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New Zealand, known in Maori as Aotearoa, or Land of the Long White Cloud, is truly a land apart. Consisting of two large Islands, North Island and South Island, and many smaller islands, this isolated South Pacific nation sits some 2000 kilometers...
- Type: Article
- Author: Verge Staff
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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When Joseph Otari declared the forest he owned just outside of Wellington protected land, he was defying the times. During the early colonial land clearing days, there wasn’t much that was spared. His foresight would result in one of the most...
- Type: Article
- Author: Megan Tady
- Category: Volunteer Abroad
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I just danced the merengue with a hard-nosed communist. That shouldn’t have surprised me, I know. They dance to the same melodies as us capitalists and even socialists for that matter. Nevertheless, I am surprised to be resting in this elderly man’s...
- Type: Article
- Author: Andrea Gourgy
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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I am sitting on a bench outside Haldwani bus station, a rural chicken stop in the far north of India. I have a five-hour wait to make my connection to Chandigarh; I’ve brought nothing to read, and my camera gave up the ghost six weeks ago in Ajanta....
- Type: Article
- Author: Fred Sengmeuller
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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Verge asked six seasoned explorers, "What do you NEVER leave behind?" Here's what the experts had to say. Les Stroud: a.k.a. "Survivorman" Just back from filming a survival story in the mountains of Colorado for Discovery US, and a family sea-kayaking...
- Type: Article
- Author: Verge Staff
- Category: Budget Traveller
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An award-winning documentary draws attention to a Canadian company's role in Ecuador's oil mess. An Ecuadorian reaches his cigarette lighter into a muddy hole and lights the ground on fire. He then touches a piece of paper to the wet, burning mud and...
- Type: Article
- Author: Tom Peacock
- Category: Why we travel
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War reporting for the plugged-in generation. It’s fast, mobile and to the point. It’s also deadly serious. Kevin Sites travels light, fast and alone. One of a new breed of 'backpack journalists,' he's midway through a one-year tour of the world's war...
- Type: Article
- Author: James Stairs
- Category: Why we travel
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Robert Young Pelton has found his way into, and out of, more conflict zones than most can name. Verge asked him why he does it—and how. He is not “Indiana Jones” or “the Duke of Hazards”. He is not all about danger for danger's sake. Robert Young...
- Type: Article
- Author: Jeff Minthorn
- Category: Why we travel
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In Nangi, Nepal, graduating from grade 5 is a serious matter. Who could fail to be moved by the sight of these hill farmers waiting patiently above the courtyard of the Nangi elementary school for their children’s Grade 5 results ceremony to begin? All...
- Type: Article
- Author: Fred Sengmueller
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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At last count, Aki Ra has defused over 20,000 landmines—the same number he estimates he laid as a child. It is 40 degrees in Siem Reap and Aki Ra has recently returned from the jungle. Young orphan monkeys climb up his leg, fighting for his attention...
- Type: Article
- Author: Ethan Ribalkin
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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With major European powers at its doorstep, Morocco has long had to cope with foreign interests as well as internal strife. Independent since the mid-1900s, the country is a constitutional monarchy, with a powerful king at the helm. The current king...
- Type: Article
- Author: Verge Staff
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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'Lawrence of Arabia,' 'Babel,' and Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' were all shot in Morocco—the country has a certain mystique that has captivated the West. Simon Worsfold discovers what makes this desert country so special. How are you...
- Type: Article
- Author: Simon Worsfold
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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Albert Koehl finds that, in Morocco, being a conspirator is sometimes part of the fun. My co-conspirator glances back at me furtively as he turns the corner into a narrow alley. He is close enough that I can hear his sandals scraping against the ground...
- Type: Article
- Author: Albert Koehl
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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In a city where street kids don't often make it to school, a bus brings learning to their doorsteps. It’s 7 a.m. in Mumbai. Eleven-year-old Rangita awakes to a cacophony of morning traffic just metres from where she lies, separated by a mere plastic...
- Type: Article
- Author: Brent Lewin
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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A fair-trade coffee cooperative in Nicaragua uses tourism to put much-needed dollars to work in their communities. “It was the right thing to do after recovering from my illness,” says 73-year-old Aristedes Zeledon. He’s standing proudly on a...
- Type: Article
- Author: Matthew Kadey
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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Darin Cook recalls his challenges as an ESL teacher in South Korea. I may have broken the English language. I may have inflicted a disservice to the linguistic excellence of my mother tongue. I may have shattered the modern world’s lingua franca. I’m...
- Type: Article
- Author: Darin Cook
- Category: Work Abroad
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In a developing country, conservation can be a tough sell. "No touch di wall eh wah messit up fo eva." We were at the entrance to Crystal Cave in Belize’s Blue Hole National Park (BHNP). Isreal 'Junior' Manzenero, a warden, had briefed us in thick...
- Type: Article
- Author: Kyle Dickman
- Category: Volunteer Abroad
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Intrigued by the smoking tin cans peddled on the streets of Kabul, Brent Lewin decides to get to the bottom of it. Every expat in Kabul is familiar with the demoralizing frustration of an afternoon stuck in traffic. Each minute spent in gridlock can...
- Type: Article
- Author: Brent Lewin
- Category: Beyond the Guidebook
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Avi Lewis' acclaimed documentary The Take inspired many with its message of hope: hope that economic alternatives exist, and that change can happen at a grassroots level. He even convinced himself—and that has given way to a whole new project. In a...
- Type: Article
- Author: Andrea Gourgy
- Category: Why we travel
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They're everywhere, often difficult to detect until it's too late, but when they strike, you'll know you've been had. Parasites can ruin even the best-laid travel plans. One parasite, the little-studied, often-misidentified traveller’s parasite...
- Type: Article
- Author: Albert Koehl
- Category: Travel Health
