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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

Learning to be quiet in a noisy world

“My imagination functions much better when I don’t have to speak to people”

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The conscious New Zealand gift guide

Kiwi gift ideas for the thoughtful individual

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20 wild photos from the Wanaka flood in New Zealand

With any luck, the Wanaka Tree might disappear entirely…

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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 2201825409473391421_146164422 #DeBeersPartner - My favorite thing about my trip to Botswana is something you might not expect - meeting so many powerhouse women running their own businesses. You gotta love a savvy lady boss! It was SO COOL to connect with women in Botswana and hear their stories of hustling their dreams into reality. . For example, I met Botlalo Keipeite in Gaborone, and she runs Thamaga Pottery, a female-led cooperative making handcrafted ceramic products. Over the years it has grown into a very cool non-profit that both preserve the traditional arts of Botswana and inspires creative women to come and train there. It’s also helping boost their economies through tourism too, establishing a standard of women in business in Botswana. Botlalo is proud of her designs and sharing her culture through art with others like me. It certainly galvanized me to get cracking on with some deeper personal projects that have been sitting on the back-burner. . @DeBeersGroup supports many women entrepreneurs around Botswana, investing millions in partnership with the United Nations to aid with pushing for gender equality in the communities where they work and in their own business. By aiding women like Botlalo in honing and growing their businesses, not only is De Beers Group helping to advance women in Botswana, it's also establishing a future that is female. I love it! . To be continued… . #ad #DiamondsDoGood #BuildingForever
Instagram post 2201171953955654496_146164422 I’ve have so very exciting personal news to share with you guys ⭐️ I’m moving to Christchurch on Monday! . More specifically, I’m moving to Lyttelton, Christchurch’s quirky harbor town. And even more specifically, I’m moving out to one of the bays on the Banks Peninsula near Lyttelton. My current mood is a beautiful combination of giddy excitement meets unsettled panic 😱 . After 6 years in my beloved Wanaka, I’m about to embark on an entirely new chapter in my life. No, I’m not pregnant (mom), but I did fall in love with an old friend, @giuliosturla ❤️ After a lifetime of self-doubt and an inherent belief that my travel lifestyle was incompatible with true love, I gave up on meeting someone and quietly accepted my fate as a cat lady meets librarian, which I would still happily embrace btw. As a solitary person, I don’t mind being alone but deep down I felt a quiet, profound sadness for my lot in life. . But we all know that fate loves a good laugh, and before I knew what was happening to me, a blissful, storybook love came out of nowhere and knocked me on my ass! All those cliche rom-com phrases describes us perfectly, and my deeply cynical frosty heart has softened considerably over this past year; as the perpetual 3rd wheel to all my friends, no one hates hearing more about love than me, but here we are 😘 . As I am beginning this new era of sharing and partnership, as an only child who’s never lived with a significant other before or had roommates in 6 years, have any life advice for me because I’m freaking the fuck out over here. . And with love comes change. While I’m still keeping ties to Wanaka, I’m now starting fresh in Christchurch where I have approximately 2 friends. So, who here lives in Canterbury? Have any tips for a newbie like me? Anyone want to be my friend? Please send any advice or comments for me 🙏🏻 . #trueloveeyeroll #christchurch #lyttelton #newzealand
Instagram post 2197480705692626814_146164422 #DeBeersGroupPartner - I met Violet on my third day in Africa, after quietly observing her polishing a diamond for what seemed like an eternity. Clearly I need to work on my patience because afterward she told me it would take up to two days to polish this one diamond perfectly. Honestly, I can’t imagine. I can’t even sit still long enough to get my teeth cleaned once a year, and I am not even an active participant. With a bright smile, she told me she applied for the job because she likes a challenge and loves to learn. . As I explored, I was highly aware of how many women from Botswana were doing pretty badass things. From helping to run @DeBeersGroup in senior roles and working hard in the diamond supply chain like Violet to pioneering community programs on the ground and running all kinds of cool businesses, I kept encountering so many inspiring females - yes yes YES! My heart was singing! I love seeing women achieve amazing things around the world. . Surprise surprise, it’s no accident either - De Beers Group works hard to both bring diversity within their own company to stand with women and girls around the world. In fact, they are partners with both UN Women and Stanford Graduate School of Business, investing millions of dollars in supporting thousands of women entrepreneurs in Botswana. After all, not only are women the main admirers of diamonds but also studies show that female entrepreneurs reinvest 90% of their earnings back into their own communities. Hearing the heart that goes into these projects inspired me tremendously to dig back into my own business. After all, nothing will smash a glass ceiling quite like a diamond, right? . Now, I just wonder where Violet’s diamond will end up one day? I like to imagine it’ll be on the hand of a self-powered woman on a mission to success, just like her. . #Ad #buildingforever #DiamondsDoGood
Instagram post 2196889327803692382_146164422 W A N A K A . Home sweet home......for just two more weeks...👀 . #standby #news #newchapter
Instagram post 2195328335655458808_146164422 #DeBeersGroupPartner - I never feel more alive and happy when I’m on safari, out tracking wildlife or exploring the great outdoors. The red sands and sparse trees of the Okavango Delta in Botswana spoke to my soul and was the reminder that I needed to continue to share and prioritize protecting these spaces . My last morning in Botswana was spent watching a female leopard hunting in the tall grasses of the Delta as thunder rumbled in the distance, an experience I’ll never forget. I wonder if those who come long after I’m gone will encounter such a raw and powerful moment too? . By now you’ve probably realized that Botswana isn’t what you might have imagined. Would you believe me if I told you that Botswana has one of the highest conservation land ratios in Africa? . As someone super passionate about wildlife conservation, it’s often so draining when you see how little funding goes into places that desperately need help if they will continue to exist. To have money is to have power when it comes to protecting wildlife, and to see someone like @debeersgroup invest millions back into the country for conserving the environment and endangered creatures warm my heart. . Roughly the size of Texas but with only 2 million people calling Botswana home, more than a quarter of the land here has been set aside as parks and nature reserves, conserving the land for future generations and allowing wildlife and fauna to flourish again . And guess what helps to fund these remarkable projects? Diamonds. . For every 1 acre of land disturbed for mining, 6 are set aside by De Beers Group for active conservation and promoting biodiversity and scientific research. In total that’s an area almost the size of Yosemite National Park. As you can imagine, the areas around diamond mines are probably the most secure places on the planet, and is there anywhere better to home highly endangered and highly poached creatures like white rhino? . To be continued... . #Ad #DiamondsDoGood #buildingforever
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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

  • The conscious New Zealand gift guide
  • 12 surprising things I learned while in Botswana
  • How to be an adventurous traveler when you’re not all that hardcore
  • Meet this season’s kākāpō chicks

Featured Stories

  • My big issue with fear and travel
  • The best hate I got in 2015
  • The Story of the Kākāpō + Giveaway
  • Why Experience Still Matters

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