{"id":70367,"date":"2019-09-03T15:17:15","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T14:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flashpacknew.wpengine.com\/?p=70367"},"modified":"2023-04-24T14:32:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T13:32:39","slug":"alternative-activities-winter-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/solo\/travel\/alternative-activities-winter-vacation\/","title":{"rendered":"6 alternative activities for your winter vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Winter vacation activities needn&#8217;t just feature skis, snowboards or avoiding the cold altogether.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Most people going on a winter vacation will be doing one of two things: propelling themselves down a mountain on skis or a snowboard; or denying the passing of the seasons by searching out some winter sun, lying on a beach and ignoring all adverts for woollen sweaters.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there are other ways to enjoy a winter vacation, other fun winter activities that embrace the chill and the darkness and will leave you feeling reinvigorated and armed with a new arsenal of anecdotes. Here are seven that you need to try on your next vacation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Cross-country skiing\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-62063 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/brent-olson-5avyhZnXxo-unsplash-1.jpg\" alt=\"cross country skiing winter activities \" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As far as we\u2019re concerned, using gravity <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aDEaAOcDKnA\">when alpine skiing<\/a> is cheating. Cross-country skiing, often referred to as Nordic skiing, is whole different kettle of frozen fish. Using extra-long skis and wearing boots that are unbound at the heel, cross-country skiers go uphill and horizontally, as well as downhill, making this not only a hardcore winter workout, but also great for anyone less keen on heights.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Try it in:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/adventure-trips\/finland-digital-detox\/\">Finland \u2013 10% Early Bird discount for 2020 dates<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Snowmobile<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-62098 size-large\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/zab-consulting-pKeQSunIVo4-unsplash-1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"snowmobile winter vacation\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is only one method of winter transport more fun than a snowmobile, and only Santa gets to use it. Snowmobiles give you the adrenaline rush of motorbikes and skiing, but with less chance of falling off and killing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XoLU3Jdbybw\">the James Bond vibes<\/a> you\u2019re trying to give off. Make sure you take a guided trip, though: frozen lakes and forests don\u2019t have road signs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Try it in:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/adventure-trips\/steamy-iceland\/\">Iceland \u2013 10% Early Bird discount for 2020 dates<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Dog-sledding<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-62084 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/priscilla-du-preez-s_GW8R4xEto-unsplash-1.jpg\" alt=\"dog sledding winter vacation\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In some parts of the world, people use dog sleds (usually huskies) to commute, which is infinitely sexier than an electric scooter, if somewhat harder to park. Luckily for you, you can indulge in a husky safari, a dog-sledding day trip, on your winter vacation without having to worry about the 9 to 5 grind part of it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Try it in:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/adventure-trips\/finland-digital-detox\/\">Finland \u2013 10% Early Bird discount for 2020 dates<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Glacier hiking<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-62091 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/topich-zeUM-uIEaew-unsplash-1.jpg\" alt=\"glacier hiking iceland winter vacation\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Walking on earth is easy. Rocks, mud, sand \u2013 they\u2019re all designed to be trodden on. If you want a real challenge to your bi-ped skills, try glacier hiking. Imagine being really tiny and trying to make your way up a highball in spiky shoes \u2013 that\u2019s the kind of challenge you\u2019re looking at.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Try it in:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/adventure-trips\/norway-small-group-tour-solo-travellers\/\">Norway \u2013 10% Early Bird discount for 2020 dates<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Finding the Northern Lights<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-62077 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/lightscape-LtnPejWDSAY-unsplash-1.jpg\" alt=\"northern lights winter vacation\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this age of on-demand everything, Mother Nature refuses to play ball. You can\u2019t order an eclipse on an app and you can\u2019t stream <a href=\"\/us\/adventure-trips\/finland-digital-detox\/\">t<\/a>he Northern Lights. These experiences need some work and some luck: right place, right time. It\u2019s like hunting, but for people who aren\u2019t terrible human beings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Try it in:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/destinations\/europe\/\">Norway, Finland or Iceland \u2013 10% Early Bird discount for 2020 dates<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Bathing in a hot lagoon\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-62070 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/jeff-sheldon-jTeQavJjBDs-unsplash-1.jpg\" alt=\"blue lagoon iceland winter vacation\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Define \u2018activity\u2019. It\u2019s basically just doing something, right? It doesn\u2019t have to be that strenuous, which is why we are fully justified in adding to this list the activity of wallowing in an Icelandic lagoon. Strip down, brave the cold stroll to the water and plunge your grateful limbs into the warm, wet wellness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Try it in:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/adventure-trips\/steamy-iceland\/\">Iceland \u2013 10% Early Bird discount for 2020 dates<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Winter vacation activities needn&#8217;t just feature skis, snowboards or avoiding the cold altogether. Most people&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":71868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flashpack.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}