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A normal girl living her biggest, messiest dreams.

Get to know me

As seen on

These are my unfiltered adventures, musings and stories.
I talk about birds, coffee and overcoming personal fears too much.

60
ish countries
7
continents
10
odd years
Find me on or or I'll email you!

My recent adventures

20 wild photos from the Wanaka flood in New Zealand

With any luck, the Wanaka Tree might disappear entirely…

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12 surprising things I learned while in Botswana

Let me introduce you to my new favorite place to travel

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Australia’s wildfires are turning New Zealand’s glaciers red

As millions of acres burn in Australia, the smoke and ash have blanketed New Zealand’s mountains

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More adventures from the blog

My favorite stories

All the mean, nasty and godawful hateful things people say to me online

Guys, why do people troll on the internet? Why are blogger hate comments ...
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Solo and single in the most romantic place in the world

How glossy and polished is the travel industry today? Well, I suppose it's ...
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A broken robot: the face of a burnout

My whole life I’ve always been told that my face reads like an ...
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More inspirational stories

Where I screwed up big time

That one time I crashed a scooter in Bali

A week ago I found myself upside down in a ditch full of ...
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Getting Naked in Istanbul

**Warning this post borders on the TMI, but I thought it was too ...
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This might be my funniest story of all time

Guys, the funniest thing happened to me the other day. Now, I know I ...
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More confessions
World Map
Iceland
New Zealand Road Trip Part 1
New Zealand Road Trip Part 2
Australia
Spain
Canada
Finland

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youngadventuress

American in New Zealand. Cynical but kind. Nature frother & #birdnerd. Friend of kākāpō and the girl with the whales 🐳 it’s all on my blog ⬇️
Instagram post 2194642207700802145_146164422 A while ago I was lucky enough to join @lifeflightnz on a training day in Wellington 🚁 Life Flight is a charity in New Zealand that provides emergency air services around the country from rescue choppers to air ambulances. Their work is inspiring and impressive, considering they receive an emergency call out every six hours. . On top of that, the service is free and runs a great deal off of public donations. In a time when there are probably more call outs than ever, we’re super lucky to have Life Flight, and I’ve been donating for years. . As someone who spends a lot of time out in the wild and in nature, and who has a certain penchant for “why me” moments, I see my donations not only for others, but also for my own future too. . #lifeflight #westpacrescuehelicopter #wellington #nzmustdo #newzealand
Instagram post 2192476846226229889_146164422 #DeBeersGroupPartner - What does it feel like to hold 800 carats of rough diamonds in the palm of your hand? Privileged? Giddy? Euphoric? Inspired? Mildly terrified, I mean, what if I drop them? Oh wait, I don’t think you can *actually* break a diamond, but STILL! . It’s not every day I get to touch millions of dollars or be trusted to hold something so valuable, a fact I’ve not taken lightly. But while others around me perhaps were dreaming of what fantastical jewelry designs could be made from these rare gemstones, my imagination drifted in a somewhat less sparkly direction. Instead of seeing diamonds or dollar signs, I visualized schools, businesses, hospitals, conservation reserves. I could so clearly see the opportunity for the people of Botswana that came from these diamonds in my hands over the past half-century . 81 cents of every dollar from the partnership with @DeBeersGroup in Botswana goes straight back to the economy here. In fact, one in every twenty jobs in Botswana stem back to De Beers Group. Even the first lady of Botswana was once an employee. After spending days meeting with locals, chatting with young entrepreneurs and hearing firsthand the impact of the diamond industry on their lives in a very real way, I truly began to comprehend for the first time that diamonds weren’t just diamonds. They were opportunities for something more for a lot of people in Botswana . It also put into stark reality my power as a consumer, as someone who could buy a diamond one day (no waiting around for a diamond ring for me, I can buy my own!) I could so clearly see my choice, and where I could choose to invest a not-insignificant amount of money and who would benefit from it. That’s why the transparency and work that De Beers Group is doing to trace a diamond is so key . But I guess the real question, for now, is which diamond would you pick? I’m rooting for the one in the front - you? . To be continued . #Ad #DeBeersGroupPartner #buildingforever #Diamondsdogood
Instagram post 2191900668922917520_146164422 You guys know how much I love birds, so watching this sunset over the gannet colony in Muriwai BLEW MY MIND 🤯 one of the last stops on an epic roadie with @sarahpolger, it was so windy when we climbed up the hill to the colony. It was so windy that the gannets were flying and hovering mid-air like a helicopter. It was extraordinary! . Then as the sun began to sink below the horizon and the skies turned pink, I lost my mind from happiness. Great views, amazing birds, good friends in new places, what more could you ask for?. . Now the real question is, how many times did I get poo-ed on during this adventure? The winning guess gets a gannet chick (I jest, @docgovtnz, I jest) 🤗 . We’re so lucky to still have bird colonies like this one still going in New Zealand - let’s keep it that way! . #muriwai #gannet #birdnerd #nzmustdo #newzealand
Instagram post 2191300450120581075_146164422 With any luck, it might disappear entirely 🤗 . It has taken a historical flood for me to drag my gumboot clad feet to the iconic, insta-famous Wanaka willow tree in the lake. Even I, in my cynicism, have to admit that it’s eerily beautiful. . After days of relentless rain, pummeling snowmelt in the mountains, and rising rivers, the clouds parted and the wind stopped gusting *just* long enough to reveal a scene of tranquility in our tiny mountain town. Ok, now please stop raining. Thanks. . Check out my Stories for a wee behind the scenes look at the current flooding in Wanaka. . Fingers crossed the flooding stops and we can go back to normal soon. I’m ready for summer! . #wanaka #nzmustdo #wanakanz #thatwanakatree #newzealand #wanakatree #lakewanaka #wanakaflood2019
Instagram post 2190999666539499613_146164422 One of my favorite views in the whole wide world - looking up the Matukituki Valley towards Tititea / Mt. Aspiring in my hometown of Wanaka, New Zealand. . Flying over this magical valley with @wanakahelicopters is such a dream, and no matter how many times I take in these views, I could cry with happiness! What beauty we have here. . Of course it doesn’t look like this today as we are currently receiving a momentous amount of rain here in Wanaka, and the lake and rivers are already spilling over about to flood the town. Fingers crossed it stops soon, though a morbid, deep part of me would really enjoy being able to paddleboard down Helwick Street 👍🏻 . #wanaka #wanakanz #wanakaflood2019 #newzealand #nzmustdo #wanakahelicopter #mtaspiring #matukitukivalley
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Who is Young Adventuress?

Hi, I'm Liz, and I got my first taste for traveling when I was 16 years old. On my own, 12 years and 50 something countries later, my wanderlust has only grown and the list of countries I want to visit longer. After living in Spain for the past few years and returning home for a stint, I then quit my job and moved to New Zealand and I've been here ever since. Follow my misadventures as I wander, eat, and photograph my way around the world

Get Inspired

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  • How to be an adventurous traveler when you’re not all that hardcore
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Featured Stories

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  • The best hate I got in 2015
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