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Hi there! We’re Katie & Ben.

We seek adrenaline rushes, good food, authentic experiences and adventures off the typical tourist path. Follow along for responsible & adventurous travel tips, and inspiration that'll get you packing!

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WELCOME TO OUR INSTA WORLD

Follow our wandering soles around the world & watch our everyday stories.

One of my favorite things to do while hiking is to look down at where I came from and remind myself that my LEGS brought me all the way up to where I’m standing.
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Growing up, I was always self conscious of my legs. I told myself they were too short, not toned enough, not skinny enough… And for years I believed this.
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But today, I love my legs. They can bring me to the top of mountains. They have allowed me to run a marathon, a triathlon and several half marathons. They let me play and wander and bend and do cartwheels. They let me dance and ride a bicycle and pretend I can rock climb. And I’m damn lucky to have them.
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This doesn’t mean that there aren’t days where I wish they looked differently or outfits I put on that I don’t feel are flattering. But the other day when we hiked to Isthmus Peak near Wanaka (an insanely cool hike if you’re in New Zealand — check our stories for more pictures!), I kept looking down and saw our campervan in the lot below get smaller and smaller. And pretty soon we were so high up I couldn’t see it anymore.
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“My legs carried me up here,” I told myself as I looked at the tiny specks below.
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I was out of breath and tired, but in that moment I felt strong and powerful: short, imperfect legs and all.

Things that make me happy:
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1. Spring flowers
2. Campsites with epic views
3. A hot meal on a cold day
4. Meeting up with family thousands of miles from home!
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The last 2 days have consisted of all of these things.
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My brother is here in New Zealand doing a working holiday visa, and we are so happy it worked to meet up with him and have drinks under a sky full of stars at one of the most epic campsites I’ve ever seen (can’t wait to share this gem with you, plus many more, when we start getting some articles up about NZ!).
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Oh, and tonight another good friend who is traveling in New Zealand at the same time is meeting up with us tonight! So many things to be happy about 💛

Well, today turned out differently than we had planned… I really had it in my mind that I wanted to go to a backcountry hut, and we reserved our beds and paid a month ago (they book out really far in advance!). We packed our bags last night and woke up early this morning all set to go.
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But when we arrived at the ranger center, they told us the conditions were bad. Really bad. Super high winds, chance of rain, crampons and ice axe required… Let’s just say that our ice axe skills need some sharpening (hehe see what I did there ⛏😂).
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So the weather changed our plans. And this certainly isn’t the first time. In Japan, we made it all the way to Mount Fuji to see… CLOUDS and nothing else. While traveling in India, the heat was so extreme we canceled a desert trip I’d been dreaming about (which would have been awful in 110 degrees!) and sat in the AC for 24 hours straight. When we were in Vietnam, we went to a small town where our 2-day stay turned into 6 because it was so foggy we couldn’t even see a meter in front of us, and we really wanted to wait it out for the sun.
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I hate missing out on things like this, but I’ve been getting better and better and letting it go. It’s out of our control, and it would have been stupid of us to trek in conditions we weren’t prepared for. Plus, the extra day opened up some time for us to get a bit of work done, do a hike we wound’t have done otherwise and get to our campsite early and relax with 🍷🍷🍷
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Has the weather ever changed your travel plans? // And also can we take a minute to appreciate just how beautiful the scenery is here?!

We made it to New Zealand 🇳🇿 Here are some updates:
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1. This is our home for the next month. His name is Dobby.
(Check out our Instagram story to find out why!)
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2. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know that we built our own campervan and lived in it for 3 months, so we are soooooo excited to be living the #vanlife again 🙌
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3. There really ARE sheep everywhere 🐑🐑🐑
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4. This country is freakin’ beautiful. I have already taken 727 photos. No, I am not exaggerating 🙈
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Get ready to be bombarded with more photos and stories soon!
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🚐 @madcampersnz

And just like that, the sun has set on our last day in Bali 🌞
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Feeling so many mixed emotions today as we close one chapter and begin another...
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Bali has been an incredible home for the last 3 months. We’ve eaten our weight (and then some!) in good food. We’ve met the kindest people and experienced small glimpses of a beautiful culture. We have been spoiled with nightly beachside sunsets and weekly massages. ✧
And on a more boring note (but equally important to us!), Bali has been a place that we’ve been able to reeaally delve into our work.
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We can’t help but to be sad about saying goodbye to a place that has brought us so much joy (and productivity!), yet, we’re beyond-words-excited to be boarding a plane in just an hour bound for New Zealand.
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Get ready to be overloaded with mountains, campervan pictures, and bad puns about Lord of the Rings (which will be entirely Ben’s doing!).

✨ Right here, right now.
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Yesterday morning on Ben’s birthday we went to a yoga class. I was there in this beautiful open-air studio, surrounded by rice fields and all I could think about is how much I have to do…
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We just returned from our scuba trip, and tomorrow we fly out to New Zealand. My inbox is eXploDing, we have contracts we need to finish up, we have planning for this next big trip we need to do, and we have a few last minute things we want do here in Bali before we leave. Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned packing. I’m getting a little anxious just writing this.
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I’m there on my mat with my mind in a million places, and the teacher says we’re going to work on balance postures. “When balancing,” she says, “It’s important not to let your mind wander. You must be in this moment. Right here. Right now.”
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Does that ever happen to you when someone is speaking to a group, but you feel like they are READING YOUR MIND and talking only to you?!
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So I listened. I felt my feet on the mat. The warm breeze on my skin. I felt my breath as it expanded my lungs and left my body. I heard the dim music blending with a dog barking and wind chimes clinking.
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✨ Right here, right now.
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I don’t know about you, but too often, I am thinking about the next thing. And that takes away from the present moment.
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No matter how many things are on your to do list, you can take a minute to recenter yourself. To be really present in this moment. Right here, right now. Feel your feet on the earth. Listen to the noise around you.
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✨ Right here, right now.

This guy right here is celebrating his birthday today, and I could not be more grateful to be at his side.
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If you don’t know Ben personally, here’s a little glimpse of that ginger guy you keep seeing in pictures...
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Ben is the kind of person who will go out of his way to make others feel welcomed, included and appreciated. And man oh man, is he patient. (Maybe it has something to do with the fact that his last name starts with "Z", so he was always last in line in school. Wherever it came from, the level of patience he has is seriously impressive. And quite honestly, hard to live up to!)
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He is eternally optimistic, and looks for the best in people and in situations. He is humble. He listens. Like, reaaally listens.
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Ben has such a good heart. It’s not uncommon for me to lose him in a crowd and find him helping a stranger pick up a bag of dropped groceries or looking up directions for a someone on his phone.
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He values honesty, integrity and hard work over all else and is constantly pushing me to be a better person. To learn, to grow, to be more grateful (even when I don't feel like it!).
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So here's to you, Ben. My favorite dive partner, hiking buddy, travel companion. You're my favorite person to celebrate grand adventures with, and the only person I would want to endure the boring things with too, like night buses and lines at immigration (which is saying a lot!).
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👉 P.S. Ben would never make a big deal of this, but he LOVES celebrating birthdays. (He calls November his "Birthday Month" and reminds me weeks ahead of time exactly how many days there are until his birthday!) So help me make his day and wish him a Happy Birthday 🎉

Can you spot our cozy home?! (Hint: 🛥)
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After 15 dives and 5 days spent on a boat in pristine waters, we are back on dry land. I thought I’d be ready, but I’m already missing days where the only things on my schedule are: Dive, Eat, Sleep, Repeat.
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We dived with dolphins, and sharks and manta rays (SOOOO many mantas!). We saw colorful corals swarming with fish that make “Finding Nemo” and “The Little Mermaid” look boring.
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We made friends from all over the world, and finally had time to just lay on a hammock with a book and read. (For fun!)
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One thing that always sticks with me after diving is how there’s this entire world out there that we take for granted. Most of us look out into the ocean and we see waves, but we don’t see all the life that takes place below the surface.
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Each time I glimpse just a tiny piece of this mysterious underwater world, I am reminded how we need to fight to protect it. To protect the fish and the corals. The dolphins, the manta rays, the eels and the sharks. And each time I dive, I get slightly more addicted.
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If you’re a scuba diver (or have dreams of becoming one!), you should really look into booking a liveaboard trip. This trip with @dragondivekomodo was our 2nd liveaboard, and it’s safe to say we’re hooked!
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We’re really excited to share more info, pictures and stories soon. (And rumor has it, Ben’s even creating a video, so keep your eyes peeled for that!)
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// @diving.liveaboard

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