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deviating the norm

9 reasons why Niue Island should be on your bucket list

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9 reasons why Niue Island should be on your bucket list

Never heard of Niue (pronounced “new-ay”)? I hadn’t heard of this island country either until about 2 months ago when I booked my trip there. Niue is a tiny little island in the South Pacific—and it’s so special you’re going to be longing to go by the end of this post.

People don’t come to Niue for its beaches and resorts—there’s only one sandy beach and one resort there! Instead, the few visitors to the “Rock of Polynesia” fly there for its exceptional diving and snorkeling, its unbelievable geography and coastal views, and its vibrant culture and friendly people. These and many other unique characteristics have easily made Niue my favorite travel destination yet! I wish I had known to put it on my bucket list sooner.

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Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award: Breaking the rules

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Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award: Breaking the rules

I am still fairly new to blogging, having just celebrated my 1 year anniversary of traveling around the world. So when Lori of Travlinmad nominated me for the Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award last week, my first reaction was—Cool. But what the hell is it?

Being a researcher, I did an online search for more information and found out the award is meant to recognize the work of women bloggers. Then I tried to find out who originally started the award. This sent me deep into the depths of the blogosphere.

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The Great Barrier Reef 3-day liveaboard experience

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The Great Barrier Reef 3-day liveaboard experience

The entire reason I decided to visit Australia was to dive the Great Barrier Reef. I researched tons of day trip and multi-day options for experiencing the GBR. I finally decided on a 3-day liveaboard trip with ProDiveCairns leaving from Cairns in Queensland. The price tag, number of dives, and opportunity to go to the less-damaged outer reef convinced me it was the best option.

Did it turn out to be the best? Well, I cannot compare it to any other trips as it’s the only one I did. But I can say the trip receives my highest recommendation. In this post, I describe my experience and include all of the details you may want to know if you were ever interested in booking a similar trip! If you don’t want to read the whole review, feel free to skip to “My Recommendations” below.

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One year of travel: Celebrating from a new location

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One year of travel: Celebrating from a new location

Fakaalofa lahi atu! This means “hello” in Niuean! As I write this, I am celebrating 1 year of travel from Niue Island in the South Pacific. The last time my feet touched US soil was September 1st 2014. What a crazy thought. I am so happy I have taken a whole year to travel around the world. Long-term travel is something I’ve always wanted to do and an experience I think everyone should have.

As usual, I will list what I did this last month. Additionally, I will mix things up by listing my favorite moments from this past year. Then I’ll talk a little bit about my biggest deviation of all—the location from which I am celebrating my 1-year anniversary of deviating the norm!

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Brisbane to Cairns road trip: Mountains, rainforest, and waterfalls

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Brisbane to Cairns road trip: Mountains, rainforest, and waterfalls

Once I dropped Roojin off at the airport in Brisbane, my road trip adventure became even less fixed than ever. I had 6 days and 6 nights to spend as I pleased on the 1800km drive to Cairns. And I could end up spending it with just about anyone!

Through advertisements online, I connected with other travelers who were interested in sharing the journey (and the gas expenses) with me. Both on my own for part of the journey and with my travel companions, I discovered many natural wonders along the way. Unbelievable mountains, interesting rainforest vegetation, and unique waterfalls made up the best stops on the road from Brisbane to Cairns.

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Eating kangaroo for the first time

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Eating kangaroo for the first time

Warning! This post will definitely contain images and video of dead, cooked animal and the eating of said dead animal. So if that bothers you, exit now. I suppose I needed to state this warning at the start of some of my other posts, like the time I ate raw pigs blood in Thailand or the other time I tried Minke Whale in Iceland. I like to eat adventurously while I travel because I like to learn about a culture through its food.

Eating kangaroo in Australia happens to be as normal as eating venison is where I'm from in upstate New York. Kangaroos overpopulate Australian lands causing hundreds of car accidents a year just like white-tailed deer in the USA. I never ate venison back home, but this trip isn't about doing what I normally do. It's about deviating the norm.

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Eleventh month check-in: Revelations from an Aussie adventure

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Eleventh month check-in: Revelations from an Aussie adventure

I spent the last month in Australia and now I’m in New Zealand again. Say what?! That’s right. I had a great time in Australia. I did a ton of adventuring, visited friends, and saw so much wildlife and marine life. I can’t wait to share it all through many posts in the coming months.

Ultimately, my Aussie adventure was destined to be a jam-packed one, but a short one. I set out with an agenda: deviate to illuminate. As intended, some revelations helped me realize the most important things to me so I could return to New Zealand to pursue them.

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How to survive the 90 Mile Beach in New Zealand: Fishing and tides

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How to survive the 90 Mile Beach in New Zealand: Fishing and tides

The Ninety Mile Beach is one of the most unusual highways I’ve ever driven. At low tide it becomes a legitimate highway. It’s an alternative to state highway 1 and often a scenic route for tour buses.

But the 90 mile beach can be as dangerous as it is beautiful.

The tide can catch tourists off their guard resulting in their vehicles stuck in the sand and an unexpected overnight stay in the dunes behind the beach. Luckily, my kiwi friend, Jono, and I had deliberately worked an overnight stay into our Ninety Mile Beach plans. With plenty of fish to catch from the beach and another food source under our feet in the sand, we had all we needed to survive several days on one of New Zealand’s most beautiful and remote beaches.

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Cheap, self-guided snorkeling in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand

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Cheap, self-guided snorkeling in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand

I’m all about finding my own fun while traveling—and at low cost. Part of deviating is looking for ways to explore a new place without paying for a tour guide to show you around. Sometimes self-guided tours take you to unique places that turn out to be just as good as the tours or better!

This was the case the day Jono and I arrived in Paihia in Northland New Zealand. We had a whole day free to fill with whatever we chose. So we went snorkeling in the Bay of Islands on our own for just $20 each. Here’s how.

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Ninth month check-in: Living in the present while making travel plans

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Ninth month check-in: Living in the present while making travel plans

I have been traveling for as long as it takes to carry a baby to term. Which begs the question—have I birthed any major plans for future travel destinations?

The answer is yes. But I am not quite ready to reveal them. All I will say is there are plans in the mix. In the meantime, I am trying to remind myself to stay in the moment and fully appreciate everything I have come to learn and love about New Zealand after over half a year here.

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Lake Pukaki to Tekapo: The world’s best star-gazing and my favorite place on the South Island

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Lake Pukaki to Tekapo: The world’s best star-gazing and my favorite place on the South Island

Finally, I get to tell you about my favorite place on the South Island: The heart of the Mackenzie Basin from Lake Pukaki to Lake Tekapo. By this point in my travels around New Zealand, I had circled the entirety of the South Island. The weather had cleared up and we were on our way to a location I had been anticipating for days.

Soon, we would be swimming in milky blue glacial waters and viewing constellations through telescopes which would lead to one of the deepest reflections I would have during my many months of travel.

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The only one to stand under a waterfall on the Milford Sound cruise

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The only one to stand under a waterfall on the Milford Sound cruise

Milford Sound is possibly the most famous natural tourist attraction in all of New Zealand. It’s located in gorgeous Fjordland National Park on the South Island where cruises and flights go up and down the sound all day every day. Even though it's so popular, I decided it must be famous for good reason. And wow, was I glad I went!

As someone who is deviating the norm, I am always looking for places to go that are a bit unique or "off the beaten path." But visiting a tourist attraction doesn’t mean there will be no opportunities for doing things a bit different. Deviation can happen anywhere, anytime, especially in the midst of typical circumstances!

As it turned out, I was the only one on the cruise to opt into letting a waterfall rain down on me from above. This experience and other opportunities for deviation made my Milford Sound experience special despite it's popularity.

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Nerding around the South Island: Lord of the Rings film locations in New Zealand

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Nerding around the South Island: Lord of the Rings film locations in New Zealand

While I visited many Lord of the Rings film locations during my multiple road trips all over the North Island, people kept telling me “the South Island is the real Middle Earth.” With its untouched, mountainous geography and less than ¼ of the New Zealand population living there, the South Island is the perfect setting for filming an epic like the Lord of the Rings. It’s no wonder I couldn’t help myself while road tripping around the region. Everywhere I looked I could envision orc battles, hobbits having second breakfast, and elves and men riding their horses across vast landscapes.

I sought out many of the South Island film locations with my equally nerdtastic travel companion, Carolina. Some were easier to find than others and some were less accessible than others. But in the end, we visited most of the locations completely independent from any paid tours—and we had great adventures of our own finding them!

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My recent guest posts: Elite Travel Blog and the Professional Hobo’s blog

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My recent guest posts: Elite Travel Blog and the Professional Hobo’s blog

I can feel my blood pumping with excitement when I read about other people’s travel adventures, see photos of faraway lands, and watch videos of life abroad being lived to the fullest. I continue to feel this even as a long-term traveler myself. Whenever I get the chance, I make sure to catch up on fellow traveler’s posts online.

I follow many blogs, instagrams, facebook pages, and twitter accounts of travelers who continue to send adrenaline down to my toes and provide information that helps me decide where I will go next in my travels.

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5 highlights from New Zealand’s Great Alpine Highway drive

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5 highlights from New Zealand’s Great Alpine Highway drive

Planning ahead has worked very little on my trip. Going with the flow, allowing each moment to take me in new directions has always proved to lead to the best experiences. So when Carolina told me she was going to have to fly into Christchurch instead of Queenstown, I simply shrugged my shoulders and said, “See you there!”

This change in plans took me and Birgit on another route deviation. We were at the perfect junction to turn inland from the West Coast and cross the center of the South Island back over to Christchurch. We ended up traveling along New Zealand’s Great Alpine Highway. This area of the Canterbury region was so spectacular and filled with adventures, it was worth retracing the route with Carolina a week later. From pie-eating and caving to camping and hiking, these are the highlights from my Great Alpine Highway drive.

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Seals, sunsets, and sandflies on the gorgeous West Coast of New Zealand

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Seals, sunsets, and sandflies on the gorgeous West Coast of New Zealand

“Oh, just wait until you get to the West Coast of the South Island.”
“Why, what’s there?”
“You’ll see. It’s stunning.”

I had been hearing about the West Coast of the South Island for weeks. The stretch of shoreline between Westport and Greymouth was argued to be one of the most gorgeous drives in all of New Zealand.

I first arrived there with Birgit after we had trekked the Abel Tasman. Black sand beaches, dinosaur egg-looking boulders, sunbathing seals, unbelievable rock formations, and spectacular sunsets are just some of the highlights we had the chance to witness. But the beauty of this place was deceiving. A flesh-eating evil was lurking right outside our car windows, ready to lunge at us from all directions for a taste of our warm, sweet blood.

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Frogger visits Nelson: Flying sea animals and the geographical center of New Zealand

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Frogger visits Nelson: Flying sea animals and the geographical center of New Zealand

Birgit and I were heading West. We were traveling in Frogger, our little green hatchback rental, along the Northern shore of New Zealand’s South Island. Four days into our journey, we would be passing through the town of Nelson before heading out to a beachside camp to rest up for our Abel Tasman hike.

It was a bright and sunny summer day. Our schedule was wide open—we were free to do whatever we so desired. Before long, we were gazing at sea creatures floating high above in the sky, hiking to the geographical center of New Zealand, and listening to the sound of waves dragging across a stone beach.

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Seventh month check-in: From job-seeking to volunteering in New Zealand

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Seventh month check-in: From job-seeking to volunteering in New Zealand

Sometimes, deviating the norm can be a bit disorienting. When you’re trying to travel authentically, allowing yourself to be internally driven to seek alternative, lesser beaten paths, there are no footprints in which to follow. There’s no itinerary, no tour guide, no rules about how you should travel, where you should go next, or when it’s time to move on. It’s new. It’s exciting. It’s open to possibility. And sometimes it’s confusing—because you’re confused.

Last time I checked in, I talked about how I was applying for jobs here in New Zealand. I’ve continued doing this with little success over the last month. So I had to take a step back and evaluate why I was applying to jobs in the first place. Was it for the money? The experience? The excuse to settle down for a while? After discussing with a friend back home, I have reconnected with my authentic travel flow by deciding to do something I’m very excited about: live in Hawke’s Bay New Zealand and work as a volunteer for a while. It’s new. It’s exciting. It’s open to possibility.

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Housesitting & Couchsurfing: The benefits of staying for free across the world

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Housesitting & Couchsurfing: The benefits of staying for free across the world

Since I started traveling around the world in September 2014, a lot of people have asked me how I’m financially able to travel for so long and whether or not I get tired of constantly traveling. In addition to saving tons of money on airfare by travel hacking my way to earning thousands of frequent flier miles, I also spend a fraction of the money other tourists do on accommodation.

I don’t get tired of traveling because housesitting and couchsurfing have allowed me to deviate the norm from my travel routine—and at little to no cost. The only thing I end up spending is time; time doing the things I do at home, like watching movies, cooking food, and hanging out with friends. The difference is I’m hanging out in a totally new place with new friends—and sometimes their pets!

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On meeting Maori locals and hitchhiking in New Zealand

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On meeting Maori locals and hitchhiking in New Zealand

There are lots of ways to get around New Zealand. So far I’ve only really talked about traveling with other travelers who have bought a car, buying one yourself, or renting a car. But there’s another way: Hitching a ride with a local! Some travelers search for ride shares around New Zealand using online listings like Carpoolnz or Catchalift. I have tried this before without much success. Hitch hiking better suits the spontaneity of the on-the-go travel lifestyle and it can be a safe alternative if done cautiously.

The best part is the potential to connect with friendly locals. For example, I was lucky enough to get a ride from a few locals on my way to Christchurch for my second house-sit. Even better, they were not only locals but Maori descendants—the native people of New Zealand. I love talking to and hanging out with all kiwis, but these are a special group of people who have a culture all their own from a time long before Europeans arrived on the shores.

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