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Tag: Love Actually

Expat Christmas: Holiday Blues to Holiday Cheer

One week til Christmas! This time last year I was hot off...

Join me on Instagram @YoungAdventuress

youngadventuress

The solo female travel blogger ✈️ Author of “Houseplants & Design” 🪴 Friend of kākāpō and the girl with the whales 🐳 Polar guide ❄️

What is it about us humans that makes us want to c

What is it about us humans that makes us want to conquer things? We get the same endorphins from a stint at the gym or chowing down on chocolate cake. Why do we (cough, cough, men) so often feel the need to be the first at something? Why does glory outweigh death on a journey to claim a first victory?
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Fully gripped by the polar bug for nearly a decade, I have adopted the habit of reading many of the journals and accounts of Arctic explorers in the 19th and 20th centuries. And there is no shortage of material when it comes to the Lost Franklin Expedition (capitalized for emphasis) and the quest to conquer the Northwest Passage.
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For hundreds of years, Europeans were obsessed with finding a way through the mythical Northwest Passage. There are several main routes through Canada’s Arctic archipelago of 36,500 islands, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Seeking an alternative trade route to Asia faster than via the Cape of Good Hope, it took centuries for white people to properly find a path through thousands of kilometers of icy, unforgivable wilderness. Inuit and other indigenous people were, of course, there the entire time.
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Last summer, I spent nearly three weeks with @adventure.canada, voyaging through the Northwest Passage by expedition ship. It was an iconic, unforgettable experience; here are some moments that made me fall in love with it.

The real King of the North 🐻‍❄️ @adventur

The real King of the North 🐻‍❄️ @adventure.canada

The remote, subantarctic island of South Georgia i

The remote, subantarctic island of South Georgia is the most beautiful place on earth. And I know, I know, I know. Bold statement or what *throws down the gauntlet*
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Once I had a boyfriend who used to make fun of me when we were traveling because everywhere we went, apparently I always exclaimed “wow, this is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been!” In my defense, I meant it every single time.
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But I swear, this time I mean it. Or at least it’s in my top 5. The fates have smiled on me and I’ve been able to visit South Georgia a few times on expeditions to Antarctica. This very cold, windy and wild island has wormed its way into my heart. A British overseas territory. Human population: 20. Penguin population: millions.
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As a serious lover of mountains, South Georgia was next level beautiful. Everything about the views screamed power and wilderness. A long and narrow island almost 200 kilometers long, the mountains run like a spine the length of South Georgia with many dropping down into the sea with many fjords and bays along the coastline. South Georgia really felt like polar tundra meets the Alps. With penguins.
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So many exciting things are happening in South Georgia, especially since my first trip when rats were finally eradicated (long live the birds!) and this past summer, like surveying the whales that are finally returning to SG whales (whaling here killed 175K). I follow @sghtnews to keep up with everything that’s going on around one of my fave places on earth 🐧
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📷 @jarradseng

Exactly ten years ago, I arrived in Wānaka in a l

Exactly ten years ago, I arrived in Wānaka in a little red car with my whole life packed inside it. Back then, Wānaka was still a sleepy little mountain town where Instagram wasn’t really a thing, and no one cared about a tree in the lake. I cannot believe I’ve passed a decade of living in Wanaka. When you start to remember in decades, you feel old.
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Way back whent, I was blogging full-time and could live anywhere. After my lease ended in Wellington, I headed south. Preferring the chiller Wānaka to Queenstown, I ended up settling here. It was an easy place to fall in love with. It still is.

The blue of the Arctic never ceases to amaze me 💙 @adventure.canada
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#baffinbay #baffin #greenland #adventurecanada #polar

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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

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