7 Life-Changing Experiences

Climb Mt. Everest. Drive the Tibetan Plateau to Rongbuk Monastery on Mt. Everest’s North Face. Camp out in below-freezing temperatures. Climb to 18,300-foot-high Advanced Base Camp and live to tell about it. 

Witness Easter Island’s Moai. The Moai—gigantic stone heads, many over 20 feet tall and weighing tons—are considered the spiritual guardians of Easter Island. Wander through the quarry and try to figure out how they moved these statues.

Join an Aarti in Risikesh, India. Walk along the sacred River Ganges; then, at sunset, go to the Hindu pilgrimage site, Rishikesh. Take part in the nightly “aarti” ritual performed by Hindu priests and monks.

Cruise Vietnam’s Halong Bay. This UNESCO World Heritage site is an emerald bay of 2,000 islets, each more beautiful than the last. Take a cruise and sit mesmerized on deck.

Take a polar plunge. Yes, temperatures will be in the 30s (F) as you strip to swimwear and jump into the Antarctic Waters of Desolation Bay, just you and the penguins in one of the last untouched wildernesses on Earth.

Try ZORB globe riding in New Zealand. Crawl inside an 11-foot-high inflatable ball and tumble down a steep hill in this New Zealand-invented sport. The adrenaline rush is so great they call it the “astronaut-in-training” ride.

Do the Edge Walk at Toronto’s CN Tower. Circumnavigate the platform 1,168 feet above the ground, hands-free and without a railing, attached by two steel cables. You’ll never be afraid of heights again.