Discover Canada’s 38 Incredible National Parks

Canada, the second largest country in the world, is a vast land of immense proportions. It has one of the lowest population densities in the world; what that spells out to is a whole lot of wild space and not a whole lot of people. In Canada we’ve got single islands most Canadians have not …

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14 Unmissable European Pilgrimages

A guide to the best pilgrimages in Europe

by Anna from Camino Adventures Though most pilgrimages started as journeys of moral or spiritual significance, modern ones are not necessarily confined to the most faithful. Whether you are interested in learning about history, culture, and admiring spectacular landscapes, you want to test your physical aptitudes, or you are on your own spiritual journey, walking …

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Wenshan Hot Spring: Taroko Gorge’s Spectacular Secret

Wenshan Hot Spring, Taroko Gorge, Taiwan

One of Taiwan’s hidden gems is Taroko Gorge‘s Wenshan Hot Spring (文山溫泉, also sometimes spelled Wunshan Hot Spring or Taroko National Park Hot Springs), located in Xiulin township of visually stunning Hualien County. The awe-inspiring scenery, hidden location within a famous national park, and relative inaccessibility of this Hualien hot spring make it, in my …

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Visiting Lion’s Head Mountain and Nanzhuang Old Street in Taiwan

Lion’s Head Mountain (also known as Shitoushan or 獅頭山) is one of the most underrated attractions in Taiwan. Whether you enjoy hiking, are interested in Taiwan’s Buddhist and folk religious culture, want to spend a night in a temple, or simply want to get off the beaten track in Taiwan, Lion’s Head Mountain should be …

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Japan’s Sacred Kumano Kodo Walk in Winter

Kumano Kodo in winter

The Kumano Kodo is a network of pilgrimage trails that connect various Shinto-Buddhist sites in the mountainous Kii Peninsula south of Osaka and Nagoya, and is considered one of the world’s great pilgrimages that travelers can easily join. These expansive tracts of wilderness are replete with spiritual sights that have attracted pilgrims for 1000+ years, …

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Kumano Sanzan and Ise Grand Shrine: 4 Gorgeous Temples on the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage

Kumano Sanzan and the Ise Grand Shrine

In 2018 I visited Wakayama, a remote and wild region of Japan south of Osaka and Nagoya, to walk parts of the Kumano Kodo, a network of ancient pilgrimage trails. These trails are easily accessible, making them one of the best pilgrimages in the world for travelers. Besides these amazing hot springs at the eastern …

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How Hiking in New Zealand Transformed My Life

Hiking in New Zealand

This is not one of my typical “how to” travel guides, on the subject of hiking in New Zealand. Rather, it’s a personal story of transformation going back almost two decades, to a zen moment I had alone in the mountains of New Zealand, when I realized my life calling. If you are nature lover …

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