Feature Packages

Of Outside’s iconic annual cover packages, the Best Trips roundup is always the most drool-worthy. Each year, I’d send out a call to all my jet-setting freelancers for the coolest, newest, and most-innovative adventure travel destinations, but in 2019, I couldn’t resist sneaking in my own favorite ski spot just up the road from my home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s number two on this list.

Into The Great Wide Open: The 33 Best Trips of 2019

Outside

We rounded up ten contributors and editors to dish the secrets on their all-time favorite destinations. Here’s the list of places around the world that they came up with. 15 countries. 16 states. 33 adventures.

The Insider Guide to North America's Best Ski Towns

Outside

We asked. They told. In-the-know locals divulge their secret powder lines, après breweries, and hidden hot springs.

Destinations

Destinations is Outside’s long-running Front-of-Book travel department, typically consisting of a themed service package and Basecamp, a short profile of a specific lodge, camp, hotel, or hostel.

“Adventure Schools” was a course curriculum featuring the best places to learn outdoor skills ranging from mountaineering to building your own fly rod. The print version was awarded Silver for best reader service at the 2019 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards, the most prestigious awards in travel writing.

Adventure Schools

Outside

From learning to pack raft in the Alaskan wilderness to perfecting the basics of backcountry skiing in Chamonix, we present the ultimate course catalog for a continuing education in the outdoors. Plus, four electives for crafting your own gear.

How to Travel with Kids

Outside

From antsy toddlers who don’t want to sit still on a plane to dealing with popped tires on a long road trip, consider this your cheatsheet for how to make the most out of family misadventures.

12 Essential Adventures in Australia and New Zealand

Outside

An expat travel writer who spent the past five years exploring the two countries reveals her 12 favorite down under trips.

Digital Service

REI is all about breaking down the barriers preventing people from getting outside and enjoying nature, and we reflected that in our stories by not just telling readers where to travel but how to travel. In the service package below, Maren Horjus, a long-time veteran of Backpacker Magazine, breaks down everything you need to know to tackle the Grand Canyon’s most beloved hike: going rim to rim.

How to Hike the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim

Co-op Journal

Cross the Big Ditch like a pro with this do-it-all guide to route planning, campsites, permits, desert skills, and more.

How To Make Your Next Road Trip Greener

Co-op Journal

With road trips representing nearly 40 percent of all vacations in the U.S. in 2018, an increase of 17 percent since 2015 according to the New York Times, the great American road trip is more popular than ever. But with the changing climate, it’s also more important than ever to think deeply about your trip’s environmental impact.

The 5 Best Places to Take Advantage of a Strong Dollar

Outside

Get the most bang for your buck by planning a trip to one of these international destinations

Think Pieces

Travel is more than the destination, so it was important to me to document not only how travel changes but also how travel changes you.

A Traveler's Guide to KonMari–ing Your Life

Outside

“The question I ask myself isn’t, Does this spark joy? It’s, is it useful?”

Tourists Are Surfing North Korea—But at What Cost?

Outside

Travelers from around the world can now explore the reclusive nation's undiscovered breaks, but that adventure could come at a cost to human rights.

Stop Reclining Your Seat on Airplanes

Outside

You heard me. On cramped flights, the person who reclines their seat in front of me really chafes.

Digital Guides

Roundups and travel guides are the bread and butter of any travel publication. At Outside, it was as important to tease our readers with exotic destinations as it was to highlight interesting, accessible locales. REI, on the other hand, was all about removing barriers to entry. The Atlanta guide below, for example, was part of a series of city guides that weren’t aimed at tourists. Their goal was to inspire locals to explore their hometowns as if they were tourists.

Atlanta Outdoor Activities Guide

Co-op Journal

Explore the best parks and adventures inside the South’s “City In a Forest.”

The Best European-Style Walks in the U.S.

Outside

From Yosemite to the Green Mountains, these are our favorite lodge-to-lodge treks this side of the pond

Big Sur Road Trip Adventure Guide

Co-op Journal

The best way to see one of California's most famous coastlines is from its most celebrated highway.