Laos

March 24, 2024May 25, 20241 Comment

Laos is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the region with 50 officially recognized groups and over 80 languages spoken. I didn’t know much about this country, other than it was the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, and that I was excited to spend time in the mountains. Despite some ups & downs (mostly due to disappointing hostels), I ended up really enjoying my time in Laos. Definitely worth a stop for any backpacker.

CITY: Vientiane

HOW LONG: 1 NIGHT

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at Nana’s Backpackers and it was one of my least favorite hostels I have ever stayed at. It just felt so dirty, like I worried about getting bed bugs immediately. Also it was oddly not social for how many people were there. Very dead vibe. I hated every minute of being here honestly haha. Couldn’t get out of here fast enough. Originally I was going to spend 2 nights in Vientiane because I thought the capital would warrant some time, but nope, there’s not much to do here so I quickly left the next morning.

WHERE TO EAT:

Nothing notable other than the night market here had some yummy looking options, but I had already eaten by the time I found it 😦

WHAT TO DO:

I went for a walk along the pretty dried up river (maybe it was low-tide?). Nothing of note. I then treated myself to an hour foot massage for $4 since I needed to pass the time and didn’t want to spend literally any time at the hostel.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Maybe I am being dramatic, but I just had a visceral reaction to Vientiane and just really, really didn’t like it. Luckily the next two stops made up for the rough start in Laos!

CITY: Vang Vieng

HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

I stayed at Vang Vieng Chill Hostel & Vang Vieng Backpackers Hostel. Both overall sucked, but it didn’t seem like there was a great hostel in Vang Vieng if I am being honest, and it seems like the consensus was that Chill House was the best of the worst. I hadn’t booked any accommodation here since after my bad experience in Vientiane, I wanted to physically see the hostel before committing to booking a room. I met a girl, Jess from the UK, on my bus from Vientiane who was staying here so I just followed her here. There was only room for me for one night so I moved to the other hostel for my 2nd & 3rd night. Luckily I had already made friends with Jess so it didn’t really matter that it wasn’t super easy to meet people at either of the hostels.

At Backpackers, the rooms were cramped, dark, filled with random moisture (& mold). The bathroom was gross & never was clean (even though I literally saw women cleaning it each day so not sure how that works). I tried to avoid spending time here as much as possible. Wifi was decent though haha.

WHERE TO EAT:

Unfortunately I wouldn’t say any restaurant or food experience was particularly memorable in Vang Vieng, but here’s a list of what we tried!

Naked Espresso– cute cafe with mediocre food

Bon Appetit – I needed a break from Asian food so I had a yummy pizza bread from here. Probably my favorite meal from Vang Vieng.

Kiwi Kitchen – A kiwi man opened this cafe up on the other side of the river. Jess & I had rented a scooter for the day so we just rode here, but it’s not too far on foot either. Food was pretty good but nothing spectacular.

Happy mango– This place is a top rated spot in town, and besides Bon Appetit, this was my other fav spot. I had pad see ew and it was delicious!

WHAT TO DO:

Lots of fun, outdoorsy activities to do in Vang Vieng. This is where Van Vieng shines! Jess & I rented a scooter for the duration of our time here. Made it easy to run around and do everything we wanted!

There are over 5 blue lagoons that you can check out while here. We visited #1 & #4 and by far #4 was superior. It’s the furthest so it means way less people go! There’s also a zipline & rope swing you can enjoy. I don’t think #1 is worth going to. Very busy and nothing special. Water feels dirty since there are so many people in it with you.

I didn’t go hot air ballooning since I had just gone in Turkey, but apparently Laos is one of the cheapest place you can go hot air ballooning in the world. Jess went and raved about it! It seems like it would be an incredible landscape to see from above.

We enjoyed sunset in a field across the river, which was only more spectacular with all the sunset hot air balloons in the air 🙂

Nam Xay viewpoint is a short, but steep 30 min hike up to a gorgeous 360 view of the valley. There’s also randomly two motorbikes that you can take photos on. Definitely worth doing this, but go earlier in the day to beat the heat & crowds!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

While I liked a lot of the activities in Vang Vieng, the town itself felt very inauthentic. It basically felt like a town that sprung up only to cater to the backpackers/tourists. No local people were milling about or mixing in. It was only hotels/hostels, restaurants, & tour operators in town. It just felt a little contrived. But the scenery was stunning, so I’m glad I got to experience it.

CITY: Luang Prabang

HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

Given the hostels were so gross in Vang Vieng, I had asked Sonja (who I had planned to meet up with here) if she wanted to share a private room somewhere instead of staying at a hostel. Once I met Jess in Vang Vieng, I also asked her if she wanted to join us. Unfortunately the hotel we booked kinda messed up our booking and then Jess ended up getting sick. Sonja & I ended up just walking around and finding a homestay to grab a room at (so Jess could recuperate on her own without worrying about getting us sick). It was much cheaper than anything we found online & we loved our little spot.

Don’t be afraid to just show up & walk around to find accommodation here. There were so many hotels + homestays in general, & plenty didn’t seem to have an online presence so we found many hotels with availability of varying price points. Ours ended up being around $50 per night.

WHERE TO EAT:

Saffron – my favorite cafe! I spent a few afternoons catching up on planning here! The ginger tea was delicious too!

Night Market – I loved the night market here! Great food options + decent amount of seating.

Two little birds cafe– small, family cafe with very yummy breakfast food!

WHAT TO DO:

The main thing to do is go to Kuang Si waterfalls and it is NOT to be missed! It might’ve been one of my top 5 waterfalls I have ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot of them at this point!). The roads weren’t great so instead of renting a scooter (which is an option), we just booked a tour (which basically just provided transportation). Sonja & I walked around the different levels of the waterfalls, grabbed a fresh coconut to help cool us off, and even went swimming in the falls! Absolutely a highlight of Laos.

We ate at the night market for dinner each night & loved strolling around the goods part of the market. I think this was my favorite for this aspect as many other markets seemed to just sell trinkets made in China. Like each stall had more or less the same thing. In Luang Prabang, it seemed like it had far more variety & craftsmanship. Lots of art & hand made goods. They even had lots of jewelry & other goods made from unexploded bombs (sad, but it was cool to see the creativity of repurposing the available resource).

Sonja & I honestly spent a lot of time catching up & playing cards in cute cafes as well as just meandering around the cute town. I also loved my morning runs!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

This was by far my favorite stop in Laos! I fell in love with the European vibe of Luang Prabang. It was slower, cleaner and felt far more “real.” There were locals AND tourists around town. The architecture was very charming. I loved the size of the town, as it wasn’t so big that you needed tuktuks to get around, but it wasn’t so small that you got bored in 2 days. I can’t tell you how nice it was to be able to run along the river in the mornings too! There was even a sidewalk for most of it – can you believe it?!

BUDGET FOR 7 DAYS IN Laos:

Accommodation: $144 ($20.5 per night) – This got very skewed because I paid for two private rooms for 3 nights in Luang Prabang – not ideal haha but luckily Laos is fairly cheap so it wasn’t too bad!

Food: $119

Groceries: $0

Activities: $35

Local Transportation: $45

Visa- $51

Total: $394 (Daily average: $56)

Transportation to next destination: $150 (flight to Vietnam)

Northern Thailand

March 19, 2024March 30, 20241 Comment

CITY: Bangkok

HOW LONG: 2.5* NIGHTS

I met my good friend & mentor KT for our first trip together! How fun that it’s all the way in Thailand! We took an overnight train to Chiang Mai so technically it was two nights in the hotel & one night on a train.

ACCOMMODATION:

As a break from hostels, we stayed in a very nice Marriott hotel with sweeping views of the Bangkok skyline. Very fun for me and a nice change of pace!

WHERE TO EAT:

Breakfast Story– leave it to me to always crave a Western breakfast, but I still just love a cute cafe to start my day.

We also had some lovely street food at the Floating Market, where our chicken friend rice was cooked on one of the boats – pretty cool!

WHAT TO DO:

So honestly, I don’t LOVE big Asian cities. I find them overwhelming, loud, & hot so I purposely only spent 2 days here. The highlight was visiting the Maeklong Railway Market & the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. It’s a little ways out of the city but both visits were pretty fun! It’s always wild to see the market completely close up the 8 times a day that a train rolls through. Definitely worth the visit. The floating market is cool because instead of walking around, you hop on a boat and just cruise through the canals to see all the stalls. It’s slightly hokey, but we enjoyed the fanfare and grabbed some fragrant coconut pancakes from another boat stall that was gliding past us at one point.

We also enjoyed a cool afternoon in a mall. I know it sounds weird to head to a mall, but the malls here are beautiful, luxurious, air-conditioned and had tons to do. We actually went to a fancy movie theater and got stuffed with popcorn. Sometimes it’s nice to do familiar things in very unfamiliar places!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Yeah so Bangkok wasn’t ever going to be my favorite place, but KT & I had fun exploring and just catching up!

Time for the Night train to Chiang Mai.

CITY: Chiang Mai

HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed at Thapae Loft Hotel and it was in a great location, within the walled in old city. Very clean, spacious and had all the amenities we needed: Small pool, attentive staff, decent wifi. The staff helped with recommendations and booking of activities.

WHERE TO EAT:

Obviously there’s plenty of street food that is delicious here, but it’s hard to recommend specific stalls haha. Here are my favorite restaurants we went to:

Kati breakfast and brunch
Coconut Shell – KT ordered the Khao soy soup, which is local dish.
Lemonn– Great for brunch – I had a yummy bacon egg omelet
Konjohn coffee 2– cute afternoon cafe vibes – I had an iced cacao drink & we played cards
See you soon cafe – another cute cafe option

Also, I loved getting Mango sticky rice for dessert. In Chiang Mai they use pea flowers to turn the rice blue!

WHAT TO DO:

Fresh off the overnight train, we decided to treat ourselves, and I mean TREAT ourselves, to a 4 hour spa treatment at one of the nicest spas in Chiang Mai: Makkha Spa Ancient House. I had a Thai Massage, Salt Body Scrub, Aromatherapy Massage & Facial (each an hour long). It was luxurious. Because this was at a higher end spa, it was “expensive” at $131… pretty wild.

Chiang mai is home to more than 300 temples so it would be impossible to see them all, but luckily there is a high concentration in the old city, so we just slowly meandered around town and saw plenty of them.

Our favorite activity was doing a Thai cooking class at a farm just outside of town! We had a blast trying to make some of our favorite dishes. It was a fabulous experience, and our culinary leader was very patient and great at explaining things to us. We were so stuffed by the end, we didn’t need dinner that night. Highly recommend doing this if you visit Chiang Mai!

The different menu options we could choose from

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I liked Chiang Mai far more than Bangkok. It was a great size, with a mixture of it being walkable but also not overwhelming. Plenty to do, but also you could have a lazy day just getting a massage & sitting at a cafe too. Just make sure to avoid burning season when you visit as the air quality can get pretty bad.

CITY: Pai

HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed at Ai Pai hotel, which was a cute, boutique hotel located near the end of one of the main roads. The grounds were lovely and the pool was very nice (although very cold while we were there). We enjoyed our stay here.

WHERE TO EAT:

There were tons of cute cafes here so we spent plenty of time sampling different drinks while playing cards, escaping the heat of the afternoons.

Highlights:

The Peddler– This was my favorite cafe. Great wifi, yummy breakfast options, lots of table options, and strong AC. It also happened to be a 1 min walk from out hotel. We ate here twice, and I also sat here and worked on the blog for an afternoon.
Lemon Thyme Bistro – another cute cafe with lots of great breakfast options – all day!

We loved going to the night market for dinner each night! Sometimes we’d get small snacks along the way as we perused so we got try lots of things and sometimes we would sit down and just order a big bowl of noodles. So many yummy things to try here!

WHAT TO DO:

The main things to do here are the drunken tubing on the river (lots of tour agencies will push this on you as you walk around the town). Luckily KT & I were on the same page that this was not of interest to us 🤣 beyond the tubing, folks like to rent scooters to explore the nature and see some waterfalls. However, due to the state of the roads & the prevalence of alcohol & drugs, Pai is notoriously filled with bandaged and bruised backpackers. Truly KT & I were astounded by the percentage of westerners that had some form of casts, bruises, or gauze wrapped around legs/arms. Pretty scary. We decided it wasn’t worth it to us. Given we only had two days here we just focused on walking around the town and enjoying its vibrant, hippie energy.

I also got my nails done here!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Pai was such a cute, sleepy, hippie town. It’s no wonder so many backpackers flock here. It’s very social, easy to get around since it’s so small, filled with cute restaurants & hostels, and just a lovely place to hole up for a while. I thoroughly enjoyed my short time here.

CITY: Chiang Rai

HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

After seeing reviews about how this small hostel quickly feels like family, I knew I needed to stay here. I’ve said this before, but big hostels tend to end up feeling more like hotels and it becomes hard to meet people. Small hostels (like less than 20 beds) create an environment where you quickly meet everyone who is staying there, thus making it incredibly easy to plug into an plans being made by others. Together Backpackers Hostel also hosted nightly dinners where they would walk us all over to the night market and get us a table. Inherently this meant, at 7pm the whole hostel would gather and you would meet any new arrivals. Loved it!

The beds were comfy, curtains provided privacy, lockers were big but also you quickly feel safe that no one in your room will steal your stuff if you leave it out. AC was strong, showers & bathrooms were clean, and WiFi worked great. Location was also close to everything you’d need. They also arrange for motorbike rentals.

Can you tell I loved this place? I wish all hostels could foster this environment. 10/10 would stay here again!

WHERE TO EAT:

The main place we ate was at the night market for dinner. I loved all the different options and we had some yummy dessert one night too!

We also visited the cat cafe in town for a drink and a snuggle with some cute cats.

WHAT TO DO:

Within 10 min of getting into my room, I met Flo (German), Mr T (Finnish), and Sonja (German). We hit it off and quickly made plans to explore the region on motorbike the next day! Sonja, ever the planner, had a whole list of places she had wanted to see so we just deferred to her as our tour guide.

The boys kindly drove and Sonja & I were happy to be passenger princesses ☺️

The highlights:

The White Temple – recently completed, this sparkling white temple is truly stunning! My jaw was open the entire time as we walked through. This might be my favorite temple I’ve ever been to! A must do in Chiang Rai.

The Akha Farmville sheep farm – when Sonja first suggested it, I looked at her as if she was crazy haha. Like what? But all the way up the hills above the clouds, you can find a very cute sheep farm! You even get a drink included in your entrance ticket. It was nice to get into some cooler air and hang with the sheep for a bit.

The Doi Chang view point– no one else was here, we even weren’t sure if we were getting ourselves lost on the way following google maps, but we eventually arrived. Beautiful views of the region.

Khun Korn Waterfall! A short hike brings you to a beautiful and big waterfall. We didn’t encounter too many people and the Germans even swam (I was too wimpy with the cold water 😆). Def with a visit!

Big Buddha (Wat Huay Pla Kang) – this is one BIG BUDDHA!! You even can take an elevator up 25 floors to take a view out of its eyes.

The Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten) – we were quite tired by this point, but we still enjoyed walking through the temple. It’s a stunning shade of blue!

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I have very fond memories of Chiang Rai, and we packed in a ton of stuff in my one day there! I also met Sonja, who I would end up overlapping in Laos and we might even be planning to see each other in Japan & beyond 👀). I’m not sure if me loving Chiang Rai was more about the people or the place itself… probably a lovely mixture of both.

BUDGET FOR 10 DAYS IN Northern Thailand:

Accommodation: $239 ($23.90 per night)- this was a mixture of small hotels with KT & a hostel while on my own in Chiang Rai. I also saved one night of accommodation on the overnight train!

Food: $88

Groceries: $0

Activities: $217

Local Transportation: $132

Miscellaneous: $34

Total: $710 (Daily average: $71) You can certainly spend less than this as I did plenty of spa treatments & stayed in some private rooms with KT. You would also spend less than this if you ate more street food & less at western style cafes (but they bring me so much joy!!).

Transportation to next destination: $180 (flight to Laos)

Two Week New Zealand Family Roadtrip

March 12, 2024March 12, 2024Leave a comment

After our incredible family trip in Fiji, the Nichols headed to New Zealand for a big adventure on the South Island. We flew to Christchurch before picking up a car to roadtrip our way to Queenstown. Ultimately we would embark on a bucket list adventure: the guided Milford Track! Will the Nichols survive another 2.5 weeks together in a car? Stay tuned!

CITY: Christchurch

HOW LONG: 2 NIGHTs

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed at this Airbnb. It was a great location (about a 5-10 min walk to the CBD) and the beds were super comfy. Unfortunately I had gotten sick at the end of our time in Fiji and was still recovering here, but this was a lovely place to be stuck in bed.

WHERE TO EAT:

Given I was still quite sick, I barely had energy to eat or leave the airbnb, but I did manage to get out for a meal at Riverside Market, a very cool food hall. It’s right on the Avon River, and it’s a great place for a drink, a treat, lunch, or dinner! Highly recommend a stop here.

WHAT TO DO:

Unfortunately being sick here meant I had no energy to do much here. The one thing I managed to drag myself out of bed for was some punting on the Avon! It’s a lovely way to pass some time in the afternoon. Enjoy a relaxing meander down the river. We had a beautiful sunny day & I was glad I got to do it. It’s also nice to just walk along the Avon River, which has beautiful green grass & trees to shade you.

The other thing I would recommend doing is checking out the Margaret Mahy playground. If it sounds weird to recommend a playground, hear me out. It’s a very cool all-ages, all-abilities playground that is truly worth seeing.

I headed back to the airbnb, but my parents & sister rode the cable car around the perimeter of town + also strolled through the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.

There’s also a gondola you can take to get some breathtaking panoramic views.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

While I wish I hadn’t been sick here and got to explore more, I still got very good vibes from Christchurch. Seemed like a very livable, approachable city.

CITY: Lake Tekapo

HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

This was probably my favorite airbnb of the trip! We honestly just absolutely loved spending our evenings watching the sunset + playing cards with the huge sliding glass doors completely open to the outdoors. Magical! Also the sunsets being at 9:30pm is something I could get used to.

WHERE TO EAT:

We ate at the airbnb mostly while here. Lake Tekapo is fairly small, but there are a few restaurants right next to the lake as well as some coffee shops.

WHAT TO DO:

We did three main activities while here:

Hiking to Mt. Cook – Hooker Valley Trail. This was incredible! No permit required, we just parked and started the ~7 mile out & back trail. We got very lucky and got views of Mt. Cook the entire time. Often clouds can obscure its visibility.

Tekapo Springs – We thought this would be more serene, natural, and relaxing. In reality, it’s more like a kids waterpark. We wouldn’t recommend it.

Hiking Mount John Summit- We hiked this loop right before going to the Tekapo Springs as you can park in the same place. Gorgeous views of the lake from the top- highly recommend!

Unfortunately we missed doing the Dark Sky Project – guided star gazing. We honestly thought it might hokey, but in all honestly I think we regret skipping it. Although, just “normal” star gazing from the airbnb was spectacular!

Also, just walking along the lake is beautiful. There were nice pathways along the lakefront with some art installations.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

While the actual town is quite small, we just loved sitting at our airbnb in the evenings (with the late, late sunsets) and watching the world go by. The views are stunning and the pace is so lovely & slow. The color of the lake is such a cool shade of blue. The mountains are gorgeous, and it’s nice that Mt. Cook is only an hour away. I would’ve happily stayed here a week, honestly. I really, really enjoyed our time here.

CITY: Wanaka

HOW LONG: 3 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

This was our Airbnb. While the airbnb itself was nice, it was too far to be able to walk into town, which was a bummer. Highly recommend prioritizing access to downtown Wanaka in whatever accommodation you book while visiting here. The highlight of the airbnb was the big tub outside on the patio. We all loved this for an evening soak, especially my mom & sister after they went horseback riding!

WHERE TO EAT:

Our favorite restaurant was Francesca’s. Very yummy Italian food. This place books up so make a reservation or plan to get it to go and eat by the water!

Brunch at Federal Diner is a must in Wanaka! My dad raved about the Comfort Kedgeree. Ellie & I loved “The Fix”: House made banana bread with Fix & Fogg chocolate & peanut butter 🙂

We also loved eating at the Brownston Street Food Truck market. They had probably over 10 different food trucks, all with yummy food! Something for everyone 🙂

WHAT TO DO:

My mom & sister went horseback riding and absolutely loved about it (it’s just not my thing so I skipped it).

I loved reading my book on the beach by the lake. I also took myself to a movie at the classic old Paradiso Theater. There are only three screens and some of the seating is cool, funky couches.

The highlight of our time in Wanaka was the 40km electric bike ride we did along the Dunstan Trail. From the website: The Lake Dunstan Trail is the 23rd and newest trail in the Ngā Haerenga Great Rides of New Zealand network and links the townships of Clyde and Cromwell. It was so much fun, but we were all very sore the next day! The trail ended near a winery so we took a much needed break for a lovely snack & drink in a beautiful setting, before returning to Wanaka.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I just love Wanaka. I would live here in a heartbeat. My parents thought the same. I think they are ready to spend a few months here sometime in the future! This is a must do stop on any NZ South Island itinerary!

CITY: Queenstown

HOW LONG: 4 NIGHTS

ACCOMMODATION:

We stayed in Queenstown one night before we left for the Milford Track and three nights upon our return. Honestly neither of the accommodations were note-worthy. Queenstown can be expensive and it can be hilly so I recommend booking early and looking for a place very close to the center of town so you are not huffing & puffing up the hill to your stay.

WHERE TO EAT:

Fergburger! Need I say more? The most famous burger joint in the world 🙂

We had a more fancy dinner at The Grille, which had excellent service and very yummy food.

I returned to my favorite brunch spot I ate at on my 2019 trip: Vudu Cafe

I loved going to CookieTime for a cookie dough milkshake! Although at this point I have mastered my own recipe for cookie dough, which I think is way better…. haha

Our favorite meal was at Bella Cucina our last night together. It’s very popular so get a reservation 🙂 The food was mouthwateringly delicious. It made our last evening together quite lovely. We loved reminiscing over this incredible trip over yummy food & great drinks.

WHAT TO DO:

I don’t even know where to start! There is literally so much to do in Queenstown, but make sure to bring your wallet hehe.

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of things to do (bold are the ones we did):

Luging
Bungy Jumping (there are a few places, but I’d recommend Nevis because it’s the biggest! If you are only doing it once, might as well go big)
Canyon Swing & Catapult (also at Nevis)
Hiking
Shotover Jet
Canyoning
Day trip to Milford Sound
Day trip to Arrowtown
Paragliding – wish I had done this – would’ve been amazing views on a sunny day
Swimming in the lake
Bike around the lake
Mountain biking
Skydiving

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Obviously I love Queenstown! It’s one of my favorite places in the world and I was very happy to spend another 3 days here. It’s very easy to fill your time in Queenstown and I love that there’s such a variety of activities between just enjoying the vibe of the town, shopping, eating yummy food, getting your adrenaline up, soaking up the lake views, & experiencing the nature. Can’t go wrong here! Would happily return here for a third visit anytime.

CITY: Milford Track

HOW LONG: 5 day/4 NIGHT adventure

You can either do the Milford Track on your own (thru hikers) which means you carry your tent, sleeping bag, & food, or you can pay a pretty penny to do a guided tour with Ultimate Hikes. They are the only company that you can do the guided hike with and it sells out as this is very popular so book ahead. This is a bucket list item for a lot of people, including my Dad!

The Milford Track is one of the “Great Walks” of New Zealand & you walk 54km (33.5 miles) through the heart Fiordland National Park and you end in the gorgeous Milford Sound.

ACCOMMODATION:

You stay in private lodges all four nights and they were all lovely. Each had everything you needed (even if it was fairly basic), but the views were always incredible. Also they all had fabulous common areas to hang with the other hikers in your group, play cards, stretch, & rest after the hard day’s hiking. I have nothing bad to say about the lodges. It’s pretty incredible how pleasant they are when they are literally located in the middle of nowhere and are only accessible by helicopter or by foot.

WHERE TO EAT:

LOL not much choice along this track 😉 But I cannot emphasize how incredible the food is along the trip. I am amazed at the freshness & quality of each meal (although lunch is build your own wrap or sandwich, but I am not complaining). Dinner each night had a few courses and you go to choose from a few options for your main course. I am not exaggerating when I say it was some of the best food we had on our trip,, which again is incredible when all the food has to be helicoptered in.

WHAT TO DO:

Hike 🙂 Here’s the official itinerary. The first day is pretty easy (1 mile). The second and fourth day are medium (10 & 13 miles, but fairly low elevation change). The third day is by far the hardest (9 miles, but you go up and over the pass). It’s the longest day and it’s hard on your knees. But it was also my favorite day as we had gotten rain the night before, so we were treated to hundreds of small & large waterfalls coming down the mountains and into the valley’s. It was so, so magical.

At the trailhead – we had no idea what we were in for 🙂

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

This was truly a top 3 moment of my trip so far, and that’s saying something given I’ve been traveling for 7 months and NZ was my 21st country of the trip. I’ve done tons of cool stuff, but the combination of being in the mountains (my favorite), the hundreds of waterfalls, being with my family, and meeting tons of new people, just made this such a special experience! While it’s not cheap (thanks Mom & Dad!!), I can highly recommend this trip if you like hiking in gorgeous nature. You won’t regret it.

Trip Summary

I can’t even truly put into words how much fun this trip was! How often do you get to go on a family vacation with your core family, but everyone is an adult? I loved all our deep conversations, learning more about one another, and even the tears 🙂 I mean would it be a Nichols family trip without some tears shed by me & Ellie haha. But, to be fair, we made a bet at the beginning of the trip on how many tears there would be, and it ended up being less than we expected – so not too shabby!! I can’t believe I got so lucky with my family ❤