Adventure Women was founded in 1982 by Susan Eckert, who had spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone
The adventure of women-only travel
By Alfred Borcover
Special to the Tribune
Published October 3, 2004
Melanie Harmon always enjoyed outdoor activities including backpacking and hiking. As her husband lost interest in arduous hiking and backpacking five years ago, she didn't. She missed the challenges and realized the outings were critical to her well-being. She joined a local hiking club that trekked once a month in the Great Smoky Mountains near her home, but "found that I wanted to push myself a little more than the day hikes did."
Harmon, 48, general manager of a non-profit corporation in Kingston, Tenn., just west of Knoxville, searched the Internet for women's adventure travel and found Adventures in Good Company, based in Baltimore, which limits its tours to 12 to 14. "I went on my first trip in 2002, a Lake Superior lodge-to-lodge trip, and invited my mother, who now is 74. It was one of the best trips I have ever taken." The two recently returned from a similar hiking trip in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Harmon said the trips "accomplished what I wanted as far as the level of exertion and hiking in a different territory that I normally hike in. There were two guides. The philosophy from the get-go was good value for what you pay, and pushing each person just enough where you feel really good about what you did. My mother loved it. She was so proud of herself. The dynamics of an all-women's trip was incredible considering ages ranged from the 30s into the 70s. When you get women mixed with men, the dynamic is different. With the women, individual personalities came out. There was lots of laughter." At home, Harmon and her husband do a lot of bicycling.
Harmon's mother, Joan Guthrie of Saginaw, Mich., a retired school teacher, said it was fun to travel with a group of women. "We had a lot of laughs. I love to walk, but I'm not used to mountains. But I was able to complete the four-hour hikes I set out on. I felt like I accomplished something."
Guthrie said her husband is not a hiker, but both are avid birdwatchers and travel south during the winter.
Like Harmon, tens of thousands of women, both married and single, middle-aged and older, want to take challenging vacations to fulfill their dreams. They search for firms as Harmon did to join other women who want to hike, climb, dive, kayak and cycle rather than go it alone. They also seek less strenuous trips to learn about art and explore the wonders of nature, and to shop and go to the theater.
Older women--older being a relative term--who want to travel alone, but not on a cruise or tour where they can often feel like a fifth wheel, have ample women-only options these days.
From 1995 to 2004, the number of firms that cater to women-only travelers has risen 300 percent, to 21 from 7, said Marybeth Bond, author of "Gutsy Women," travel tips and wisdom for the road, and an authority on women's travel.
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Said to be the oldest of the firms is Bozeman, Mont.-based Adventure Women (adventurewomen.com; 800-804-8686). It was founded in 1982 by Susan Eckert, who had spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa.
"When I started the company 23 years ago in Evanston, it was hard adventure. It was hiking with backpacks, carrying our canoes in the Boundary Waters, or hiking in Utah totally by ourselves. Now it's much more soft. I've gotten older. My clients have gotten older. If there's not a camel or a sherpa or a horse or mule to carry our stuff, we don't go," she said with a laugh.
"Now our trips include a Montana guest ranch adventure with white-water rafting, horseback riding and fly fishing. We do a Grand Canyon trip with camping and horseback riding in Banff National Park in Canada. Our 2005 trips include kayaking and cooking in Baja California, a `wings' safari in Botswana and Zambia, and a barge trip in France." Eckert said all of her 16 trips are carefully rated so women can determine what they can and can't do physically. The average age of her clients is 51, but the range typically is 35 to 65-- and a high of 81.
