abroadtravelingabroad

I Did Not Come to Queenstown to Behave: Skippers Gorge & Running Off a Mountain

1 Comment / Blogging, Natural Wonders, Oceania, Sights to See, Solo Travel, Travel, Videos / Pamelahawthorne

There are trips. And then there’s Queenstown — where the mountains look like they’ve been airbrushed by God and the town politely suggests you fling yourself off one of them. Equipped by one of the thrill providers on every corner! Skippers Gorge: Where the Road Is Basically a Suggestion Let’s discuss Skippers Gorge. First of […]

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Uluru & Field of Light: Ancient Power & Modern Magic

1 Comment / Natural Wonders, Oceania, Sights to See, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

Uluru doesn’t need hype. It’s been standing in the red center of Australia for roughly 550 million years, quietly radiating authority. You don’t arrive here to be entertained, you arrive to pay attention. If you’re going to travel all the way to the Outback (and you should), you might as well do it right. Here’s how

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Ten Fascinating Facts from the Edge of the World

Leave a Comment / Natural Wonders, Oceania, Sights to See, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

When you snorkel or dive the Outer Great Barrier Reef off Cairns, you’re not just floating above coral—you’re hovering over one of Earth’s oldest, largest, and most complex living systems. Far from the shore and closer to the Coral Sea’s deep blue, the outer reef is wilder, clearer, and more ancient. Here are the most

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Blue on Blue on Blue: Amazing Fethiye and Its Islands

1 Comment / Asia, Blogging, Natural Wonders, Sights to See, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

If there is a corner of Turkey that blends ancient history, turquoise seas, forested mountains, and island-dotted horizons, it’s Fethiye. Tucked along the southwestern part of the country on the famed Turquoise Coast, Fethiye is serene and adventurous, a place for paddling across crystal coves, walking through Lycian ruins and, (one of my favorites) browsing

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Floating Over Turkey’s Moonlands: Ballooning in Cappadocia

Leave a Comment / Asia, Natural Wonders, Sights to See, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

I had to remind myself to breathe. It was that amazing! Cappadocia appears pulled from a dreamscape, especially during the pre-dawn hours on an October morning. Located in the heart of Anatolia, the land ripples with rock formations called “fairy chimneys”, sculpted by volcanic eruptions and centuries of wind and water massage. Beyond the famous

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Enormously Powerful. Relentlessly Beautiful. See Thunderous Iguazu Falls!

2 Comments / Blogging, Natural Wonders, Sights to See, Solo Travel, South America, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

This is not just “another waterfall’…and believe me, I’ve seen a few and shared them with you; Iceland has Seljalandfoss and Godafoss among their trove of treasures as well as South Africa’s Victoria Falls from both ground and helicopter views. But Iguazu trumps all of these with raw majesty, sound and fury! Iguazu Falls are actually

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Ice Music! Patagonia’s Astonishing Symphony of Glaciers

Leave a Comment / Blogging, Natural Wonders, Sights to See, Solo Travel, South America, Travel, Videos / Pamelahawthorne

Visually impressive, sure! I was startled and fascinated by their constant, changing soundtrack, so unexpected from this vast frozen panorama of limitless shades of blue ice formations. Shifting, moving, sometimes calving in great, majestic glacial chunks. Our first views were of the Perito Moreno Glacier in El Calafate Argentina’s Los Glaciales National Park with an

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The Tip of Chilean Patagonia: Formidable, Spectacular Torres del Paine

1 Comment / Blogging, Natural Wonders, Sights to See, Solo Travel, South America, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, Chile became a favorite within minutes of arriving. A park with everything hikers like me dream about. Narrow but stunning valleys that separate hypnotic geological features, glaciers, and lakes of impossible shades of blue. In fact, Paine means “blue” in the native Tehuelche (Aonikenk) language.and is pronounced PIE-neh. Torres del Paine National Park, located in

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Truly Astonishing Facts About Egypt’s Incomparable Pyramids and the Great Sphinx of Giza

Leave a Comment / Africa, Blogging, Middle East, Natural Wonders, Sights to See, Solo Travel, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

At first my jet-lagged brain could not process more than their looming yet beautiful presence, and proximity to the nearby town. I had imagined them constructed in the middle of some vast, remote, practically inaccessible stretch of desert wasteland…as is over 90 percent of the remaining country. But they were here in all their significant

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Unraveling The Best and Biggest Mysteries of Machu Picchu

1 Comment / Natural Wonders, Sights to See, Solo Travel, South America, Travel / Pamelahawthorne

What is Machu Picchu? There is no reference to Machu Picchu in Inca literature or folklore, so what is this culturally sophisticated engineering city in the Andes of Peru? Many archeologists believe that it was constructed as a retreat for the Inca nobility between 1400 and 1500 AD. But the extensive terracing suggests it may

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