Extreme Day Trips - An Introduction
What are Extreme Day Trips?
We are lucky to live at a time where air travel is not just a luxury for the rich and famous. Thanks to the growth of budget airlines, it is possible to visit many countries that would otherwise only have existed on postcards and episodes of TV programmes such as “Wish you were here”.
I love travelling. I’ve always been fascinated by aviation. I love the feeling when a plane starts hurtling down a runway and you feel the plane lifting into the air, suddenly everything seems smaller as you drift through the clouds and there is only you and the horizon above.
I love to see lots of different places. The beaches, the architecture, the people. Soaking up the culture and history of different parts of the world. I’ve been very fortunate to visit lots of different countries.
There have been epic road adventures, visiting 14 countries in Europe in just 9 days. Seeing the Norweigan Fjords, walking down Hollywood Boulevard, taking in the views from the top of the Empire State building and getting soaked on a boat tour at Niagara Falls.
So, if you’re like me and you love to travel, but you’re not blessed with unlimited money, the idea of an Extreme Day Trip might appeal to you.
The concept is simple, you take a flight on a low cost budget airline and come back on the same day. You get to visit somewhere magical you’ve never been before without the full expense of a longer holiday.
Travelling can be expensive, even with budget flights. There’s the cost of getting to the airport, your tickets, food and drink on the plane, choosing your seats, paying for luggage, transfers from the airport, your hotel, food and drink whilst you’re away, souvenirs, travel insurance, car hire etc etc. The costs soon mount up but what if I told you it doesn’t have to be that way?
If you return home the same day, you can still have a piece of that holiday experience, the excitement and novelty of flying somewhere exotic, but you won’t need any luggage and you don’t need to pay for expensive hotels. That is the promise of an Extreme Day Trip.
They’re not for everyone. If you’re the sort of person that doesn’t enjoy travelling, find negotiating a busy airport exhausting rather than exhilarating and would prefer to spend a week relaxing by the side of a pool with a Pina Colada in hand, then maybe the thought of an extreme day trip is a bit of a nightmare, but for me, it means one more country to tick off from my bucket list without needing to rob a bank.
It does help if you live in Europe as there are lots of countries to visit within close proximity to each other and with airlines like RyanAir, EasyJet, Jet2, Wizz Air amongst many others, there are plenty of opportunities.
On Sunday 10th May, 2026, I popped my extreme day trip cherry.
In my next piece, I will tell you what motivated me to give it a go now.