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Trips to Remeber
(Note: Re-printed with permission
of the Virginian Pilot)
Adventure Alternatives takes the word ordinary out of
its vacation vocabulary. For some, planning a vacation trip means deciding between the
mountains or the shore. With Bob Callahan it is a choice of sea kayaking, bike touring in
Nova Scotia, mountain climbing in the Rockies, canoeing in Canada, and/or a combination
climb and safari to Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti in Africa. Callahan, 48, is
president of Adventure Alternatives, and that is the menu of trips he offers to
prospective clients who want to do something a little different for their next vacation.
Whether he is answering the call as a volunteer EMT for Princess Anne Courthouse Rescue 5,
doing recreational rappelling on a cliff or taking a group on a wilderness trip, adventure
is always present in Callahan's life. During his 30 years as a resident of Virginia Beach,
Callahan has been passionate about obtaining the most advanced training in both his
profession as an eco-tour guide, and in his volunteer work with the rescue squad. "My
training and experience from 15 years of volunteering with Virginia Beach Emergency
Medical Services has provided the backbone of my teaching skills," said Callahan.
"I am on the Critical Incident Stress Management regional team and have Advanced Life
Support/EMT Cardiac Tech certification. As a result, I feel comfortable about handling
just about any type of emergency when I am leading a group of fellow adventurers miles
from civilization." Callahan said fortunately he's never had a serious medical
emergency on any of his trips.
The other members of the Adventure Alternatives management team are Tim Robinette,
executive director, with 20 years experience as an experiential outdoor educator; Troy
Day, director of operations, who is a wilderness first responder and coastal kayaking
instructor; and Shawn Callahan, Bob's son, who has a degree in outdoor recreation from
Ferrum College, and literally grew up in the business. Adventure Alternatives grew out of
a wilderness probation program Callahan created for troubled juveniles, called
"Sierra II." He and Robinette are both former probation officers, Callahan in
Virginia Beach and Robinette in Chesapeake. The program offers juveniles in trouble an
alternative to the standard office visits with a probation officers. Groups of 10 or less
have weekly meetings and weekend outings, where they are taught survival skills. They
train locally at False Cape State Park or Rudee Inlet in preparation for a wilderness
trip, the most popular being Canaveral National Seashore in Florida.
The program was so successful that Callahan and Robinette left their probation officer
careers in 1987 and formed Adventure Alternatives in 1992. Both had wilderness guide jobs
before they founded Adventure Alternatives. Their new company was hired on a contract
basis to continue the wilderness probation training. "As compared to the television
program 'Survivors' which is designed to only have one person prevail, our object is
teamwork, and team accomplishments," Callahan said. "We want them all to be
survivors, not only in the wilderness adventure, but in life. We teach them the African
term 'Indabba,' which means 'all becomes one.'"
Corporate tours are becoming a large part of Adventure Alternatives business, with both
military and business organizations scheduling wilderness adventures as team-building
programs and travel incentives. The third segment of the firm's business is personal or
group vacation wilderness adventures. The company has a 15-passenager van that is used to
transport both people and equipment on most Eco-Adventure Tours in the United States and
Canada, which minimizes the travel costs.
Pete Hangen of Virginia Beach went on a March trip to the Everglades. "We drove
straight through in the van," he said, "which was the most tiring part of the
trip, but we wanted to maximize our time in Florida. We saw some spectacular wildlife and
wilderness terrain. One of the most delightful parts of the trips was the eating. Tim
Robinette is a real gourmet chef, and he kept us well fed." The group sleep on the
water in the middle of Tiger Key in the Everglades, on floating platforms called
"chickees." After kayaking all day, we had no trouble sleeping."
Both the cost and the physical requirements are tailored to the group. "We have taken
family groups, including children," Callahan said, "And we have taken adults who
have checked out physically for the rigors of mountain climbing. Whatever the places or
objectives, we promise the 'Adventure of a Lifetime," Callahan said.
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