Adventure Travel: Life in the Fast Lane
04/01/2005
Adventure travel continues to gain in popularity, and the Experience Store offers a wide range of options—whether your taste runs to hot-air ballooning, yachting, or scuba diving. It also has a number of programs that put participants behind the wheel. The Ferrari Racing Experience, for instance, gives you the chance to become acquainted with racing fundamentals and then try out what you’ve learned on the track.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
The Experience Store’s programs include piloting
race-prepped Ferraris on the
track and learning how to navigate
boulder-strewn trails. (Click image to enlarge)The day starts with a brief classroom overview of proper driving technique and soon segues to the track, where a series of rotations introduces drivers to slalom, lane-change, and gearchange exercises. After lunch, everyone climbs behind the wheel of a Ferrari F355 Challenge racecar for an extensive lead-and-follow session. The day wraps up when a professional driver takes you out for several “hot laps” that show just how far the performance envelope can be pushed. Enrollment is limited to 12 and the program costs $1,750.
If your taste runs to roadgoing performance cars, however, the Stuttgart-based Porsche Driving in Germany program is a two-day excursion that provides high-speed touring along the country’s back lanes and motorways in a Boxster S or a 911. The course’s $2,495 price includes three nights’ stay at premium hotels, several meals, and concierge services. Experience Store programs also feature F/1, rally, stock car, and kart driving schools. For off-road enthusiasts, a $1,100 two-day session designed for those who plan overseas expeditions includes instruction on everything from traction control and obstacle clearance to water crossings and emergency recovery. A less-intensive one-day session is available for $700. The Experience Store, 866.737.2670, www.theexperiencestore.com