Dec 11, 2017 | Chile, Destinations, Peru, Recent, South America, Sustainable Travel
I've teamed-up with Lokal Travel, an online booking website for sustainable travel experiences around the world. During their "Ultimate Sustainable Travel Sale" on Indiegogo, they're offering discounts up to 40% off travel gift cards and select bucketlist trips to...
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Nov 8, 2017 | Chile, Destinations, Recent, South America, Sustainable Travel
It’s amazing that you can find yourself in the middle of a vineyard within the city limits of Santiago, Chile. 30-minutes by public transit and a few more minutes by taxi (or walking if you have the time) will lead you to the Cousino Macul Vineyard, where grapes have...
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Jul 7, 2017 | Adventure Travel, Alaska, Chile, Destinations, Recent, South America, Sustainable Travel, United States
It's difficult to sum-up travel experiences when you return home. The best and occasionally the worst question: "How was your trip?" requires you to continually summarize experiences that shouldn't be summarized: to package them into little digestible bits that fit...
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Jun 21, 2017 | Adventure Travel, Chile, Destinations, South America
It has been called the Yosemite of Chile. Chileans call Yosemite the Cochamo of the United States. I think it should be called Narnia. In truth, Cochamo Valley is beyond comparison, and can only be truly appreciated firsthand. Unfortunately for all of us, you can’t...
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Jun 17, 2017 | Chile, Destinations, Recent, South America, Sustainable Travel
William was driving about 50 miles an hour along a windy valley road towards one of the elementary schools in Curarrehue (kuɾaˈrewe), Chile, and talking about twice as fast. I was trying to keep up with the conversation with marginal success. Our topic of...
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Jun 14, 2017 | Photography, Recent, What's In My Bag
Of all of the questions I’ve gotten about travel, “JKev, I’m going to blahblah place, and I want to take good photos, what camera should I choose?” is probably the most asked question. There are so, so, so many cameras on the market for the average Joe photographer,...
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Jun 7, 2017 | Adventure Travel, Photography, Recent, What's In My Bag
If you want to get those eye-watering, amazing landscape photos - perspectives that you don’t see anywhere else - you usually have to work for it. That means hoofing it to far-reaching corners of the earth, away from the tour buses, away from the selfie sticks, away...
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Jun 2, 2017 | Recent, Sustainable Travel
When I tell people that I’m a sustainable travel blogger, the first question I get most of the time is, “what is sustainable travel?” Good question. Most travelers that I speak with want to be more environmentally and socially conscious on the road, but don’t know how...
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May 31, 2017 | Chile, Destinations, Recent, South America, Sustainable Travel
For thousands of years, nestled between cliffs that Pacific Ocean swells have carved out of the Southern Chilean coast, the gentle Rio Lliuco has sculpted a mystic, idyllic valley that the Mapuche people have called home for fishing and gathering. Today Manquemapu, a...
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May 19, 2017 | Chile, Destinations, Photography, Recent, South America
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the landscape of Torres Del Paine is worth a thousand pictures. Here's some inspiration for your next adventure planning session! Need more info about hiking the "W" in Torres Del Paine? Check out my how-to guide for...
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May 17, 2017 | Adventure Travel, Chile, Destinations, South America
When to Go | Camping & Booking | Buses & Ferries | Itinerary | Gear | Cost Torres Del Paine National Park, a jaw dropping cluster of craggy peaks, glaciated valleys, mountain streams, and wildlife. To spend even only one night in this park is a dream come...
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May 12, 2017 | Cuba, Destinations, Photography, Recent
Havana Vieja, or Old Havana, is indicative of many old European cities: Seemingly endless edifices of Neoclassical architecture line narrow, cobblestone-laden streets. This part of the city constantly bustles with a mix of tourists (definitely the most touristic...
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May 10, 2017 | Chile, Recent, South America, Sustainable Travel
Llanquihue is not a typical tourist destination. It’s a working-class town situated half-way between the more touristic destinations of Puerto Varas and Frutillar on Lago Llanquihue, and its main industries include meat and dairy processing and salmon farming. The...
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May 5, 2017 | Alaska, Destinations, Photography, Recent, United States
This week's Photo Friday brings you the "Glacier in Your Grill" campsite setup from my 2016 kayak trip into Tracy Arm Fjord, part of the Tracy Arm-Ford's Terror Wilderness Area just south of Juneau, Alaska. After finding a relatively flat spot to pull our kayaks out...
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Apr 28, 2017 | Chile, Destinations, Photography, Recent, South America
The Alerce Tree, or Patagonian Cypress. Some have been dated to as much as 4,000 years old, and get up to 45 meters tall. They're very similar to Redwoods. I literally "bellied up" to this one along the trail to the Arco Iris viewpoint in the Cochamo Valley south of...
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Apr 21, 2017 | Alaska, Destinations, Photography, Recent
This week's Photo Friday is brought to you by the beautiful Lupine flowers of Mt. Juneau in Juneau, Alaska. These beauties dot the landscape throughout Southeast Alaska in June and July. The ridgeline that extends back from Mt. Juneau towards the Juneau Icefield is an...
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Apr 20, 2017 | Adventure Travel, Chile, Recent, South America
1: The Wind & Weather The Patagonia is notoriously windy during the summer time (January-March). Hellacious katabatic winds from the world's 3rd largest ice cap rage down from glaciers and through Torres Del Paine National Park (Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine),...
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Apr 19, 2017 | Chile, Destinations, Photography, South America
A few photos from two weeks WWOOFing in the Chilean Patagonia near Puerto Natales. Click any photo for a larger view and to cycle through the gallery. ...
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Apr 12, 2017 | Chile, South America
March 12, 2017 Walking out the main doors of the Punta Arenas airport was a little bit of Deja Vu: Hit in the face with the cool, crisp, clean, humid air of a temperate coastal environment. It was reminiscent of Juneau, and I liked it. I actually missed it. The past...
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Apr 4, 2017 | Chile, Destinations, Recent, South America, Sustainable Travel
Estancia Mercedes is a place of unquestioning character - of family and tradition. It's a place where the customs of an old world meld with the frontier mentality of the new in an untamed, glacially scoured landscape. Where mornings begin with stocking the wood...
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Mar 8, 2017 | Adventure Travel, Alaska, Destinations, Sustainable Travel, United States
Anchorage is a nordic (cross-country) skier's paradise. With more than 105 miles (175 km) of maintained ski trails, 120+ miles of mixed-use trails, and even 41 miles of ski-jouring trails (ski-jouring is when you have your dog pull you on skis, it's incredibly fun for...
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Mar 2, 2017 | Adventure Travel, Alaska, Destinations, Recent, United States
John Muir called his time in the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness “some of the best of all my Alaska Days.” I agree with him. Yosemite-like cliffs reaching thousands of feet above and plunging hundreds of feet into the water below. There is truly nothing like it on earth. Kayaking Tracy Arm provides an intimate and sustainable vehicle for experiencing this tract of raw wilderness beyond what is possible on a cruise ship or day tour boat.
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Feb 26, 2017 | South America
Each day is a mix of highs and lows. Spanish coursework day 2 was much less stressful than day 1, but leaving school and trying to interact with anyone else other than my professor and classmates makes it difficult to stay positive. I still have so much to learn....
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Feb 23, 2017 | Recent, Sustainable Travel
Travelers make big impacts on communities they visit, and leave more than just footprints. Many of these impacts are positive, especially in economic terms, but we also leave behind a lot of crap (economists call it negative externalities - that sounds so much nicer)...
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Feb 15, 2017 | What's In My Bag
Traveling the world should be more about what experiences you bring back home rather than the stuff you bring with you. Packing minimalist frees you of weight, worry about keeping track of your stuff, the extra carbon footprint, and allows you to focus on what’s in front of you.
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Jan 22, 2017 | What's In My Bag
Mindshift Gear's Ultralight Camera Cover 10 is a lightweight, water-resistant camera cover for mirrorless to full-framed DSLR cameras. Mindshift Gear specializes in packs and cases for taking cameras on the go hiking and camping. I always used a neoprene camera cover...
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Dec 17, 2016 | Adventure Travel, What's In My Bag
A video review of Eagle Creek’s 35L Systems Go travel backpack
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Dec 16, 2016 | Adventure Travel, Cuba, Destinations, Recent
Santa Clara could be in a way considered the Portland, OR of Cuba. It’s a young, up-and-coming, "hipster" community with vibrant arts, culture, and history. Well, all of Cuba is rich in history, so you could eliminate that one as a least common denominator and focus...
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Dec 1, 2016 | Adventure Travel, Alaska, Destinations, Recent, Sustainable Travel, United States
Commercial fishing like a real Alaskan aboard a commercial troller in the Gulf of Alaska. Connecting in an authentic and sustainable way with the people, place, way of life, and food source that powers the Alaskan economy.
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Nov 30, 2016 | Adventure Travel, Alaska, Destinations, Recent, Sustainable Travel, United States
A small town with adventure in every direction. Here’s how to make the most of it and be sustainable at the same time.
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