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Ask Me: What Gear Do We Need for Backpacking in New Zealand?
Hi Mike, My buddy Nolan and I are backpacking the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand starting in January, and I’ve got a few gear questions I’d like to ask you. We’re just graduating high school and will...
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One Photo, One Story: Trekking New Zealand’s Kepler Track
By Michael Lanza After my friend Jeff Wilhelm and I reached the Luxmore Hut, where we planned to spend the first night of our three-day trek on the Kepler Track in New Zealand’s Fiordland National...
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Photo Gallery: Sea Kayaking New Zealand’s Milford Sound
By Michael Lanza A vast sea of liquid glass spread out before us as we aimed our kayaks out into Milford Sound, a 4,000-foot-deep fjord in Fiordland National Park, on the southwest coast of New...
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15 Adventures on Earth That Will Change Your Life
By Michael Lanza “Change your life.” That’s a tall order, isn’t it? I mean, how many experiences have that magnitude of impact on you? I can think of several that overhauled my perspective on life, or...
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My 10 Rules of Adventure Travel
By Michael Lanza I remember well my first big “adventure.” Two buddies and I, all 19, biked from our hometown in central Massachusetts to the summit of Mount Greylock—the highest peak in the state. It...
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My 25 Most Scenic Days of Hiking Ever
By Michael Lanza You’ve had days like this. Maybe it was a dayhike, or a single, exceptional day on a backpacking trip or hut trek—one so gorgeous and inspirational that it forges a lasting memory as...
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10 Really Cool Outdoor Adventures With Kids
By Michael Lanza Want to guarantee that your kids are always excited about getting outdoors as a family? Find adventures that excite them. We adults tend to look for nice scenery, but that, by itself,...
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Into the Mystic: Sea Kayaking Doubtful Sound In New Zealand’s Fiordland...
By Michael Lanza A light mist falls as our small adventure armada of nine sea kayaks cruises along the shore of Deep Cove, the farthest inland extremity of Doubtful Sound in New Zealand’s Fiordland...
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Off the Beaten Track in New Zealand: Trekking the Rees-Dart in Mount Aspiring...
By Michael Lanza We’ve hiked just thirty minutes from the trailhead when we hit the kind of view that frequently makes you stop and take a deep breath when trekking in New Zealand. The Rees River...
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Super Volcanoes: Hiking the Steaming Peaks of New Zealand’s Tongariro...
By Michael Lanza We have just begun our all-day hike over some of the volcanoes of New Zealand’s Tongariro National Park when a trailside sign conveniently itemizes the life-threatening hazards...
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River of Many Stories: Canoeing New Zealand’s Stunning Whanganui
By Michael Lanza Within minutes after launching our canoe into the chocolate-brown and, at the moment, tranquil Whanganui River, in the southwestern corner of New Zealand’s North Island, I begin to...
View ArticleFeatured Video: Hiking the Steaming Volcanoes of New Zealand’s Tongariro...
Tongariro National Park, on New Zealand’s North Island, was the world’s fourth national park, established just five years after Yellowstone. Hiking its active volcanoes is a wild journey across a...
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4 Top Outdoor Adventures in New Zealand
By Michael Lanza Have you adventured in New Zealand yet? If not, then why not? Some of my all-time favorite assignments for Backpacker magazine have involved trekking and paddling on this island...
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New Zealand’s Best, Uncomplicated Hut Trek: The Kepler Track
By Michael Lanza The forecast for New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park looks particularly grim, even for this chronically wet region that receives more than 30 feet of rainfall annually—or about 10...
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Hiking New Zealand’s Hardest Hut Trek, the Dusky Track
Jeff Wilhelm trekking the Dusky Trail in the Pleasant Range, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand. By Michael Lanza We step out of the Lake Roe Hut into a persistent drizzle, deep in what may be the...
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