While I’m not much for jaunty caps and green tights, I have to admit that I kinda dig the “another day, another adventure” spirit that runs through the whole Robin Hood legend.  And, if the crazy number of times Hollywood has retold the story of the world’s most famous outlaw hero is any indication, apparently I’m not alone in this.

Like a lot of the cool adventures portrayed in movies and television shows, however, watching the exploits of Robin Hood and his band of merry men on the big screen this past weekend got me to thinking about one of XTRORD.com’s most important guiding principles.  Namely the one about how reality kicks virtual reality’s butt every time.  In other words, I figure it’s always a safe bet that you’ll have a lot more fun having a once-in-a-lifetime adventure for yourself than watch someone else having it on-screen.

Which is why I thought I’d do a little digging to see if there were ways modern-day Robin Hood wannabes could actually experience the life and times of the gold-hearted gang from Sherwood Forest.  Here’s what I came up with:

• Visit Nottinghamshire’s annual Robin Hood Festival for all manner of medieval merriments from sword fights to men in tights.
• Test your skill with a bow and arrow at this archery range in Sherwood Forest.
• Hoist a pint to the memory of Robin Hood at the oldest inn in Britain, Nottingham’s Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem.
• Feast at a banquet hosted by Robin Hood’s evil nemesis, none other than the Sheriff of Nottingham himself.

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Extraordinary Family Experiences: Why Just Read About History When You Can Live It?

Standing atop a steep sandstone bluff overlooking a broad expanse of central Montana’s still-wild Missouri River, it’s not hard to understand why the journals of Lewis and Clark’s Corps Of Discovery are filled with entries that convey a sense of wonder:

“This senery already rich, pleasing, and beatiful was still farther hightened by immence herds of buffaloe, deer, elk and antelopes which we saw in every direction.”

— Merriwether Lewis,  September 17, 1804

To put these wide-eyed moments into perspective, you have to remember that the vast swath of land known as the Louisiana Purchase was little more than a blank spot on the map when Merriwether Lewis and William Clark set off from St. Louis on May 14th, 1804.  Fast forward 200 years or so and you’ll find that much of the landscape Lewis and Clark traveled through on their 8,000-mile journey remains largely unchanged.

To find these places, however, you’ll need a knowledgeable guide every bit as much as Lewis and Clark did.  Which is where these three tour companies come in:

• Lewis & Clark Trail Adventures offers three-day canoe trips on portions of the Missouri River that can be combined with hiking or mountain biking extensions along portions of the historic Lolo Trail traveled by the Corps of Discovery.  Some departures are also accompanied by noted Lewis and Clark experts including Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs, author of The Lewis and Clark Companion: An Encyclopedic Guide to the Voyage of Discovery.
• Shebby Lee Tours has put together a 15-night motorcoach tour that covers the Lewis and Clark expedition’s entire route, from the Corps Of Discovery’s starting point on the banks of the Mississippi River all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
• Odyssey Tours offers an eight-night canoeing and hiking exploration of Montana’s White Cliffs of the Missouri River and the Bitterroot Mountains that includes camping at actual Corps Of Discovery campsites, special insights from Lewis and Clark historian Clay Jenkinson, and a special evening visit with a costumed Merriwether Lewis reenactor.

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Pony Express: Saddle Up To Ride Horseback In The Hoofprints Of History

Voyages Of The Great Explorers

In an era where any schmo with a cell phone can snap a blurry image and post it online for all the world to see, having one of your photographs published in the pages of National Geographic magazine still remains the gold standard for serious photographers everywhere.  If you agree, stop what you’re doing, dust off your camera gear, and take your best shot at the Energizer Ultimate Photo Contest.

This third annual version of the competition, which ends June 30th, offers talented amateur photographers the chance to enter photos in six categories, including Animals/Wildlife, Nature, Travel, People/Cultures, Weather, and Action/Energy.  If you need a little inspiration, you can check out previous winners here.

2009 Grand Prize Winner

After National Geographic photographer and chief judge Jim Richardson chooses two finalists in each category this summer, the general public will be invited to view the contenders online and vote for their favorites.  Richardson will then choose the Grand Prize winner in early November.

If that’s you, your photo will appear in an ad for Energizer batteries in the December issue of National Geographic while you and a companion are whisked off on a National Geographic Expedition to the Greek Isles.  All 12 finalists also get a pretty sweet prize package, including a rugged Epic Action Video Cam and a 12.1-megapixel Nikon Coolpix L110 digital camera.

Even if you’re not inclined to enter, check out the Ultimate Photo Contest website for Richardson’s photography tips and the chance to view your fellow photo buffs’ entries as they’re uploaded.

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Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to get into the water with some pretty amazing wild creatures, from playful manatees to spouting beluga whales. Now, however, there’s a new interspecies encounter I’m eager to add to my list of extraordinary experiences—swimming with giant saltwater crocodiles!

Much like shark diving, participants are separated from these toothy 20-foot-long beasts by protective enclosures. While these devices add a margin of safety, being submerged in either the clear acrylic “Cage Of Death” at Darwin, Australia’s Crocosaurus Cove or the metal basket used in the Croc Cage Diving Encounter at Oudtshoom, South Africa’s Cango Wildlife Ranch is still bound to get your heart pumping as you come snout-to-snout with these 2,500-pound “salties” that are among the largest reptiles on the face of the planet. Not to mention one of the few predators that consider us humans fair game!

If these commercial operations seem a little too tame for you, you can always look up these guys that get their kicks swimming with the equally aggressive alligators of Florida’s Everglades. But because they don’t use a cage—and because I need every reader I can get—let’s just say I don’t recommend it!

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Sitting here on the eve of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, I know you’re already being bombarded with endless suggestions on how to mark the occasion, from local Earth Day celebrations designed to raise awareness of the planet’s plight to simple environmentally-friendly lifestyle changes you can make to show Mother Nature some love. Unfortunately, based on prior experience, I also know that most of our friends and neighbors are likely to have forgotten all about the subject by this time next week.

Which is why I’m suggesting that you spend just a few minutes on this Earth Day considering a handful of once-in-a-lifetime adventures that offer the opportunity to feel like you’re really giving something back to the natural world. There are any number of organizations that could use your help with ongoing research projects based in some of the most fascinating—and, in many cases, drop-dead gorgeous—spots on the globe. The fact that these ecotourism expeditions also qualify as truly extraordinary experiences you’ll be talking about for years to come, well, that’s just a bonus.

To point you in the right direction, here’s a look at two reputable operations that offer a wide range of ecotourism adventures you’re bound to find both rewarding and fun:

Earthwatch Institute

Founded in 1971, this international non-profit organization pairs volunteers with scientific field researchers working on wildlife conservation and related projects. They offer a broad array of intriguing hands-on programs, ranging from helping Peruvian ecologists study pink dolphins in the Amazon jungle to working to reduce the decline of cheetah populations in Namibia.

Responsible Travel

As one of the first companies to promote the idea of environmentally-friendly travel, this decade-old operation offers one-stop shopping for literally thousands of remarkable ecotourism programs. With this many offerings to choose from, there’s a good chance you’ll find something of interest, from observing whale sharks in the Seychelles to doing population surveys of elephants in South Africa’s Tembe National Park.

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Bush Planes and Brown Bears

Thailand’s Tiger Temple

In a world where many people have come to view flying as an ordeal to be endured, there are still lots of us for whom the act of leaving terra firma behind remains an adventure to be savored. If you’re one of us, you owe it to yourself to book a seat on the first zeppelin to take to the skies above the U.S. in more than 70 years.

The company responsible for the zeppelin’s return to America, Airship Ventures, offers one- and two-hour flight-seeing tours around San Francisco Bay in the 246-foot helium-filled Eureka, as well as occasional cross-country flights as they reposition the zeppelin for tours in southern California or Monterey (if you have your private pilot’s license you can even take a turn at the controls). Between the zeppelin’s gentle flight characteristics—three 200-horsepower engines in rotating nacelles allow pilots to make this 747-sized airship hover, climb, and descend like a helicopter—and its huge panoramic windows, there simply isn’t a better platform for airborne rubbernecking out there.

Then, of course, there’s the sheer rarity of the experience. The Eureka is the largest airship in existence and one of only three zeppelins operating anywhere in the world, facts that should earn you some bragging rights back home.

Ultimately though, all that grown-up appeal vanishes the moment you climb aboard. From aerial views of Alcatraz and the city’s dramatic skyline to an amazing Golden Gate fly-by, even serious “been there, flown in that” aviation geeks (umm, like me for instance) are likely to find themselves with their noses pressed up against the glass like wide-eyed 10-year-olds.

In the end, it’s this sense of wonder that makes these zeppelin flights such an extraordinary experience. Even for all those poor jaded folks who insist they don’t like flying.

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Hoof-beats ring out in the night as the trail-hardened Pony Express rider approaches the lonely Nevada waystation. In one fluid movement he leaps off his tired mount, grabs the mail pouch stuffed with urgent letters from points east, vaults aboard his fresh horse and is off again at a gallop before the cloud of dust he’s stirred up even has a chance to settle.

In the 150 years since the first horse and rider left St. Joseph, Missouri on April 3, 1860, the Central Overland & Pike’s Peak Express Company—better known as the Pony Express—has become an undeniable legend of the Old West. What few people realize, however, is that each year a dedicated group of volunteers gives horse lovers and history buffs a chance to saddle up for a firsthand horseback experience of what this incredible 10-day journey from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California was really like.

• PONY EXPRESS—BY THE NUMBERS
• 24: Hours per day the original mail pouch was kept moving.
• 12-15: The number of miles the average horse was ridden at a full-on gallop before being swapped for a fresh mount.
• 75-100: Number of miles each rider covered in one shift, though one rider covering two back-to-back stages was not unheard of.
• 20: Number of pounds each mail pouch weighed; also the weight of the rider’s other equipment including a water sack, bible, and two pistols.
• 125: Maximum weight of the rider in pounds.
• 18: Number of months the Pony Express service actually ran before being made obsolete by the telegraph.

As it turns out, there are actually several ways to participate in the National Pony Express Association annual re-ride of the entire 1,966-mile route. Anyone can pay $5 to send a commemorative letter along in the ail pouch—a relative bargain, considering it’s the same price the original Pony Express charged 150 years ago—or attend some of the dozens of events along the eight-state route. To be one of the 500 or so riders who annually recreate the ride of the Pony Express, however, you’ll need to become a member of the organization.

To learn more about this unique but short-lived chapter of American history, check out the National Park Service’s Pony Express National Historic Trail website, which has lots of info on the route and its history, including details on historic outposts that can be visited by car, 4WD, horseback, and hiking.

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While most of my cycling these days is limited to Spinning class at the gym, I totally get the attraction of a challenging bike ride.  Not to mention the desire to have a truly remarkable once-in-a-lifetime adventure in the process.

Which got me wondering if there was a way that hardcore cyclists like my friend Julie—a die-hard Tour de France fan whose idea of a good time is grinding out a 50-miler before lunch—could combine these two passions into one extraordinary experience.

Following my curiosity lead me to Robbin McKinney, a man who’s been leading cycling trips to Europe for 20 years.  For the 2010 Tour de France—which many sportswriters believe may be Lance Armstrong’s last—McKinney’s company Great Explorations is offering two different adventures that allow serious pedal pushers to be more than just passive spectators at the world’s most grueling cycling event.

The Alps tour—McKinney’s favorite—runs July 8-15 and includes the chance to ride legendary Tour de France routes including the 21 hairpin turns of the Alpe D’Huez.  Their Pyrenees program, which runs July 19- 26, offers an opportunity to be there for the event’s exciting conclusion, as the riders circle Paris’ Champs D’Elyssees before crossing the finish line.

No matter which Tour de France program you sign up for, you’ll have a choice of several daily rides—many on the same roads the peloton will be passing over just hours later—plus special behind-the-scenes access at the start or finish lines and prime viewing locations for several important stages.  Not to mention great meals at quaint local bistros, wine tastings, and swanky spas.

SPECIAL DEAL:  Call Great Explorations at 800-242-1825 to book your Tour de France trip by Monday April 12th, and you and a friend will each receive a $250 discount when you mention XTRORD.com.

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Since deciding to chuck all the trappings of a so-called “normal” life back in 2006, Nora Dunn has been traveling the world and chronicling her experiences on her blog The Professional Hobo.  Seeing as how this is an extraordinary experience an awful lot of people aspire to, I thought it’d be interesting to look at the full-time vagabond life Nora’s created for herself to see what we can all learn about living out our dreams:

Hobo Nora

What prompted you to do this? Does this lifestyle choice reflect a deeper philosophical outlook?

I was on the brink of my 30th birthday, running a successful financial planning practice in Toronto when a long string of illnesses finally made me realize I was burning the candle at both ends.  One day while feeling especially trapped by the super-busy lifestyle I’d created, I thought “I just want to retire!”

I wanted to explore the world. I wanted to climb mountains. I wanted to do humanitarian work.  There was so much I wanted to do, I didn’t even know where to start.  But the one thing that I knew for sure was that I wasn’t going to be able to do half those things on my list if I waited 30 years for a more conventional retirement to get started.

What kind of resistance did you encounter once you decided to do this, both from others and from the voice in your head?

For as long as I can remember, the voice in my head  had been telling me I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing.  So when I made this decision, it was finally happy!

As for everybody around me, I encountered almost unanimous support. There were some people who just couldn’t understand why I’d want to sell everything and travel the world, but the most common reply was “Oh wow! I wish I could do that.”

How has the reality of this experience measured up to your expectations?

Measuring any of my experiences that way is pretty difficult.  I “expected” Costa Rica would be my first destination, and I’ve yet to make it there.  Instead, serendipity has led me to new places over and over again, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  My life is constantly evolving and it actually exceeds any expectations I could have set going in.

What has been the best part of the experience so far?  What has been the worst?

Some of my best and worst experiences have been one and the same. Twice in two years my boyfriend Kelly and I found ourselves caught up in natural disasters, including the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Burma (Myanmar) and the worst bushfires Australia has ever seen.

But even though these might seem like negatives, they actually became high points as we spent our time volunteering full-time with the relief efforts.  To fully understand what I mean, you can read the complete stories of our efforts with the Burma cyclone relief and the Victorian Bushfires on my blog.

You’ve been in Australia for some time now—do you still consider yourself a wanderer or have you begun to settle down, maybe without realizing it?

Coming off the cyclone relief efforts in Burma, the Victorian Brushfires, and a week in the hospital with Dengue fever was all pretty exhausting, so we’ve been happy to stay in one place for a while.

Right now, Kelly has been lured in by a rewarding job that will mean using this area as a home base for a bit.  But I’ll be doing some solo traveling around Australia, New Zealand, and Europe and will return just in time for both of us to uproot completely and find a new place to explore next year.

What advice would you have for someone who was thinking about following a similar dream?

Do it! Okay, for a minute, I thought of leaving it at that, but here are a couple of more specific pointers:

• Put your financial house in order before setting out. Juggling debt on the road is hard, unless you have enough money coming in to both make those payments and pay for your travels.
• Speaking of money, you need to find a way to earn a location-independent income if you want to make long-term travel financially sustainable.  Once you figure this out though, you’ll have the freedom to live—and work—just about wherever you want.

You can also follow Nora’s exploits on Twitter @HoboNora.

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While I’m open to all kinds of once-in-a-lifetime adventures, there are some I’m just not physically cut out for.  Like these Becoming An Outdoors-Woman weekends, for example.  Fortunately we were able to persuade special correspondent Christina Newton to attend a recent two-day B.O.W. program and bring us this report:

Looking down the barrel of my 20-gauge shotgun, I track the fluorescent-orange disc streaking across the blue California sky.  Without hesitation I pull the trigger and—BLAMO!—the four-inch clay target is blown to smithereens.  As my classmates erupt in a spontaneous round of applause, all I can think is  “Dang, this is fun!”

You might wonder what an ordinary minivan-driving mother is doing here pumping these harmless skeet-shooting targets full of hot lead.  Actually, it was the promise of  just this kind of extraordinary experience that drew my friend Karen and I to this Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (B.O.W.) weekend.

These two-and-a-half-day sampler programs, which are held at locations throughout the U.S., are designed to introduce women of all ages and backgrounds to a wide variety of traditionally male-dominated outdoor sports.  Our B.O.W. weekend’s menu of available classes included everything from backcountry navigation using GPS and topographical maps to Dutch-oven cooking.

In fact, the most difficult part of the entire program was choosing which outdoor activities we wanted to try.  Ultimately, we ended up signing up for workshops that seemed like they’d be the biggest stretch for a couple of big-city girls.

Like our archery class, for instance, where we got to enjoy the satisfying “thwap” as our arrows hit the target, even if they weren’t exactly bullseyes.  Or an introduction to fly-fishing session where, suited up in full gear, I waded into the river and landed my first leaf.  Or the twilight kayak paddle where we got to watch the full moon rise over the Sierra Nevada mountains.

By the time we got to the skeet shooting range Sunday morning, I really felt like I was beginning to get the hang of this outdoors-woman thing. At least until I reached into my pocket for a shotgun shell and ended up trying to slip my lipstick into the gun’s open chamber!

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