Inside the 'darecation', holidays that hurt!

orget sipping cocktails beside the pool with a tiny umbrella in your drink. These days, more travellers are paying good money to suffer spectacularly in some of the toughest places on Earth.

Welcome to the world of the “darecation”, where a relaxing holiday is replaced by blistered feet, aching muscles and the constant question: “Why did I think this was a good idea?”

Fancy running the world’s highest marathon in Chile at a lung-busting 6900m? Or perhaps a multi-day race across Morocco’s scorching desert? Suddenly, that sun lounger doesn’t seem so boring.

The trend is booming. Earlier this year, Pinterest named darecations one of its biggest travel trends for 2026, revealing a 75 per cent increase in searches for adventure tourism.

Apparently, Gen Z and Millennials are less interested in collecting souvenirs than collecting bruises, altitude sickness and stories that begin with, “You won’t believe what happened on day three…”

The numbers back it up. SportsCover Direct has recorded a 182 per cent increase in travellers buying sports travel insurance over the past two years, driven largely by trekking, mountaineering and marathon adventures.

Then there’s the UTMB World Series. What started as a single race around Mont Blanc in 2003 has exploded into more than 60 trail running events worldwide, attracting around 170,000 runners each year.

Most aren’t elite athletes either; they’re everyday people who voluntarily decide that running for up to 30 hours through mountains sounds like fun.

As British mountaineer Gavin Bate puts it, people are chasing more than a finish line. They’re seeking challenge, nature and a break from everyday life. Mind you, after 30 hours of running uphill, everyday life might suddenly seem wonderfully relaxing!

We could add walking the Kokoda Track to this list – it’s less of a holiday and more of a full mental and physical challenge!