<photo: sunrise at Bumdrak Trail in Bhutan>
planning your adventure trips for 2016? here are 5 simple tips on how to choose the right company to book your trip with, and have a memorable adrenaline-filled experience.
1. do your homework. find out yourself as much as you can about the destination that you plan to go. this will help you ask the right questions when you call up the adventure companies. if you don't do your homework, you will probably ask the simple questions that the adventure companies can easily answer. you have to ask the tough questions because more things can go wrong on adventure trips.
2. things can and will go wrong. that's the nature of adventure trips. you have to be prepared and the adventure company must have the experience in helping you be prepared. if the adventure company says that nothing has gone wrong on all their trips - walk away.
3. equipment is important. the places that you want to go will have extremes. very cold, very hot, very high or very deep. and having the right equipment to handle these extremes is important. the adventure company should be able to recommend not just the right equipment, but they must have used them before.
4. local knowledge. you will be going to far flung places and off the beaten trail. that's why it's called an adventure. this also means that not many people would have been to these places. you need an adventure company who has been to these places before and not just once, but many times.
5. sustainability tourism. this is about taking care of the environment so that future generations can enjoy the gifts of nature. responsible adventure companies should have a code of conduct and be involved in programmes that promote sustainability. ask the adventure company as to what they are doing for the environment, especially for the places where you intend to go. if the adventure company is only profit-oriented, run away.
once you have settled these 5 things, the rest is easy. have an awesome 2016 filled with great adventures! #bcc