Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site

Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, Hawaii

Pu’ukohola Heiau is the ruins of the last major ancient Hawaiian temple. It is notable in Hawaii’s recent history for being the home of King Kamehameha I, who was responsible for uniting the independent islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai, and Niihau under his rule. This unification took decades at the cost of …

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Blue and John Crow Mountains: Jamaica’s First UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Blue Mountains: Jamaica's first World Heritage Site

Most people associate Jamaica with reggae music, white sandy beaches, or the fact that it is the home of the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt. Few people, however, know that in 2015 the Blue and John Crow Mountain National Park in the southeastern region of Jamaica became the first site in the Caribbean …

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My 10 Favorite Travel Experiences

This was a very hard list to assemble. I’ll be honest, if I wrote this list on a different day, I might come up with a different order or maybe different experiences altogether. Identifying just ten experiences from the hundreds of countries I’ve visited is nearly impossible. This was harder than picking my favorite cuisines, …

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Planning a Trip to the Great Wall Of China

Jinshanling Great Wall view for planning

Spanning over 21,000km long, and with an intriguing history full of labour, battles and trade, the Great Wall of China is a must-see attraction when visiting Beijing. You can’t see it from space, but there is plenty of wall to see when you’re on the ground, so you need to plan your trip wisely! Before …

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Gwaii Haanas National Park, British Columbia

If there is one park I’ve visited which I would call a ‘hidden gem’, it would have to be Gwaii Haanas National Park. Few people are even aware of its existence, let alone the fact that it is one of the most stunning parks in North America. Getting to Gwaii Haanas isn’t easy. First, you …

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Jeff Greenwald – The World’s First Travel Blogger

In August of 2012 I attended the Book Passage Travel Writing Conference and had the pleasure to meet Jeff Greenwald. He was introduced to me as being the world’s first travel blogger. Needless to say I was intrigued by this claim. As it turns out, he does indeed have a pretty solid claim on being …

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Travel Gear I Have Used: Part 1, Clothing

One of the questions I get asked all the time is what gear I used while traveling. Now with 2.5 years of travel under my belt, I think I can address what worked and what didn’t. While I didn’t carry a lot, when you don’t have much, every item has exaggerated importance. I can only …

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The Seven Wonders of New Zealand

Charlotte Harbor New Zealand Wonders of the World

Ladies, gentlemen and Kiwis of all ages, it’s time to dust off our categorization of the Seven Wonders of World series, inspired by the New 7 Wonders contest years back, and take a close look at all that New Zealand offers! It’s no secret we find it a fascinating country (enough that we profiled it …

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What is a Sugar Shack? – A Journey into Traditional Quebec Culture

I loved visiting Quebec.  Montreal and Quebec City were lovely cities, and they were full of charm.  But, they were cities.  They had a lot of history evident, but life had moved on.  Most parts of the cities were as modern as any other city, and you had to go into the “Old Town” if …

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