I've decided to hold off on writing more about Nashville this week in order to honor the bison. If you haven't heard, President Obama signed a bill this past Monday to make the bison America's first national mammal!
I was lucky enough to see this incredible beast (and over 40 of its bison friends) roam the open prairie one state over from Tennessee last month. We saw them while on a day trip to Land Between the Lakes which stretches across the border into Kentucky.
A two-hour road trip outside Nashville brought us across the border for a very close encounter with these historic symbols of strength and intimidation. Let me say that again: A very close encounter. I'll let you decide for yourself just how close you would get!
Last week, I posted a throwback to my time in Iceland. This time, I'm giving you another throwback but to last year when I was living in New Zealand. Reminiscent of all of the waterfalls I saw in Iceland, this post is about a waterfall I visited in Hawke's Bay. Hawke's Bay is on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. There's tons to do there, including several easy hikes that make for great day trips.
When Spring had finally sprung in the Southern hemisphere, Jono and I immediately took to the outdoors to cure our cabin fever. After a hike to Cape Kidnappers, we planned another jaunt to the famous Shine Falls. The walk to Shine Falls goes through the Boundary Stream Reserve. It has some impressive views through farmland and native bush (forest) with plenty of birds to hear and observe along the way. The waterfall is deep in the reserve and its stunning—the perfect example of typical New Zealand beauty!
There is nothing quite like having photos to remind you of the good times from your travel adventures. But you know what's even better? Having video of it.
I was not exactly religious about taking video of my experiences in the beginning of my 15-month journey in 2014 to 2015. I was barely familiar with my new camera during my first stop in Iceland. I also did not really have any ideas in mind about how I should film or what I should film. What resulted was a random selection of moments—what I think perfectly summarize my time in Iceland.
In this post, I share the raw, uncut footage from these moments. You'll see the Blair Witch-style in which I film and you'll get an idea of the carefree mindset I was in. The following are a sequence of videos from the start to the end of my 9 days in Iceland. It includes my starts and stops and the times I let the film roll when I suddenly felt the urge to capture the moment. It's random. It's fluid. And I think I naturally ended up capturing some of the best moments from my time in Iceland.
I went to school in the quaint little one-traffic light town of Pine Plains, New York. For years, I drove up Route 82 with a single mountain protruding out from behind farmland to the West and I never once climbed it. Stissing Mountain was an icon of my youth, the namesake of my high school, and I still never managed to get up there.
My motivation to finally climb Stissing came when I returned from my 15-month trip abroad. Discovering the wonders of the world in other people's backyards made me want to discover the wonders I have neglected in my own backyard! As it turns out, Stissing Mountain is quite the unique and unexpected natural wonder because of its significance in nature. It's importance has even been recognized with a display featured in the American Museum of Natural History!
Throw back! I never talked about the time I visited Cape Kidnappers, so here it is!Throw back time! Once upon a time, I did a review of all the great places to visit in Hawke's Bay New Zealand. I mentioned a golf course named Cape Kidnappers, but later learned Cape Kidnappers is so much more than a golf course.
After 7-months living in the area, I got increasingly curious about this place with its criminal name, rumors of mudstone protrusions, and an enormous gannet colony. I had to see what it was all about.
Jono and I took a day to stroll along its shore out to the headland and back. I ended up being enthralled by its geological features, I had a photo shoot with seabirds, and I was even almost caught in a landslide on the return trip!
I had finally arrived at my last destination abroad before returning to the USA: Tokyo, Japan. At 6:35am, I got off my connecting flight from Bangkok with a clear mission. I was going to spend the next several hours shopping in Tokyo.
I would need to minimize my time spent on public transportation in order to maximize the time I had between my flights.
Although I felt a bit rushed at times, I think I did a pretty good job planning my day. In 9 hours time, I managed to find out where to drop my luggage, board the right trains to get to the optimal shopping neighborhoods, and find the stores that would carry gifts for my game-loving, anime-loving family members back home.
I had a wonderful time exploring Bali, Indonesia over 12 days. Every experience I had was a reminder of the previous 15 months of my travels around the world, from interacting with the locals and diving in the sea to eating local foods and observing gorgeous landscapes and coastlines.
I put together a little video montage as a wrap up to my time spent between Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, Ubud, and the Karangasem region. Enjoy!
On my last full day in Bali, I hopped on the back of a motorbike with a local who showed me the highlights of the lower Karangasem Regency. My tour guide was Han, a local who offered to take me around the region. His tour turned out to be the perfect wrap up to my time in Bali.
There really is no experience like the one you can get from a local showing you around. I got a personalized tour of the region with opportunities to learn about Indonesian culture and take in some of the sights on my own terms. Han ended up driving me to 5 separate locations, including a traditional Bali village, two water palaces, a chocolate and soap factory, and a chilled-out, sandy beach. Below, I describe my experiences visiting each of these places, but the real story to share is how wonderfully well-rounded Han had made this tour.
When we travel the world, our own beliefs and comfort zones are often challenged by the cultural differences we encounter. I was reminded to keep my own beliefs in check one morning in Bali when I stumbled upon a cockfight outside of Ubud. After my attempts to engage with Macaque monkeys in an ethical manner the day before, I now found myself standing as an observer to a bloody, testosterone-charged death match between beautiful roosters.
In my opinion, it's an incredibly inhumane tradition—one I felt uncomfortable taking part in as a reluctant voyeur. At the same time, it was just that: A tradition. The cockfight is one of those travel moments that reminded me about how much our culture shapes our beliefs and behaviors. You don't have to agree with those of others, but you can try to understand them.
Have you ever wanted a monkey for a pet? Ever since I watched Disney's Aladdin as a child I have wanted to have a friend like Abu (sorry, Genie). I've had such a strong obsession with the idea of making friends with a monkey, I've managed to ignore all the reports of monkey attacks on humans and poo-thrown at zoo keepers in the media. This kind of passion led to my arrival at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud, Bali.
With reports about the monkeys stealing tourist's cameras and biting them for food, I was careful to take the necessary precautions. I also ensured my interactions with them were not forced while I was there. I wanted to be certain I would meet my new friend as ethically and safely as possible. The result was an incredible amount of cuteness, lots of rambunctious monkey behavior, and even a few selfies captured with these friendly and curious cousins of mine. I also got a lot of the action on video—a must see at the end of this post!
Wow. 2015 was a year full of incredible travel experiences. I gazed upon some of the most stunning natural scenery in locations well off the beaten path, connected with humanity in dozens of unexpected ways, and was pushed far beyond my comfort zone both voluntarily and involuntarily. It's going to be quite difficult to look back and try to narrow things down to the top moments!
I've decided to limit myself to describing 15 for 2015. I will highlight 15 travel experiences from 11 months of travel in this post. If you recall my New Years post last year, I wrote about my 10 favorite travel moments. I had only been traveling for less than 4 months and keeping my list of favorite experiences down to 10 was a struggle! So this is going to be tough. But I'm up to the challenge. Read on for my top 15 awesome travel experiences from 2015.
For my first 4 days in Bali, Indonesia, I traveled to the Nusas ("Islands") to the south east for a bit of adventure and respite. Bali is often associated with young backpackers who travel there to party hard and work on their tans. This may be true of areas like Kuta beach on the mainland, but on the Nusas the atmosphere is much less crowded and much more relaxed.
While staying on Nusa Lembongan, I had the opportunity to explore the entire island and cycle over to the smaller, even more remote Nusa Ceningan. Both of these tiny islands offered beauty, adventure, culture, and a place to put up your feet. Here are 9 things to do and see if you go!
I'm not going to sugar coat this experience. The reality is that I had to fight my way out of a frighteningly strong current while diving in Bali. I haven't told many people about it yet, but I think it's important to share both the happy and scary moments of travel. I arrived in Bali and immediately traveled out to the islands for some diving. Nusa Lembongan was supposed to have some of the best diving in all of Bali. If lucky, I would get to see manta ray and maybe even the elusive, giant sunfish called "Mola Mola."
The most exciting part of my 7 dives turned out to be an unexpected encounter with an insanely strong current while on my last dive of the week. I even lost a fin battling my way out of it with my guide and buddy at my side! At best, this experience was a great lesson in how to (a) not panic; and (b) get yourself out of a strong current while diving. At worst, it was a rude reminder that THIS IS THE OCEAN and it can be unforgiving.
I did my research before arriving in Bali. I only had 2 weeks there before I would return to the USA. I had to make it count. I found out the best diving in Bali was located on the smaller islands to the east. In particular, Nusa Lembongan would have exactly what I wanted. I found out ahead of time as much as I could about how to get there. I landed at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar at 2 in the afternoon. In only a couple hours, I was across the Badung Strait sipping a mango smoothie on the sand and watching the red sun dip over the sea.
Below I've put together a little question and answer style post about what I learned, both from my prior research and from my first-hand experience, getting from the airport to Nusa Lembongan. There's lots of advice on how to make this process go smoothly if you ever decide to go! If not, you'll get a look at the whole experience which includes insane drivers, unsafe boats, and digging through a mountain of flip flops.
Have you been following along with all of my Niue posts? If you have, then by now you know Niue has some seriously unique geography. Niue is a coral atoll in the middle of the South Pacific. It withstands the beating of ocean waves against its limestone shores resulting in some truly stunning coastal rock formations.
During my time in Niue, I had the chance to venture out and explore some of the island’s most famous natural geographical wonders. I also stumbled upon a few lesser known, but equally as beautiful locations. Whether hiking through the jungle, strolling down sea tracks, or biking across the entire island, I trekked my way across the bumpy “Rock of Polynesia” only to be wowed again and again.
The SCUBA diving in Niue is world class. And it's a lot different than the experience I had diving elsewhere over this past year. I received my diving certification from Ko Tao in Thailand a year ago. Since then I went diving in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand and the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. These dive sites were amazing but none of them had the underwater creatures or rock formations Niue had!
Before arriving to Niue, I had heard about its amazingly high visibility and unique sea snakes populating the waters. I had also heard about the possibility of bumping into, or at the very least hearing the songs of, humpback whales while diving there. What topped it all for me were Niue's extravagant underwater caves and catacombs! I had a top notch experience diving Bubble Cave, Snake Gully, and other cavernous dive sites around Niue where the creepy and the beautiful come together under the sea.
While diving in Niue I had the most incredible animal experience. Several pods of humpback whales were in the area. They were singing and talking to each other the entire time we were diving. We couldn't help but eavesdrop on the conversation as it only got louder and LOUDER.
By the time my fellow divers and I were preparing for our safety stop, the whales' singing became so loud I was sure they would emerge out of the deep ocean blue ahead and swim right by us. My camera easily captured the beautiful cacophony as we waited to ascend to the surface.
Whales and dolphins bring in the majority of the few thousand tourists who visit Niue every year. This South Pacific island country and “coral atoll” has the ideal conditions for seeing (and hearing) these beautiful marine creatures who play within 50 meters off shore. It’s also one of the few places in the world allowing visitors the chance at getting in the water to swim with whales in their natural habitat!
The whales and dolphins were a bit too preoccupied to swim with us during my time in Niue. But I had an amazing experience seeing them almost every day and closer than I ever have before. I also became a bit of an expert on the tours offering the chance to swim with them. While the tour company we used turned out to be a huge disappointment, the other one we heard about may be your ticket to a better experience!
On a remote island like Niue, getting to know the locals is as easy as stepping outside your guesthouse door. A cultural exchange with a local was bound to happen—we just had no idea when or how. We met the Tongia family from nearby Tonga on our 3rd day in Niue. Palemia, a shuttle driver for Matavai resort, gave us a ride home from dinner.
He then offered Jono a chance at free diving with a local spear-fisherman. As a thanks, we offered to help him and his wife, Louna, with their farm work. We ended up planting potatoes through the middle of the night and enjoying other wonderful cultural exchanges with this delightful little Tongan family who live and work in Niue.
Niue has some stunningly crystal clear waters and insanely beautiful coastal rock formations. The tides flow in and pools form across reef flats and into chasms in the rocks just off the island’s shores. There is easy access down to the pools which are deep enough to swim in, safe from the ocean currents behind the coral wall, and teeming with marine life best viewed at low tide.
These features make for some of the most epic snorkeling conditions imaginable. In this post, I share my favorite snorkel locations on the island, including lots of photos and even a video of an epic off-the-beaten path find!
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