes peeled for whales on a Zodiac excursion in the Arctic Circle.
See Trip >Photo: Ralph Lee Hopkins
Wild California Escape • 5 Days
This five-day adventure through Channel Islands National Park is proof positive that it doesn’t take a two-week trip or an overnight flight to find meaningful travel experiences. Just a short jaunt from Los Angeles, you’ll encounter a version of Southern California that few get to experience in such depth, from the West Coast’s last major lighthouse to one of the world’s only natural groves of Torrey pines to the wild history—and bison herd—of Catalina Island.
Wild Alaska Escape • 6 Days
Spend six days in Alaska’s pristine wilds and waters—the hardest part is picking an adventure. Choose the LeConte Bay, Wrangell, and the Misty Fjords expedition to meander southernmost Alaska, hiking along bear trails, spotting petroglyphs, and awaking to the waterfalls of Misty Fjords outside your window. Opt for the Haines, the Inian Island, and Tracy Arm Fjord itinerary and you’ll explore the Inside Passage, fly fishing for salmon, watching brown bears, and learning about the native Tlingit people.
Photo: Max Siegal
Wild Galápagos Escape • 7 or 8 Days
Our Wild Galápagos Escape delves deep into this singular archipelago, giving guests an expert-led look at the species and scenery that made this place legend. See land iguanas and Galápagos hawks on Santa Fe, hike the long-ago eruption site on Santiago, watch the roving Galápagos tortoises in the highlands of Santa Cruz, and fill your weeklong journey with once-in-a-lifetimes—or, if your schedule allows, opt for the eight-day Wild Galápagos Escape for an extra day of exploration or pair the islands with iconic Machu Picchu on our 11-day Wild Galápagos & Peru Escape.Photo: Alexandra Daley-Clark
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