Question: Like many people these days I’m feeling broke. But I’m hoping to take a great trip in the new year rather than stay home watching CNBC. What do you recommend?

Answer: For now, forget the assault on Everest or diving the Bikini Atoll—the types of sojourns that will set you back many thousands of dollars. Suze Orman might say don’t go anywhere, but I say these turbulent times simply mean we must get creative, back to basics, and, if possible, off the grid.

Seven Canadian snowmobilers are dead and one is missing and presumed dead after a series of avalanches hit their group in the backcountry near Fernie, British Columbia, Sunday. Also on Sunday, a snowmobiler died near Hart's Pass, Washington, and on Monday a 15-year-old Utah boy was killed snowmobiling in the Uinta Range. A Lake Tahoe skier is dead from a slide at Squaw Valley on Christmas Day. A Wilson, Wyoming, man perished in a slide in-bounds at Jackson Hole on Saturday. And Monday morning, with the resort closed for avalanche control work, an avalanche crashed into Jackson’s mid-mountain Couloir restaurant, causing severe damage and knocking workers about, including a patroller who was partially buried. There were no deaths or serious injuries in Monday's slide, but it was a gnarly punctuation to a hellacious week. The season total for North American avie fatalities stands at 18--and it isn't even New Year's.

Most visitors to Belize head straight for Ambergris Caye, the country’s largest and most touristed island. While no one would call Ambergris frenetic, an even mellower alternative is Cayo Espanto, a private island less than three miles away, where guests can paddle from open-air bedrooms toward the Western Hemisphere’s biggest barrier reef (villas from $1,295, including meals; aprivateisland.com). Other seaside pursuits include snorkeling, sailing, bonefishing, and excursions to Ambergris, whose funky shops and eateries are within a seven-minute boat ride. But chances are Espanto’s solitude will grow on you—as will its stable of award-winning chefs, who prepare local dishes whenever and wherever you’d like. Creole lobster under the stars, anyone?

For more than a decade, Pacuare Lodge was mainly a springboard for rafting trips on its namesake river. That was prior to the 15-room eco-retreat’s transformation from déclassé to deluxe ($326 per person; pacuarelodge.com). The new bungalows are electricity free, but polished hardwood floors, net-draped four-poster beds, and hot showers by candlelight don’t exactly make for hardship. Right out the door is one of Costa Rica’s highest canopy rappels, plus whitewater paddling through lush canyons. The Pacuare River surges up to Class IV this time of year—and a former one-night wonder has gone high-class to match.

North of Phoenix, saguaro cacti give way to evergreens. Traffic eases and the temperature drops. A silent expanse of volcanic mountains (notably the 12,000-foot San Francisco Peaks) stretches across the horizon. North America’s largest ponderosa pine forest is up here, and so is some of the best mountain biking in the country. Tony Fanelli, of Sedona Bike & Bean, chalks it up to the varied landscape. "We’ve got three stages of riding all within an hour’s drive," he says. "True desert, red rocks, and that high Rockies pine." Pedal Sedona and Prescott, paddle the Verde River, and, oh yeah, peruse that mile-deep gash in the Earth most folks call the Grand.

Nicholas Kristof figures he can do the most good in places other journalists typically avoid, far-flung spots like Darfur, western China, and the islands of Vanuatu, writing about topics—genocide, sex trafficking, acute poverty—most would sooner ignore. But it’s how he gets there that really sets this Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times columnist apart: Kristof has mastered the art of no-frills, down and dirty travel—across 140 countries and six continents—which means lots of sneaking across borders and negotiating with unsmiling armed men. ADVENTURE caught up with him just after he’d returned from China, where he spent his time slipping into Tibet to report on human rights abuses.

Every trekker who tackles the 5,900-foot gain of Peru’s Inca Trail eventually ponders an ancient mystery: Were the folks who carved the original route to Machu Picchu awesomely adapted to high-mountain life? Or just oblivious to little courtesies that future visitors from sea level might appreciate, like switchbacks?

Americans’ seafood consumption—16 pounds per person per year—is at an all-time high. But the facts on fish are more confusing than ever. Health experts say we still aren’t getting enough of it, while marine biologists swear that if we eat any more, we’ll wreck the planet. Thankfully, there are responsible ways to consume seafood without contributing to the damage.

I am a firm believer that travel, no matter the destination, can be a powerful learning experience. In fact, some of my worst trips have been among the most interesting. They are the places I still tell stories about. But when looked through the lens of sustainable tourism principles—being environmentally friendly, helping to protect cultural and natural heritage, supporting the well-being of local people--there are some places that stand out, and its not for the better. So here is my top 10 must-avoid travel destinations list (or at least consider this warning so that you know what you are getting into before you go).

Adrenaline Award: In pursuit of pure gravity
When his guides asked why he was climbing Argentina's 22,834-foot Aconcagua, Francois Bon had an unusual response: silence. "I tried not to tell them," he says. After all, they might not have helped him reach the summit if they'd known he was planning to jump off.

Spirit Award: Snowboarding's fresh take
Gretchen Bleiler remembers the moment it hit. "After the Winter '06 Olympics, I went to the Daytona 500 and waved the green flag," she says. "Then it was straight to Tahoe for a Vans Cup. I was standing at the top of the half-pipe, but I felt nothing," she says. "Something was wrong."

Humanitarian Works Award: Dynamo in the disaster zone
The cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar. Iraqi refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. Georgia after the Russian invasion. These are not destinations most people seek out. But Ashley Clements is not like most people.

Discovery Award: The new Jane Goodall
By most standards, 2008 was not a banner year for wildlife conservation—unless you talk to Emma Stokes. In August, she dropped the equivalent of a neutron bomb on the scientific community: the existence of 125,000 lowland gorillas in a nearly untouched region of northern Congo.

Field Science Award: Going long on the Amazon
The Amazon River is the largest and arguably most important waterway on the planet. It is also one of the most neglected. Maroy Correa Estenos, 26, and Sam Stime, 29, want to change that.

Imagine this. You climb Mount Everest by the time you're 19. And that's tame. You want to try something outrageous, something never before attempted. How about traveling from geomagnetic pole to geomagnetic pole in one frantic dash?

From mountaineer to environmental advocate.

Culture Award: Trekking the forgotten Andes
Two years. 7,800 miles. No roads. That was how Deia Schlosberg, 28, and Gregg Treinish, 26, vowed to trek the length of the Andes. They had no idea what they were getting into.

Heroism Award: Savior on K2
On August 1, 2008, at just about 8 p.m., a massive serac cleaved from a glacier near the summit of K2, the world's second highest mountain, and barreled down a section of the Cesen climbing route called the Bottleneck. In an instant, one climber was dead, key safety lines were swept away, and 17 climbers were trapped above 27,000 feet with little chance of escape.

Journalism Award: Five years in bondage
It was near the front lines of the Sudanese civil war, in 2003, when journalist Benjamin Skinner met his first slave. His name was Muong Nyong, and he had run barefoot for two weeks across the burning desert to free himself. As Nyong told his story, Skinner decided to do what few had done before: uncover what it was like to be a slave in the 21st century.

Athleticism Award: One surfer to rule them all
It's early summer in California, and a west wind swell is running along the cobblestone point breaks off Santa Barbara's coast. Several surfing luminaries have paddled out just before sundown, a not uncommon occurrence here on this semisecret beach just east of Ty Warner's billion-dollar Beanie Baby compound.

Photography Award: Africa's eye in the sky
Most photographers pride themselves on being able to see the big picture. George Steinmetz actually straps himself into a motorized paraglider and hovers hundreds of feet above the world's most spectacular scenery to create his signature panoramic images. Time and again he has returned to Africa, where his "flying lawn chair" has enabled him to capture some of the best known photos that National Geographic has published of that continent.

Fourteen people who dreamed big, pushed their limits, and made our year.

The future is here, and look what it's brought: a camera that knows if you've blinked, ski gloves that detect impact, a cell phone that reads hand-writing, and other gizmos that just might be smarter than their users. Here's everything you'll need to seize the day and sleep well at night in '09.

Think you’re a real adventurer? Take our 2008 year-in-review ADVENTURE IQ quiz and see how you measure up.

From prisoner of Panama to power broker: Why Rick Ridgeway traded a life on the edge for a chance to reinvent the wilderness.

ADVENTURE takes a paraglider ride above Africa with aerial photographer George Steinmetz.

Our Best of Adventure gear picks were nominated in part by a panel of 34 retailers across the country. Use our map to find a gear expert near you and learn about their public programs and outdoors access.

From bring-your-own bedroll bungalows to high-thread-count villas, these 50 ecolodges are redefining travel for a greener generation.

Sabbatical 101: When it's time to take flight, and how to do it right. Plus, the Iran that few foreigners know but all should see.

Scientists claim to have ID'd the brain's adventure center, but our appetite for the unknown is more complicated than we think.

National Geographic Adventure presents the 25 best new adventure travel tours in the world.

From a GPS-enabled point-and-shoot to a full-size rig with unprecedented speed (sayonara, shutter lag!), meet the cameras of 21st-century travel.

Check out the season's best weekend trips near you.

North American resorts are gearing up for another all-star season—and we’ve got the beta. From British Columbia to Maine, here’s the best of what’s new for winter ’09.

A year after celebrated aviator Steve Fossett went missing, an unforeseen wrinkle in the case emerges—and a new search begins.

Don't spend your vacation flat on your back with the flu. Beat the bug with well-timed exercise, the right vaccines, and a few sneaky strategies.

Why Hollywood’s next great visionary is loath to leave the outback.

Every month, the magazine features stunning adventure photographs from around the globe, from groundbreaking expeditions to emerging destinations.

On Monday, hikers stumbled upon possible items belonging to Steve Fossett. Is this the end of the mystery of what happened to the famed aviator?

On Monday, hikers stumbled upon possible items belonging to Steve Fossett. Is this the end of the mystery of what happened to the famed aviator?

On Monday, hikers stumbled upon possible items belonging to Steve Fossett. Is this the end of the mystery of what happened to the famed aviator?

Adventure Travel in New Zealand: Here's everything you need to plan your next trip, including an adventure guide, photos, and video.

Big thinkers, innovative ideas, and game-changing products—consider this your guide to an ever shifting world.

Trade Tokyo’s frenzy for far eastern wilds.

David de Rothschild Profile: Voyage of the Plastiki: Can David de Rothschild sail 7,500 miles across the Pacific in a plastic bottle boat?

Faster, lighter, more powerful skis, boards, and boots. Here’s your guide to the coolest cold-weather gear.

Check out the season's best weekend trips near you.

Charging elephants, leopards in the catering tent, and the potential for new tourism to the central African nation.

A new breed of sports injury treatments gives you more (legit) options than ever before.

Ten years ago, a band of survivalists roared through the southwest, guns blazing, then vanished. David Roberts reports.

Global Travel Editor Costas Christ's ecolodge recommendations in Morocco, India, and Brazil.

Meet the new Adventurers of the Year at the National Geographic Headquarters.

We've found the 50 next great adventure towns!