At WiseGEEK, we're committed to delivering accurate, trustworthy information. Our expert-authored content is rigorously fact-checked and sourced from credible authorities. Discover how we uphold the highest standards in providing you with reliable knowledge.
What are the Different Types of Adventure Travel Jobs?
Adventure travel jobs come in many varieties, from becoming a hiking guide to planning adventure vacations for tourists. Mountain bike guides can travel the world and show tourists the best trails and the techniques to ride them; professional hiking guides can do the same. Adventure travel jobs may include piloting a helicopter into the mountains to drop off skiers, or leading those skiers down the slopes as a ski guide. Climbing guides can also lead tourists up the best climbs while teaching the proper safety precautions and climbing techniques. Other jobs, including guide training, backcountry medicine training, and search and rescue, are also included in the category of adventure travel jobs.
Many adventure travel jobs do not pay particularly well, but they allow a person to travel the country or the world to participate in exhilarating experiences he or she would never have at home. Some photographers, for example, get to see parts of the world most will only read about in magazines. The photographer must capture current events, the local flavor and day to day life of a location, and other specific subjects according to the assignment. A travel photography job may put a photographer in direct danger — such as photographing a war zone — or it may land the photographer on a tropical island to capture stunning sunsets and indigenous people. Pay will vary from assignment to assignment, and some people are able to make a comfortable living off their earnings; others may do it for the experience rather than the pay, which may or may not be very lucrative.
Guiding is perhaps the most common of the adventure travel jobs. Guides are not only responsible for the safety and well-being of their clients, but they are also responsible for educating clients about the sport in which they are participating, the environmental impacts surrounding them, and the local customs, history, and background information that can give the client a better understanding of their surroundings. A guide is a jack of all trades who must be ready for all situations, including emergency situations. Most guides are certified in first aid and CPR, as well as backcountry rescue and medicine.
Other adventure travel jobs may include working as part of a ship crew that travels the world, or working as a skills instructor for any variety of adventure sports or activities, including surfing, skiing, skydiving, cycling, wilderness survival, search and rescue, mountain climbing and guiding, or any other adventure sport in which one can specialize.
AS FEATURED ON:
AS FEATURED ON:
-
![Hikers with a professional hiking guide.]()
Hikers with a professional hiking guide. -
![A person skydiving as part of adventure travel.]()
A person skydiving as part of adventure travel. -
![A waterfall on the island of Tasmania, a popular destination for adventure travelers.]()
By: magannA waterfall on the island of Tasmania, a popular destination for adventure travelers. -
![The Inca Trail, which overlooks the ruins of Machu Picchu, is a popular choice for guided treks.]()
By: Bryan BusovickiThe Inca Trail, which overlooks the ruins of Machu Picchu, is a popular choice for guided treks. -
![A bush helicopter pilot may specialize in flying clients to remote ski or hunting locations.]()
By: BSANIA bush helicopter pilot may specialize in flying clients to remote ski or hunting locations.
Discussion Comments
@Fa5t3r - Well, that's not the only way to do it. There are also internships and so forth. And recording adventure travel isn't the only way to do it as a regular thing. You could be a pilot, or work on a boat, or even be something like a marine scientist, as they often end up going along with trips around the coast.
@umbra21 - And if you're hoping to write about adventure, or maybe take photos, then working in the field is a great way to get your foot in the door, particularly if you aren't wealthy enough to independently finance your own adventures.
So many people want to get into this field, that no one is going to hire a rookie with no experience. Luckily, with the internet, you have a ready-built medium to explore your abilities as a writer and photographer and build up a name for yourself.
Most of the travel writers that have emerged recently seem to get their start on the internet.
Most of the time if you are working in adventure travel you are going to be working as part of the tourism industry and that means being a guide of some kind. You can get qualifications of various kinds in adventure tourism, but I think one of the best things you can do is just try a whole lot of things yourself.
If you can go to an interview and tell them that you have been sky diving and have your SCUBA certification and so forth, you are going to have a much better chance at the job than someone who has learned about those things in school.
Post your comments