In terms of trying things before you die, it’s hard to beat combining a holiday of a lifetime with learning an impressive new skill. Luckily, there are places around the world that make this possible, whether you want to be a gladiator, learn survival skills or speak fluent Hungarian.
Learn a new language
The best way to learn a new language is to do so in the country where it is spoken. The odd nightclass is all very well and good, but an intensive course in Rome will have just about anyone speaking better Italian. The most popular countries to head to for language learning are Spain and France. World Link Education offers courses as short as a week and as long as a year in the big Spanish cities, while Centre International d’Antibes has intensive and long-term courses in France.
Of course, those wanting to up the stakes a little can try something a little more obscure. Perhaps learning Hungarian at the Debrecen Summer University?
Become a gladiator
Russell Crowe had his vengeance, and so can ordinary members of the public. The Gruppo Storico Romana in Rome runs its very own Gladiator School, teaching keen students how to use all the ancient weapons of gladiatorial combat. Over the course of the two months, the school gives a grounding in ancient Roman culture, as well as giving people swords, tridents and helmets to play with. There are two lessons a week for the two months, although you’re not allowed to kill tigers in the Colosseum like big Russ did.
Conquer the surf
Even the most uncoordinated klutz can usually manage to stand on a surfboard by the end of one lesson. Admittedly, said klutz will usually plunge straight back into the water, but after a week of tuition, things start to improve dramatically. Those wanting to go from complete beginner to vaguely competent can go on a huge range of surfing trips and camps across the world. SurfingHolidays.net has a large directory of such adventures, with destinations as diverse as Barbados, Venezuela and Portugal. A little closer to home, Surfaris runs a five day trip between Sydney and Byron Bay that involves remote beaches and camping out in national parks.
Learn to cook
Those armed with the Pizza Hut number on speed dial, an extensive knowledge of supermarket ready meals and a singular stir fry recipe aren’t totally beyond salvation. Across the world, there are plenty of breaks and holidays designed for those wanting to improve their cookery skills. Provence in the south of France is one of the major hotspots for such courses – Patricia Wells offers six day courses run from her 18th century home, complete with tastings and market visits, for example. Tuscany in Italy is another big boy on the cookery course map. Cook Italy has a course based in Lucca, as well as others throughout the country.
Become a survivor
For possibly the least relaxing holiday in history, a 16-day survival course in the Amazon rainforest is pretty difficult to beat. Still, who needs relaxing when you can learn to live on bugs and berries, sling up hammocks, wield machetes and light fires with virtually nothing. Bushmasters specialises in such courses amongst the wildlife-ridden jungles of Guyana in South America. The cheaper RAW package sounds particularly brutal – no lodge accommodation and long drives into the dark depths of the forests.
Go cowboy
Remember City Slickers, the film where urban types went off on a cattle drive? Well, it’s possible to replicate that, gaining some proper cowboy (or cowgirl) skills at the same time. Whether it’s roping or cracking whips, a few days in the bush on a cattle station separates the men from the boys and those truly deserving of an Akubra from those who should stick to baseball caps. Jackaroo Jillaroo Oz, based near Tamworth, NSW offers a variety of programs for those wanting to sample the cowboy lifestyle, all based on working cattle and sheep farms. Amongst them are some proper cattle musters, in which proper horsemanship is learned along the way.
Become a sculptor
Those wanting to get in touch with their arty side can try painters’ retreats all over the world, although these do tend to be aimed at those who do a fair bit of painting already. To raise the stakes a bit, however, there is the Michaelangelo option. Alexia Art runs two to four day courses in Oxfordshire, England, that teach beginners how model clay and carve stone. Taught by professional artists, the courses probably won’t have you knocking out your own David, but they do promise to pass on the rudimentary sculpture skills to even the most hamfisted bungler.
Undergo astronaut training
The chances of ever getting sent up for a vital mission to the moon are somewhat slim, but the Kennedy Space Centre near Orlando, Florida gives visitors the opportunity to undergo a crash course in becoming an astronaut. Courses last one to three days (depending on how much you’re prepared to stump up), and involve being thrown around in all manner of high-tech simulators, briefings from fully-fledged NASA astronauts and the chance to take the controls of a shuttle.
This article was originally written for Ninemsn.
Copyright David Whitley
