By Kelle Profita
Need to shake up your winter blues with some getaways? Try these once-in-a-lifetime adventures to cure you of your cabin fever.
The undisputed king of summer Sundays, polo reigns supreme in the Caribbean winter as well. Polo dates back to 1884 on the island of Barbados, and was recently the site of a charity polo match featuring Prince Harry and his Sentebale team. The Barbados Polo Club in St. James offers beginner’s polo instruction with Vice-Captain Jeff Evelyn, starting from the basics of horsemanship leading up to a four-on-four match at the practice fields. If you feel like you’ve conquered the sport of kings, you’ll be just in time for the Barbados Polo Open in March.

Dive The Great Wall
The majestic walk along China’s Great Wall is a lifelong goal for many travelers: how about going a step further and diving the Great Wall? Urbane Nomads, a luxury travel company dedicated to the extreme, unbelievable and unique travel, offers a diving excursion to the submerged portions of the relic. Explore the Ming-era tunnels set beneath a lake, tour the Forbidden City with a specialized conservationist, and stay in style in Beijing.
If you think Lost sounds like a great vacation premise, don’t miss a cruise on the Aranui III, one of the last passenger freighter vessels in the world. The only ship that journeys to the Marquesas island chain in French Polynesia, it is the last remaining link to the outside world for the islanders. Although it is a working freighter, the Aranui III offers all the comforts of a luxury cruise ship; outdoor swimming pool, gym, library and an on-board lecturer on Marquesan history and archeology. During your island hopping, you can watch pearl farmers harvest rare black pearls from giant oysters, visit Paul Gauguin’s grave site and see some of his final works, and retrace author Herman Melville’s 1842 escape from his whaling ship, chronicled in his work Tybee. While at sea, feel the freedom of the open water, literally: the Aranui III is the only ship to sail between Tahiti and the islands. Departures for the 14 day cruise are scheduled once a month, leaving from Papeete.













