Oceania

Travel through Oceania by country:

Australia, Indonesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

Travel through Oceania by popular city:

Auckland, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Wellington

Travel through Oceania by popular things to do:

Cook Islands, Sydney Opera House

Travel through Oceania with our writers:

In the Corner of the World, Work and Play in Queensland

WorldMapper Maps

by Adrienne Wilson on

Anyone who enjoys looking at
maps as much as me and the geeky blogger over
at Geeky Traveller do, will have a field day checking out these maps found at WorldMapper. Don’t count on finding
your way around Durban, Montevideo, or Hollywood with this particular map. The map reflects international tourist trips
made in 2003 and territory size shows the proportion of world international tourist trips to that territory. WorldMapper
does the math by explaining it like so:

"In 2003 665 million international tourist trips were made.
Dividing this by the world population would mean 10.7% holidayed abroad. However some people make multiple trips, so
less than a tenth of the global population make tourist trips abroad…"

My math may not be that
hot, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on according to this map. The swelling above tiny
shriveled up Africa in red is mostly Western Europe which happens to be one of the world’s most popular destinations
for international tourists. Geeky Traveller makes a good point noting that the traveler
that likes to avoid tourists will find this map very useful.

There are several other maps like the one
above depicting Tourist Origins, Tourism Receipts, and Tourism Profit to name a few. See WorldMapper for the rest.

Putting the 'F' Back in Adventure Travel

by Adrienne Wilson on

Even if you swore you never saw it
before, chances are you’ll be seeing it more these days. And you’re probably thinking words like ‘funk’ or
‘free-spirit,’ but what I’m talking about is FAMILY. You heard right, according to this Cleveland.com
piece agencies are seeing an increase in adventure packed family vaca’s and I’m not talking about riding the Kinga Ka at Six Flags, folks. Think more towards a
Heli-Hiking tour like those offered by Chilko Lake Resort located 150 miles out of Vancouver. The story touches on the
author’s family fun-filled times bushwacking down a mountain and intense hiking up rocky ridges with her two teenage
daughters. Quite impressive.

Of course putting the ‘F’ in adventure travel is going to require you put the
‘dough’ on the table and these types of trips are certainly not cheap. Parents scraping to take their children on a
pricey trip to see Mickey Mouse at Disney World may be
tempted to look away, but the truth is some far-more incredible destination may only be a few extra hundred dollars.
When you’re talking about the kind of experiences Ogintz mentions like
kayaking along whales in Alaska, it’s soo worth it.

To start planning your own adventure travel family
vacation check out some of the sites found in the story listed below:

Vintage Cruise Voyages

by Adrienne Wilson on

Considering some of the negative press cruise ships have been given over what seems like the last year or so, you’d imagine people would be shaking in their boots to hit the high seas, but such is not the case. Travelers are still taking to the ocean’s sometimes choppy waters and opting to make more out of their experiences on board rather than when they dock in say, St. Thomas. Least that’s what a new cruise liner called Vintage Voyages hopes to encourage on their extreme-theme vintage reenactment voyages. While themes like quilting, jazz, wine and murder mystery tours on deck are nothing new and have been popular for ages, Vintage Voyages has stepped it up a notch, providing a variety of packages catering to more adventure minded travelers with a thirst for history.

Take the Columbus Rediscovery Vintage Voyage for example. Noted as one of the most exclusive cruises, 90 participants set sail much the same way Christopher Columbus did back in 1492 on his way to discover the New World. Interestingly enough the cruise has three ships named after the original Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Travelers on each ship are required to dress the way Columbus and his crew did and function under the same basic conditions. Meals include bread, beer, hard biscuits, fish and salted meat served nightly. Sleeping will only be allowed on the deck of the ship in cramped, damp conditions much like how the seamen used to rest. The cruise lasts 71 days at sea embarking from Spain and arriving in the Bahamas – where it is said Columbus first saw landfall. Vintage Voyages also prides itself in the cost of the rediscovery voyage asking interested parties to pay only what would be equivalent to what King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gave Columbus in the 1400’s. ($450 USD.)

The company advertises the tour as a perfect event for extended family reunions.

Other packages include:

  • Titanic Shipwreck Vintage Voyage – Reenact the entire three hours the Titanic spent at sea. (Must be a certified diver for the ship sinking part.)
  • Moby Dick Literary Vintage Voyage – Hunt for white whales on the Pequod.
  • Gilligan’s Island TV Vintage Voyage – Play your favorite character from the show for the entire first season.

Free Ways to Travel

by Erik Olsen on

The first
hindrance for most of us when it comes to travel is the matter of time. How can you get the days/weeks/months off work
to do a trip right? The second issue is money. Face it, to get anywhere really good, you usually need to hop aboard a
plane, and while JetBlue and other carriers often have good deals to get you where you
want to go, you’re not always certain there will be flights available for your price range.

But what if
you could travel for free? Pretty sweet idea, eh? Well the Budget Travel people have got some suggestions for you. Their
Ultimate Guide to Free
Travel, part of the April issue, is full of pointers for the penurious. From drive-away car rentals, to home
exchanges and house-sitting opps, there are free travel possibilities out there. One of the suggestions they provide is
the Rotary Ambassadorial Fellowships, which yours
truly did for a year in Chile. And let me say it was one of the best experiences of my life. You have numerous
obligations to fulfill as part of the experience, but they are all in their own way fulfilling, and actually help you
fit into and become a part of the culture in your temporary home country.

Spring Issue of Planet Out Now

by Adrienne Wilson on

Looks like the new Planet magazine is just about ready to hit shelves. I went looking for the new
installment of the quarterly yesterday at my local Borders and found nothing, but perhaps your town is a bit more up to
speed. We’ve mentioned this mag many times in the past, but as a big fan of the work I’d like to see it last and isn’t
forgotten in between what seems like ages for new material. Like all issues, this one looks to be a pretty tasty read
with the usual culture pieces and global happenings in addition to Matthew Barney on the cover, an interesting Cirkus
Bizarro spread, and some sure-fire to inspire photography on India. If you’ve never read Planet, their
spring issue should make a great opportunity to recycle some of your dusty periodicals for a fresh new spin, on the
planet.