Polar Expeditions

Travel to the Antarctic is increasingly popular and even visits north above the 80th parallel are available more than in the past. 

Antarctic Expeditions usually take two forms: cruises and flights. Of the cruising voyages, that typically leave from Southern Argentina, there are two distinct types: those that include stepping foot on Antarctica and those that do not. Their cost is substantially higher if you get disembark from the cruise ship and actually walk on the continent. 

Swan Hellenic have a 19-day tour called "In Shackleton's Footsteps" that visits the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island and the Antarctic Peninsula. Prices start at $27,425.

In Shackleton's Footsteps

The Antarctic expedition season is late October to early April, and the Arctic season is from May to September.

Arctic cruises can take you to Greenland, Iceland or Svalbard.

Polar Tracks Expeditions is a Canadian company run by Heather Thorkelson who are "Expedition cruise specialists to the Arctic and Antarctic." Contact 1-833-545-2840 or email at contact@polartracksexpeditions.com. Recommended by Nina from the Rick Steves tour who is a friend of Heather.

Quark Expeditions specializes in Arctic cruises: Svalbard (Spitsbergen), Norway, the Faroes and Greenland.

Biking Tours

57 Hours provides biking tours is many countries around the world. See my Travel Designers page.

Cycling Slovenia provides tours around the country.

Travel Blogs and Videos

There are so many sources of information from people who travel extensively, or expats living abroad.

Youtube - Short and Long Term Travel

American in Portugal

Brian and Carrie

Finding Gina Marie

Grounded Life Europe

International Living

Rick Steves

RomeWise

The Man in Seat 61

This is Our Retirement

Wandering Hartz 

Youtube - Living Abroad

Algarve Addicts

Adventure Freaksss

Blogs

Blondie in Morocco - a former Lithuanian living in Morocco

The Road is Life - a solo Canadian female traveler

The Blond Abroad - a former Californian living in Morocco

Adventure Travel

A little less dangerous than Extreme Travel (see entry), there can still be interesting adventure travel. One such is a tour of the "stans" — those countries in central Asia with "stan" in their names: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. G Adventures have a 26 day tour beginning in Bishkek and ending in Ashgabat. Tourhub have a 21 day and a 23 day tour (not sure what the difference is). (I assume you would need to get visas for entry to each country ahead of time.)

Wheel & Anchor is a Canadian tour company that has a 20-day tour of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Tours run from April through October.

Adventure Bound are a European company who have a 16 day 5 Stans tour. Price is €3,060 with a €590 single supplement.

Also check out Minzifa Travel found on Facebook ad. They do a 5 Stans tour beginning in Almaty and ending in Tashkent.

G Adventures 26 day tour

Tourhub 21 day tour

Extreme Travel

I define Extreme Travel as venturing into areas or countries that most people would not consider as a travel destination — ever! The travel company Against the Compass Expeditions, based in Barcelona, specialize in guided tours of places like Iraq, Eritrea, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Mali, and Yemen. Extreme indeed!

Wild Frontiers have tours of Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, the Congo, and Afghanistan.

Korea Konsult provided 4 and 8 day tours of North Korea leaving from either Beijing, China or Vladivostok, Russia. You can travel by air, train or bus depending on your budget. As of 2026 these tours are on hold as North Korea currently only allows visitors from Russia to enter the country.

Against the Compass Expeditions group

Travel Designers

Endorsed in an article by Forbes, 57 Hours is a holiday designer who connects you to local guides. That have a wide range of activities and locations. (The name is taken from the 57 hours available for a weekend excursion.) Prices seem reasonable with, for example, one day rock climbing experience for $255, and an 8 day Tenerife tour for $1,230. (All prices in USD.)

The 8 day Loire Valley Bike Tour: Chateaux and Wine for $2,240 looks interesting. Eight days with 6 days of cycling, and staying in 3 and 4 star hotels. Available June through September.

They seem to concentrate on Europe (including Iceland), New Zealand, Canada, the U.S. and Costa Rica, but also have many in South America.

Some examples:

• Hike in the Mont Blanc area
• Bike and sail in Croatia
• Bike tour in Provence
• Venture off the beaten path in New Zealand
• Hiking tours in Iceland

Loire Valley Bike Tour: Chateaux and Wine

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My Escapades by Huntington is a Toronto based company that custom designs vacations. They did a fantastic job of organizing a 20-day African vacation for friends of mine.

My Escapes tour destinations

A local travel organizer is Lise Travel Boutique which describes itself as "your Kingston travel specialist" with 30 years experience. They have a large number of offerings around the world.

Emergency Money

Both Western Union and MoneyGram provide ways to receive money in case of an emergency. Money can be sent and received in various ways.

With Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) you can send money to a foreign bank account using a SWIFT/BIC account code.

Western Union (receive)

• Cash pickup at WU location
• Bank account
• Mobile Wallet

Western Union (send)

• Online (credit or debit card, or a bank account)
  
• WU App
• Bank that uses WU (e.g., Scotiabank)
  
• In person at WU location

MoneyGram (send)

• In person at MG location
• Bank that uses MG (e.g., CIBC/Simplii)

 MoneyGram (receive)

• Cash pickup at MG location
• Bank account
• Mobile Wallet