flying a stunt plane with U Fly Extreme in Motueka – New Zealand
My Best Travel Adventures of 2014
Miraculously another year has almost come to an end. For me and LashWorldTour, 2014 has been another fantastic year of continuous world travels with many amazing adventures and several exciting ‘first’s and ‘at last!’s.
To start with, I finally stepped away from SE Asia for a major chunk of time. At long last, I finally traveled to New Zealand and a Pacific Island, two of my most long-standing ultra-dream destinations.
Because of visiting New Zealand, I was able to complete several very-long-standing travel dreams. I even got tossed a few amazing but unexpected adventures along the way. It’s practically been one big thrill after another in 2014!
Here’s a summary of my 2014 travel highlights:
Humpback Whale flapping its tail
I Saw Whales
For the 1st time in my life I saw whales! They were just offshore at Sunshine Coast, Australia one day and almost totally unexpected. I wrote about it in The Day I Saw Whales.
House Sitting in Noosa – Australia
I Enjoyed 2 Amazing House Sitting Gigs – Fiji and Australia
My super awesome house sitting gigs in Fiji and at Sunshine Coast, Australia have gotten me super excited about House Sitting. I’d previously done several amazing house sits in Malaysia and Singapore, so I was already enamored of the concept.
But these two ultra-amazing assignments really got me hyped up. I want to tell everyone about house sitting so they can come out and travel the world in style, too. Read about my Fiji Housesit and my Australia Housesit.
enjoying Koh Phi Phi viewpoint – Thailand
I Left SE Asia
Since beginning my world travels in Thailand in 1998, I’ve spent the majority of the intervening 16 years roaming around SE Asia. I can’t say I have been there exclusively. I have ventured out to Brazil for Survivor TV, to Spain and England one summer, to Australia for 9 months and to various nearby Asian countries. But I’ve been practically ‘glued’ to SE Asia for years upon years.
I do love it there, which is one major reason I keep sticking around. And I do prefer hot, tropical countries, which makes other places less appealing. And the region is very inexpensive, interesting & diverse, which makes it an easy area to live, work and travel around.
But I do intend to explore the whole world! Which means I must go, must get out of SE Asia. So this year I finally made the leap. It’s been a huge step towards my goal to visit the whole world. I’ve spent almost the entire year in Australasia – NZ / Fiji / Australia.
Lash at Fiji Airport with local musicians
I Got to the Pacific Islands
The far-flung, exotic, tropical Pacific Islands have been my ultimate-of-ultimate travel destinations since I was a child. I’ve been just dying to get there practically my whole life. And this year I finally did it!
Well, I at least made it to one Pacific Island – Fiji – where I traveled for two months. It wasn’t quite as amazing as I’d anticipated, but I did mostly have great times. Read some Surprising Facts About Fiji – My Costs to Travel Around Fiji on a Budget and Fiji’s Amazing Budget Resorts or All My Fiji Posts here.
Lash with giant tree ferns – Pukekura Park – New Plymouth, New Zealand
I Explored New Zealand for 6 Months
After planning an extensive & detailed cycling/hiking trip around NEW Zealand during my 20s, I finally made it here over two decades later. Happily, in contrast to Fiji, I was mostly quite impressed with NZ. To date, I’ve written 20 posts and created 8 photo galleries of stunning New Zealand. Find them all here.
starting ABel Tasman Track in Marahau
As a result of visiting New Zealand, I:
Hiked the Abel Tasman Coast Track
New Zealand’s famous Abel Tasman Coast Track is one of the hikes I’ve most wanted to do since my 20s. I finally made the 4 ½ day trek recently, and was not in the least disappointed, despite huge expectations built up over the years. Learn why it’s one of the Easiest Multi-Day Treks in the World.
Saw Glaciers for 1st time in my life
New Zealand’s Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are two of the most easily accessible glaciers in the world, due to their low elevations and proximity to residential areas. Visitors can make a short walk to the base of each glacier to marvel at their mass, roughness and astonishing blue interior ice glowing through.
Helicopters also take visitors on flights for aerial views and even landing on the glaciers to walk through shocking blue ice alleys and past magnificent ice formations. Although I coulnt’ afford the glacier walks or helicopter rides, I did get to walk through the glacial valleys to the terminal faces of both glaciers.
Here are my photos of the glaciers.
Close up of Franz Josef Glacier – New Zealand
Lash at world’s biggest Kauri tree – Waipoua Forest
Saw the World’s Largest Kauri Trees
Here’s another thing I ‘ve been wanting to see in New Zealand since my 20s – Kauris are native New Zealand trees found nowhere else in the world. They are one of oldest and largest growing trees in the world.
Sadly, most of the massive 2000-3000 year trees were hacked down by early Europeans in the 1800s. But a few ancient giants still stand, now protected by law, in Waiho Forest north of Auckland. I finally visited them, thanks to my lovely cousin, Sarah, who drove us up there one weekend. Thanks, girl! Read All About Kauris.
Lash at Bag’s End – Bilbo BAggin’s hobbit hole in Hobbiton
Visited Hobbiton
A more recent New Zealand dream of mine was to visit the movie sets of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit. I grew up with my mother reading those books to my brothers and I while out camping in US national parks. They were huge inspirations for me becoming the world traveler I am today. So it was a huge thrill to visit Hobbiton on a half-day tour. See my Photos of Hobbiton.
Hitch-hiked successfully Around New Zealand
In my 16 years of solo world travels I am most definitely not in the habit of hitch-hiking. I wouldn’t do it as a general practice, nor even at all, in most places in the world. I have hitched a few limited times in Japan and Bali. Otherwise, not at all.
So setting out to hitch-hike solo in New Zealand was a big deal for me. And it was really great. Read about my Hitch Hiking Experiences in NZ here.
Lash piloting stunt plane in New Zealand
Flew a Stunt Airplane!
Flying a Stunt Airplane wasn’t specifically on my travel agenda for New Zealand, but it proved to be one of the most exhilarating adventures of my entire life. Watch me scream my head off while flying a stunt plane into rolls & loops in this Flight Video with U Fly Extreme and hear my blow-by-blow account of the experience from the cockpit.
joining a vintage car road trip in NZ
Joined a Vintage Car Road Rally!
This was another unplanned and unexpected adventure that just fell in my lap while traveling around New Zealand. It just happened that a local couple I was staying with for work exchange had a vintage car road rally to join during the time of my visit. So they graciously invited me along! It was a real blast traveling with over a dozen gorgeous, refurbished vintage cars around the stunning Coromandel Peninsula. See my photos of the vintage car road trip.
Hitch-hiked successfully Around New Zealand
In my 16 years of solo world travels I am most definitely not in the habit of hitch-hiking. I wouldn’t do it as a general practice, nor even at all, in most places in the world. I have hitched a few limited times in Japan and Bali. Otherwise, not at all.
So setting out to hitch-hike solo in New Zealand was a big deal for me. And it was really great. Read about my Hitch Hiking Experiences in NZ here.
landscaping for HelpX
Work Exchange
A huge part of my financial strategy for traveling 6 months around ultra-expensive New Zealand was to join HelpX and do a bunch of work exchanges. Basically, I stay at local peoples’ homes and put in about 4 hours work per day in exchange for room and board. +
I’ve done at least a dozen HelpX gigs around New Zealand thus far. Mostly they’ve been wonderful experiences, which have allowed me to get to know the locals, stay in my own plush bedrooms in nice homes, practice my landscape gardening skills and travel around New Zealand much longer than I ever would have been able to do otherwise.
Read my posts about HelpX here.
with cousin Sarah in Auckland
I Re-connected with Several Friends & Relatives
As a result of traveling to Australia and New Zealand, I was able to visit several good friends of mine, all of whom I had not seen for years. That was fantastic.
In Australia I visited both Olivia and Kat, two long-term friends I’ve known for over 10 years. At Sunshine Coast I stayed with fairly new friends, Ian and Jeanette, rock climbers I know from Tonsai, Thailand days. I also got re-connected with my great cousin, Sarah, who I hadn’t seen since she was about 5 years old.
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Exciting Progress & Recognition at LashWorldTour:
* Elected #24 of Top 100 Travel Experts
In 2014 I was dubbed the #24 Top 100 World Travel Expert over on Runaway Guide. Rankings are based on number of countries visited, number of years traveling and travel expertise.
* My First Article Featured on Luxury Travel Blog
Luxury Travel Blog is ranked as #4 Travel Blog in the world, with over 400,000 monthly readers. It’s huge. So I was quite honored to have my 1st article ‘5 Unique Luxury Hotels in Singapore‘ published on the site in November. This is just the beginning, as I’ll be able to have more articles published there soon.
Coming up in 2015 for LashWorldTour:
* My Interview Will be Featured on Art of Non-Conformity
Art of Non-Conformity is another huge website with masses of followers. I’ve been interviewed for their ‘On the Road” series and will be featured in early 2015. Shhh… It’s not out yet! I’ll be sure to give a shout when it’s live, so stay tuned. :)
* I Joined Matador University!
Lash in Krabi, Thailand
Matador U is one of the best online schools for travel writing, photography and videography. I’ve been wanting to take their courses ever since I started professional travel blogging and writing.
And, ta da, I finally joined up in December!
I won’t actually start the courses until I finish traveling around New Zealand in late January. So this coursework is news for 2015, and it should be a significant development for me and LashWorldTour next year.
2015 – Bring It On!
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What were the highlights of 2014 for you?
What exciting travels or adventures are on your agenda for 2015?
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Hi! I'm Lash, an American nomadic world traveler who's been traveling solo since 1998. I’m passionate about traveling the world nomadically and then sharing it all with you. I hope to inspire you to travel the world, to entertain you with tales from the road, and to help you reach your travel dreams. Welcome! 
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