According to a survey commissioned by Intrepid Travel, Americans are the least adventurous on vacation compared to four other nationalities. Californians tend to be game for the most adventure compared to the rest of the U.S., and New Englanders are twice as likely (10.6 percent) than the national average to try deep fried tarantulas.
The recent survey, conducted by UK-based Opinion Matters, set out to gauge which nationality is the most adventurous on vacation and polled 1,000 travelers in each of the following countries: U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom for a base of 5,000 respondents.
In order to gauge the 'intrepidness' of travelers, respondents were asked to reveal how likely they were to try a variety of holiday experiences including eating deep fried tarantula, sleeping in a hilltop village hut, going on a safari, haggling at local markets and exploring ancient ruins.
According to the responses:
* The U.S. is the least adventurous, while the Kiwis come in first
* In the U.S., Californians were the most adventurous overall
* People from Washington, D.C. were least likely to want to sleep under the stars in a desert camp (26.5 percent), while San Diegans were the most likely (68.4 percent)
* Texans are a varied bunch: Dallas respondents were most likely to want to stay with a local family in a village (44.2 percent), while Austin respondents were least likely (17.6 percent)
* New Englanders are most likely to haggle at local markets (60.5 percent) compared to the genteel Southerners (37.9 percent)
But Americans shouldn't be counted out just yet. While we may currently be lagging behind when it comes to adventure on vacation, it's interesting to note that Intrepid Travel's U.S. sales are the strongest compared to all other markets in the past year. The top selling Intrepid trips for U.S. travelers in 2010 have been in Egypt, Peru, India and Morocco – destinations definitely not lacking in adventurous activities.
Visit www.intrepidtravel.com.