It’s OK, you can come out. There’s no sign of Vanilla Ice (or Jedward!) in sight. I was thinking more along the lines of places to escape for those of you who really can’t stand the prospect of a long-hot-ice-cream-spattered-sand-in-all-the-wrong-places-beach holiday. Not the dire 1990s track by Robert Matthew Van Winkle. If you prefer chilling out to
basting in the sun, take a look at the fantastic adventure travel options available.
Stay with Inuits in Greenland
As Eskimo actually means ‘raw meat eaters’, they understandably prefer to be called inuits these days (human beings). If your image of an Inuit is someone who lives in an ice house and walks around rubbing noses with everyone they meet, then this trip is for you. What better way to learn how they really live than to visit them in their natural habitat. Disappointing as it may be, modern inuits live in wooden or concrete houses rather than igloos. OK, so you might not get to stay in an icehouse but you can enjoy ‘mushing’ dogs into an overnight hut and take a trip on the motorboats and snowmobiles. Not so many sleds or kayaks around now but imagine the icebergs and the snowball fights!
Ice Fishing in Norway
If more relaxing activities are your scene, head to Norway for some ice fishing in the largest northern city – Tromso. You may be relieved to know that it does have a brewery – and a cathedral – so all eventualities are covered. This is proper ice fishing where you drill a hole in the ice and drop your line through it.
Head out in a Skidoo, which is a type of snow mobile, but it sounds much more fun than a snow mobile and I’m sure it’s aptly named. Thaw out in the hot-tub and sauna after your intrepid adventure. And put a vest on, as your granny may say. It’s cold out there.
Husky Mushing in Finland
Still feeling let down by the fact that Eskimos are no longer Eskimos and they use snow mobiles? Fear not! Here’s your solution – husky mushing in Finland. So now we know what it means – dog powered. Forget the snowmobiles, they can break down. Well, does you car start easily on a frosty morning? The only reliable way to get around in these frozen parts of the world is by dog.
Spend a day learning how to control the mutts – not an easy task – before you head out on a trip across the Arctic Circle itself. Be prepared for some strenuous activity. Prepare a track for the dogs with your snowboots (it’s actually called breaking trail), change the dogs’ snowboots and generally run uphill a lot in padded clothing. Relax in a log cabin at the end of the day after all of that hard work and if you‘re really lucky, you might get another trip on a skidoo to see the aurora borealis; the Northern Lights to you and me.
If that’s not enough of an adrenalin rush, you might want to think about visiting the fjords or polar bear watching. If money really is no object, how about a trip to both the north and south pole?
So there are some ideas for the anti-heat brigade. But if, like me, exhilarating days with temperatures at minus stupid leave you yearning for sunburn, you can always look at a different type of adventure holiday. The closest I’m going to get to ‘Ice Ice Baby’ is destroying a Vanilla Ice record with an ice pick.
Our guest author, Dan, is a huge fan of holidays that are out of the ordinary and has a real passion for travelling the world.
