How to add more adventure to your travel plans this year
Travel can easily slip into routine, with familiar destinations, predictable plans, and experiences that start to blend together. If you want your trips to feel more exciting, sometimes the simplest solution is choosing a place with a different atmosphere. Look for destinations that offer a refreshing change of pace and give you space to experience travel in a new way.
Towns around the Smoky Mountains, including Pigeon Forge, provide a simple but refreshing change in atmosphere. When you plan your trips for the year ahead, it becomes easier to incorporate moments that feel new, uplifting, and a bit more adventurous experiences that help you reconnect with the joy of exploring.
Start with accessible thrills to ease into adventure
Finding the right kind of adventure doesn’t always mean pushing your limits; sometimes it’s about choosing an experience that feels exciting, engaging, and fully in the moment. When you’re in a place known for its scenic atmosphere, like the Smoky Mountains region, it’s easy to lean into the energy around you and look for something that adds a fresh spark to your trip. An activity that gives you control, brings a sense of movement, and lets you enjoy the surroundings can shift your entire mindset and make your travel experience feel more alive.
If you’re looking for a way to add excitement to your trip, you can experience the best mountain coaster Pigeon Forge has, with the Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster. It offers a dual-track racing mountain coaster where you can ride side-by-side, check your time on the leaderboard, and grab a photo at the finish. With its timed runs and full-length racing layout, it’s a memorable way to try something new while enjoying an engaging, fast-paced ride.
Choose destinations that naturally encourage exploration
Once you’ve eased into lighter adventures, think about visiting places where the surroundings naturally encourage you to get outside and explore. Many destinations, whether they’re near mountains, forests, open landscapes, or coastlines, offer a refreshing change of pace simply because of their environment.
As you plan, consider factors like your comfort level, the time of year, and what kinds of experiences you enjoy most. Look for areas where you can step into nature without much effort and where there’s room to wander, observe, and discover at your own rhythm. These kinds of destinations make adventure feel effortless, giving you the chance to stumble upon scenic views, peaceful spots, and memorable moments without having to plan every detail in advance.
Incorporate unique local experiences into your itinerary
Travelers often forget that adventure comes in many forms, including cultural or sensory ones. When you arrive, take a local workshop: a cooking class using regional ingredients, a craft tour with a local artisan, a guided nature walk with a park ranger who knows the hidden spots.
These experiences may not involve harnesses or speed, but they still push you into unfamiliar territory, tasting new flavors, hearing new stories, exploring offbeat corners. These local-immersive moments give your trip texture and spontaneity. By setting aside part of your schedule for something unplanned or locally driven, you’ll remember much more than just the postcard views.
Plan a multi-adventure day trip or weekend getaway
If you don’t have a lot of time to travel, you can still enjoy plenty of excitement by planning a day trip or a short weekend getaway. Choose a destination that offers a variety of things to do, so you can spend part of the day exploring outdoors and the rest enjoying the local atmosphere. This kind of mini-adventure lets you fit multiple experiences into a short window without feeling rushed. Many travel spots offer bundled options that combine a few activities into one convenient plan, giving you the chance to truly do something rather than just pass through.
Embrace spontaneity in your travel style
Not every adventure needs to be planned in advance. Sometimes the best moments come from stumbling into something unexpected. Leave a little space in your itinerary, talk to locals, and stay open to changing plans if something interesting comes up. Those spontaneous finds, a suggestion, an event, a great view, often become the stories you remember. Flexibility isn’t chaos; it’s giving adventure room to happen.
Use technology to find adventure opportunities on the go
One of the best tools in your travel toolbox is your smartphone (with battery pack!). Use apps to locate trails, find out about last-minute excursions, check weather changes, and read local reviews. Map tools can highlight lesser-known routes, local event calendars may list pop-up festivals, and social-media feeds can spark ideas you didn’t even know existed.
The key: use tech not to rigidly plan everything, but to adapt your adventure when you’re living in the moment. It keeps you responsive and helps you discover things you’d never read about in a standard guidebook.
Overcome common fears that hold travelers back
Let’s face it: fear often lies right at the threshold of adventure. Maybe you’re worried about trying something new, being out of your comfort zone, or looking silly in front of friends. That’s okay, start small. If you worry about fitness, choose a moderate trail rather than a summit climb. Talk to guides beforehand, ask about safety, view pictures, and mentally rehearse your comfort level.
Remember: the point of your adventure isn’t to prove something to others, it’s to feel something new. When you shift from “I must do something extreme” to “I’m trying something different,” your mindset changes, and that’s where the real growth happens.
Adventure isn’t reserved only for the daredevils. It’s available to you this year, whether you’re a seasoned traveler or someone seeking just one memorable moment outside your usual routine. This year, let your journey carry a spark of the unknown, a twist, a turn, a view from a ridge, or a splash on a lake, and you will return not just refreshed, but inspired. Your travel story deserves that extra push into adventure.
