Checking In: Adventure travel

Some people travel for the culture. Some for the food. And then there are those who travel for the get-up-and-go adventure of it all.

Quiet and unpretentious, San Ignacio Resort Hotel is a haven for the wildlife of Belize. Keel-billed toucans — Belize’s official bird — chirp their morning song happily outside your window. Meek iguanas amble by the pool as you sip your afternoon mojito, slipping quietly into one of the surrounding tropical flowerbeds. It’s relaxing, yes, but San Ignacio Resort is far from uneventful. Its location in San Ignacio’s jungle Cayo District puts you within reach of wild Belize adventures like cave tubing and zip-lining, which you can experience with the hotel’s Best of Cayo package. The four-night stay includes a visit to a nearby ancient Mayan site as well as airport transfers, breakfast and dinner.

At an elevation of 7,000 feet, Santa Fe is a prime destination for winter sports, and Four Seasons Rancho Encantado Santa Fe is getting in on the action. The resort’s new afternoon snowshoeing excursion takes you to the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where an expert guide leads you through a dramatic, powder-covered landscape. After a day of adventure, warm up back at Rancho Encantado with a steaming cup of green chili hot chocolate or head to the spa for an “altitude adjustment massage.” And when you’re ready to tuck in, the resort’s “fireplace butler” will light your fire and leave you with some spiced cider.

Camping at The Resort at Paws Up is the kind everyone can get behind — the kind where your tent comes complete with a plush bed, luxe bathroom and electricity. Yes, it’s all about “glamping” at this Montana retreat, but there’s still plenty of fun ways to get your hands dirty. Test your herding skills with an open-terrain cattle drive or kick up some serious dust on an ATV tour. Love fly-fishing? Paws Up will send you out to the nearby Blackfoot, Bitterroot or Missouri rivers with an experienced guide. And then there’s a sporting clays course, 3-D archery field and exhilarating whitewater kayaking, not to mention mountain biking and rock rappelling!

An extensive renovation in 2012 brought Hotel Jerome Aspen, first opened in 1889, back to its elegant beginnings with European furnishings, graceful crown moldings and charming vintage accents. Known for its exciting mountain spirit, this hotel in downtown Aspen maximizes winter adventure with a long list of activities. These include skiing and snowshoeing, of course, but also powder tours to Aspen Mountain’s hidden backsides, twilight dogsled rides and hot-air ballooning over snowcapped peaks and trees. (The balloon rides even include a champagne toast!) Cold weather not your thing? Not to worry. Spring and summer are full of excitement with a whiskey bike tour, night float and glamping.

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