The Valencia Water Court: The Oldest Democratic Body in Europe

If you should happen to be in Valencia, Spain…in the Plaza de la Virgen….on Thursday…at noon, you will have a chance to glimpse the oldest democratic body in the world in operation: the Tribunal de las Aguas (The Water Court). Dating back over 1,000 years to the time of the Moorish conquest, the water court …

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13 Photos That Will Make You Visit Hawaii’s Island of Lanai

The island of Lana’i is one of the smallest and least visited of Hawaii’s islands. With only 3,000 permanent residents, it has a very small-town feel and avoids the crowds and tourist trap aspects of places like Waikiki Beach. (Locals call it the Mayberry of the Pacific) It also has some of the most interesting …

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20 Jaw Dropping Photos of the Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands are one of the most special places on Earth. Last fall I had the honor of visiting the Galapagos with G Adventures. The Galapagos was one place I had always wanted to visit. Not only is it one of the most significant natural areas on Earth in terms of endemic species, but …

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Why I Am Not One Lucky Bastard

One common thread I’ve noticed when people interact with me is that they will often refer to me as being “lucky”. “You are so lucky to be able to travel that much!” “You are so lucky to have visited Fiji!” “You are so lucky to have gone to the Rugby World Cup!” With my latest …

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20 Breathtaking Images of South Africa

In 2010 I had the pleasure of visiting South Africa as a guest of South Africa tourism. I visited the remote Kimberly Region in the North West Province, Cape Town and areas around Johannesburg. I was able to do and see many incredible things including: a live capture on a game farm, get in the …

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21 Photos That Will Make You Want to Go to Switzerland

Prior to setting out in 2007, I explored the world on the maps of Risk and Axis and Allies. Via dice rolling and troop movements I was able to explore most of the world, but there was also one place I couldn’t go: Switzerland. It was a big greyed out area on the map where …

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Hot Air Ballooning Over Lake Tahoe

Last August I had the pleasure of visiting Lake Tahoe to view a commercial shoot for Hotels.com. While I was there I had the chance to go hot air ballooning over Lake Tahoe with Lake Tahoe Balloons. They are the only hot air ballooning company in the world that does takeoffs and landings on the …

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2012: A Year of Travel by the Numbers

As 2012 comes to a close, I thought I would give an overview of my last year of travel. Rather than giving a month-by-month summary of everything, the math major in me thought it would be interesting to look at the numbers I racked up this year. This was an especially intensive year of traveling …

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