There is a point in adulthood when you sit down with your girls at brunch and, when it inevitably becomes your turn to update everyone on what's new, you realize you have nothing to say.
Someone asks what you've been up to and the answer is work, a dinner date, maybe a workout class.
Boring.
And also kind of awkward.
Your best stories have been told so many times your friends could probably finish them for you.
This is when it’s time to book a trip. And no, travel does not automatically make you more interesting. Plenty of people fly across the world and only come home with photos of their hotel breakfast.
You need to go somewhere cool, AND do something cool.
Take a surf lesson. Learn to make pasta. Climb something really tall. Put on skis and be humbled. Come home with a good story to tell.
My goal when I travel is to go somewhere interesting and come home knowing how to do something I could not do before. Even if I am still bad at it.
Here are the top places I would recommend when life needs some fresh material.
Costa Rica: Learn To Surf
Surfing looks easy from afar. People sit on their boards at sunset, casually popping to their feet and gliding down the face of a wave, just to peel off the back of it and resume their leisurely wait for the next opportunity.
Then you try.
Your arms will be tired before you make it through the first set of waves. Your back will be using muscles you didn't know existed. Saltwater will get everywhere and will continue to drip out long after you leave the ocean. Your instructor will be screaming at you to stand up.
Costa Rica is a good place to be humbled.
Surf towns like Tamarindo and Santa Teresa make it easy for beginners to book lessons, rent boards, and spend a few days figuring out the basics of surfing: Paddling, identifying waves and popping to your feet.
That two-second ride will give you a massive hit of confidence and, a few days in, you’ll be saying things like, “The conditions were better this morning.”
This is how it all starts. As Kelly Slater once said,
“Surfing is like the mafia. Once you’re in--you’re in. There’s no getting out.”
Before you know it, you'll be telling your brunch crew about what board shapes you prefer and talking about wetsuit thickness.
Oaxaca, Mexico: Learn To Cook Something Properly
It’s time for your friend who is training for a Hyrox to move over and share the spotlight. You know how to cook tamales from scratch! Talk about it!
Cooking classes often start in local markets, where you learn about chiles, herbs, chocolate, corn and ingredients you can both pronounce and incorporate into delicious meals.
Depending on the class, you might make mole or press tortillas. A sweet abuela guides you through every step of her century-old family recipe, and next thing you know, you're the person who brings the homemade guac to every party.
Now you understand why a dish tastes the way it does and you know techniques you can actually repeat at home.
Eventually, you invite people over for dinner and say, “When I learned to make this in Oaxaca…”
And everyone will hate you a little, because they are jealous. And it will taste all the better.
Park City, Utah: Learn To Ski
Learning to ski as an adult is a ruthless exercise in ego management. You put on expensive equipment so you can be passed by a six-year-old. You eat shit just getting off a chairlift. You can’t feel your fingers or toes. Your instructor tells you to bend your knees more as you're barreling towards a tree.
I can’t say it’s easy.
Or glamorous.
But you’ll be sipping your après-ski cocktail after a full day on the slopes and know that soon you can go back home to tell your friends about how you accidentally ended up on a black diamond on your first day and lived to tell the tale.
It will all be worth it.
Park City is the perfect place to learn how to ski. Utah claims to have the best snow on Earth and there are millions of ski bum instructors just waiting to show you how to link your turns and pizza/French fry your way to victory.
Just please wear a helmet.
Thailand: Learn Muay Thai
Muay Thai is the real deal in Bangkok, Thailand. There are 6-year-old girls playing in the streets who are trained in Muay Thai and could probably kill anyone I know.
It is a tough sport that takes a lot of skill.
However, Muay Thai gyms across the country offer beginner classes, so you do not need to arrive with any fight experience.
You learn basic punches, kicks, knees and elbows. Then you spend the rest of the session trying to get your brain and body to link up, and you leave the session feeling way more sore than any Planet Fitness workout that you’ve ever done back home.
The workout is brutal in a satisfying way. You get your heart rate up, let your anger out, and maybe learn a skill or two that could come in handy some day. It also gives you a different, and sometimes more authentic, entry point into Thai culture than another temple tour or beach day.
You're probably going to leave with bruised shins and a new respect for anyone who can throw a roundhouse kick without falling over.
But just wait until your friends see the videos!