Some adventures are the ‘It’s alright, we’ll do it next month’-ers, but these are not those adventures.
Miss the window and that’s it. See you next year, champ.
Our advice? Clear the calendar. These five are worth planning an entire year around.
1. Dive into the world’s biggest fish buffet
South Africa
Every year, an obscene number of sardines head north along South Africa’s east coast. Bad move.
Waiting for them are sharks, dolphins, whales, seals and dive-bombing seabirds, all piling into one of the biggest feeding frenzies on Earth. And because humans are incapable of seeing aquatic carnage without wanting a closer look, you can jump in too.
Sardine Run expeditions head out during the brief June–July season looking for bait balls: enormous swirling masses of sardines being absolutely hammered from above, below and every conceivable side.
And you’re floating in the middle of it. Try not to look too delicious.
FOMO LEVEL
1. There’s always next year
2. Oh, go on then
3. Alright, where's my passport?
4. “Boss, I’m sick”
5. Cancel everything
2. Race 500km across Patagonia on horseback
Patagonia, Argentina
The Gaucho Derby is basically what happens when a nice little horse ride gets completely out of hand.
Once a year, riders turn up in Patagonia and attempt to cross 500 kilometres of properly feral country on horseback. There are no little arrows telling you where to go. You navigate between checkpoints, change horses, camp wherever you end up and deal with rivers, mountains, bogs and weather that has absolutely zero interest in your wellbeing.
The horses come first, too. Before you eat, sleep or inspect whatever fresh hell has happened to your thighs, you sort them out (obvs).
Ten days later, once the Patagonian wilderness has swallowed you whole and spat you back out, there’s a finish line.
FOMO LEVEL
1. There’s always next year
2. Oh, go on then
3. Alright, where’s my passport?
4. “Boss, I’m Sick”
5. Cancel everything
3. Party with 100+ tribes in the PNG Highlands
Goroka, Papua New Guinea
For most of the year, the small town of Goroka minds its own business. Then September rolls around and more than 100 tribes rock up.
For three days, the Highlands town becomes a riot of feathers, shells, paint, drums, chanting and dancing as groups travel from across Papua New Guinea for one almighty sing-sing. Some have walked for days to get there. Others arrive carrying headdresses so heavy you immediately feel guilty you can’t lift your 23kg checked bag.
The Goroka Show has been kicking around since the 1950s, and 2026 marks its 70th anniversary. That’s 70 years of making your local street festival look a bit shit.
FOMO LEVEL
1. There’s always next year
2. Oh, go on then
3. Alright, where’s my passport?
4. “Boss, I’m sick”
5. Cancel everything
4. Watch Alaska go completely to the dogs
Alaska, United States of America
Anchorage has a traffic problem once a year. There’s too many dogs.
The ceremonial start of the Iditarod sends teams of extremely enthusiastic huskies tearing through downtown Anchorage while thousands of people line the route and seemingly lose their minds.
It’s the big, loud, wonderfully chaotic send-off before mushers head north and the actual business begins: crossing a ridiculous amount of frozen Alaska by dog sled.
You get the barking, sleds, snow, mushers and general Alaskan mayhem without having to stand alone on the tundra wondering whether your dogs (read: toes) are still attached.
Everybody wins. Especially the dogs.
FOMO LEVEL
1. There’s always next year
2. Oh, go on then
3. Alright, where’s my passport?
4. “Boss, I’m sick”
5. Cancel everything
5. Run 42km through the Sahara Desert
Sahara Desert, Morocco
Six days. Roughly 250 kilometres. One enormous desert. Prepare your feet.
The Marathon des Sables Legendary sends runners across the Moroccan Sahara carrying pretty much everything they need to survive the week on their backs. Food? Yours. Sleeping gear? Yours. Blisters the size of apricots? Yeah, those definitely belong to you.
The course barrels across dunes, rocky plains and dry riverbeds in temperatures that can climb north of 40°C (ouch). Then comes the long stage: around 100 kilometres in one hit, often dragging runners well into the night.
We can’t wrap our heads around the fact that people pay actual money to do this. And then, somehow, come back bragging about it, smh.
FOMO LEVEL
1. There’s always next year
2. Oh, go on then
3. Alright, where’s my passport?
4. “Boss, I’m sick”
5. Cancel everything
get in the know In the southwest of Morocco, goats scramble into argan trees to eat the fruit, sometimes ending up several metres off the ground like deeply confused birds.
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