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4 unique travel experiences that beat an all-inclusive resort

From glamping along the Inca Trail to riding through the Canadian Rockies, these travel experiences offer more adventure than a typical resort getaway

Luca Bravo / Unsplash

There is nothing wrong with an all-inclusive resort. Sometimes the entire point of a vacation is to find a lounge chair, order something cold and stop thinking about the schedule. But there is another way to travel, and it starts with doing something you cannot replicate from a poolside bar.

Reader’s Digest rounded up travel experiences that trade the familiar resort routine for something much more memorable. The options range from glamping, to cooking a nine-course meal outdoors. Others put travelers on a train, or out on safari.

What makes these trips different is that the experience is the destination. You are not simply checking into a hotel and deciding whether to spend the afternoon at the beach. You are hiking through landscapes with a private guide, learning a craft from someone who practices it or watching wildlife in one of the world's best-known natural settings.

That does not mean these trips are all about roughing it, either. Some combine adventure with plenty of comfort. The Inca Trail experience includes private campsites, massages, four-course meals and wine. 

The bigger difference is what you bring home from the trip. Instead of remembering a resort buffet or the view from a pool, you might remember cooking with ingredients you foraged yourself, waking up along the Inca Trail, or watching the landscape change outside a train window.

For travelers who want their vacation to feel like more than a break from work, these four experiences offer a pretty compelling alternative to another week at the resort.

1. Glamp your way along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Junior Moran / Unsplash

The Inca Trail is already the kind of trip that tends to stick with you. Add private campsites, massages, four-course meals and wine, and you get something that feels very different from a standard hiking........

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