Adventure Travel in English to Boost Your Vocabulary

I’ll be honest with you: I had a completely different lesson planned for you this week. And it was a good one! (But don’t worry! You’ll still get that lesson next week.)

However, at the last minute, I decided to change my plan for this week’s Confident English lesson. Here’s why:

This past week, I traveled to the Caucasus region. The trip was amazing and full of adventure. Plus, I got to meet one of my students face-to-face. It was like meeting a friend after a long time and I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to meet her.

Also, last year I shared a lesson with you on common vocabulary we use for to Tell Travel Stories in English and it has been one of my most popular lessons. So, yesterday I thought, “I should do another travel story lesson!”

And that’s exactly what I’ve done.

Today’s lesson is full of common vocabulary, phrasal verbs, and idioms that we use for telling travel stories, including bad weather and even a car problem! 

Take a few minutes to read the story, review the expressions, and then check out my challenge for you.

An Adventure Travel Story with Advanced English Vocabulary

After checking in and going through security, we had some time to kill so we wandered around the airport and spent a little time reading. I have to say, one of the best things about traveling is all the extra time you have on the flight to read. I love any excuse to get lost in a book and if you want a good recommendation for a book in English, try The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

It took two flights for us to reach our final destination, with a 3-hour layover in-between. Thankfully, a cup of coffee and some excellent people watching made the layover go quickly. It was an intersection of east meets west; Europe meets Asia. A wild mix of languages, cultural dress, hairstyles, and fashion statements.

After our final landing, we took public transport into the city, checked into the hotel and hurried to explore the city by foot. We were in a region of the world that was completely new to us: with every step the sights, sounds, and smells were unfamiliar and exciting.

After a couple days in the city visiting museums, important monuments, and enjoying the local cuisine, we headed off into the countryside. Our goal was to see as much of the country as possible in our short amount of time.

A highlight of the trip was our visit to a remote area of the country. We had to take an off-road vehicle for over an hour to reach an ancient monastery from the 6^th century, which is still used today.

But, in the middle of our road trip, the car got a flat tire.

Even worse: we heard a loud clap of thunder followed immediately by lightning not so far in the distance, so we knew it would start raining soon – we were in a race against time to get the tire changed.

Luckily the car had all the necessary equipment: a jack, a wrench and a spare tire (which was thankfully in good condition). On the side of the road, we changed the tire and rushed to get back on the road just as the first rain drops started to fall.

When we finally reached the monastery, we hiked up to the top of a small mountain from where we could view a massive valley below and explore some of the caves in the monastery complex. It felt like living inside a history book. Then we watched the beginning of sunset before we started our way back down the mountain.

All in all, it was definitely a peak travel experience: a bit of adventure, a lot of beauty, and some new food discoveries all in one.

Now, what about you? What is your peak travel experience?

Review the vocabulary you’ve learned in this lesson and tell me your best travel story. Where did you go? Who were you with? How did you get there? What did you do and see?

I’d love to hear about it. Take a few minutes to try some new expressions in English. It’s the best way to add new language to your active vocabulary!

I look forward to reading your story,

Annemarie

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