Kaikoura, New Zealand: Surfing, seals, and seafood

Thumbnail image for Kaikoura, New Zealand: Surfing, seals, and seafood January 30, 2012

“The chowder isn’t the type you have back in the States” I am warned.
The brunette woman working the oceanfront seafood cart has detected my accent and is concerned I won’t like her steaming bowl of mollusks.
“There isn’t much cream, just freshly made broth mixed with massive chunks of crayfish and mussels.”
Facing the kelp strewn [...]

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Franz Josef Glacier: Big icy tongue of the rainforest

Thumbnail image for Franz Josef Glacier: Big icy tongue of the rainforest January 25, 2012

“The Franz Josef Glacier is so singularly beautiful, so beautiful indeed, and centered amongst such vivid, exceptional, and picturesque surroundings that if it were situated in any other country than New Zealand it would have long ago been acclaimed ‘The Most Beautiful Thing in the World’”
–E.E. Muir (1929)
Don’t look now, but [...]

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Vagabond Tales: Yes they eat that in Vietnam. That too.

Thumbnail image for Vagabond Tales: Yes they eat that in Vietnam. That too. January 24, 2012

Apparently, there are no sharks left in Vietnam.
This is not a scientific fact. It’s based solely upon the opinion of my dive instructor in Nha Trang, a trendy resort town in southern Vietnam. While you may initially think this is a good thing, the sad reality is that sharks are one of [...]

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Vagabond Tales: “The Governator is better, yes?”

Thumbnail image for Vagabond Tales: “The Governator is better, yes?” January 24, 2012

Crossing borders can always be a bit of a hectic experience. There are long lines, scam artists, customs officials, new currencies, people offering to expedite your visa process for a fee, screaming children, rogue livestock, and occasionally people with guns. Dirty and dingy, border crossings are never the favorite part of [...]

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Vagabond Tales: Nobody plans to visit a hospital in Uruguay

Thumbnail image for Vagabond Tales: Nobody plans to visit a hospital in Uruguay January 24, 2012

About the last thing that anyone wants to have happen on their vacation is to end up in the hospital. This much nearly all travelers can agree upon.
What’s even more fun is ending up in a hospital in a country that speaks a foreign language, realizing your vocabulary doesn’t yet include the [...]

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Growing on the edge: Wine tasting in the southernmost wine region of the world

Thumbnail image for Growing on the edge: Wine tasting in the southernmost wine region of the world January 16, 2012

On a morning in which I had no intention of drinking alcohol (yes, morning) I somehow found myself having a glass of what has officially been called the best wine in the entire world.
This is what happens when you take road trips, you stumble upon things. In this particular instance I happened to [...]

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Touring the Southern Alps by helicopter

Thumbnail image for Touring the Southern Alps by helicopter January 13, 2012

No, the Southern Alps aren’t in the south of France or Italy as the name may lead you to believe. Rather, they are 12 time zones away in a remote corner of the Pacific Ocean and form the spine of the rugged South Island of New Zealand. Home to National Parks such [...]

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Bullriding Kiwis: Rodeo at the bottom of the world

Thumbnail image for Bullriding Kiwis: Rodeo at the bottom of the world January 10, 2012

As friends back home in the United States nursed a New Year’s Day hangover by sipping lemon lime Gatorades and watching Comedy Central movie marathons, the campervan had already driven straight through to January 2, which, seeing as this is New Zealand now featured a new and different way to get a [...]

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