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What is PhotoSeek’s favorite country to visit?

New Zealand (read Tom’s complete guide) is my favorite international destination (visited in 2019, 2007, 1998, 1992 and 1981). Runner-up favorites are discussed further below.

New Zealand

Scenery in the South Pacific paradise of New Zealand varies dramatically in short distances, perfect for touring by campervan, car, bicycle, feet, and jetboat. New Zealand is bigger than the UK, smaller than Japan, and about the size of Colorado − a perfect escape for 2 to 8 weeks. Fully 30% of New Zealand is preserved in parkland, very attractive for wilderness lovers. Exotic, yes! Three-fourths of the country’s plant species are endemic (found nowhere else). Experience exceptional diversity within short travel hops.

This English-speaking country has very friendly people with excellent law, order, and safety. Cities proudly offer excellent “i-Sites” (tourist offices) which distribute free highway maps, free pamphlets, free lodging and campground directories, and free booking service.

Rent a campervan or car and stay in comfortable motor camps with cabins as we do. Economical motor camps offer great variety & value, with kitchens & bathrooms available as private or shared.

With seasons reversed Down Under, we visitors from the Northern Hemisphere can escape winter blahs to enjoy summer fun. Jet lag is only 3 hours from western America (Pacific Standard Time, PST) to New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT).

A Maori woman blows a conch horn to signal villagers at Tamaki Maori Village, an evocative cultural re-creation near Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand. Published in Mountain Travel Sobek 2010 trip catalog. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)

On New Zealand’s North Island:

On New Zealand’s South Island, our favorite wilderness escape abroad:

  • Hike well-maintained trails through lush native beech rain forest to an abrupt, surprisingly-low-elevation timberline around 1250 meters in the Southern Alps, with permanent snowline above 2000 meters, capped with scenic glaciers. The delightful alpine zone is patrolled by the clownish kea, the world’s only alpine parrot. Admire hanging glaciers and waterfalls in a day hike along the amazing Rob Roy Valley Track.
  • Preventable sandfly bites are the only negative about tramping on the wet side of the Southern Alps.
  • Admire glacier-covered Mount Cook which rises abruptly like a knife to 3724 meters or 12,218 feet (updated in 2013). Although it poses a daunting challenge for climbers, you can easily see Mount Cook from roads and good hiking trails (Sealy Tarns, Hooker Valley Track, and Lake Matheson boardwalk). Mount Cook is the world’s 39th most prominent peak relative to its surrounding topography.
  • Walk to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, which extend tongues of ice uniquely into lush temperate rainforest, down to 300 meters (980 feet) above sea level.
  • Admire the wild and scenic seacoast (Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, Nydia Track, Queen Charlotte Track, and Nugget Point) and spectacular fiords / fjords (drive to Milford Sound then cruise or sea kayak).
  • At Christchurch Airport, see the fascinating International Antarctic Center exhibits, multi-media show, and sea spider aquarium.

Throughout the country, hike (tramp) along excellent trails (Tracks) and Walkways, optionally staying overnight in convenient refuges (Huts).

  • Our favorite multi-day wilderness tracks with overnight huts include: Rees-Dart Track, Routeburn Track, Gillespie Pass Circuit including Siberia Hut to Crucible Lake (The Siberia Experience), Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track, Hollyford Track, Kepler Track, Milford Track, and Pouakai Track (Mount Egmont/Taranaki).
  • Planes, buses, tour boats, jet boats, and water taxis efficiently assist one-way hikes or round-trip tours.
  • Relax or hike on a variety wonderful beaches on South Island (such as Abel Tasman National Park and Moeraki Boulders) and North Island (Coromandel Peninsula, Ninety Mile Beach, and many more).
Sunrise brightens Mount Sefton (left) and Aoraki / Mount Cook (right) in Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand. In 1990, UNESCO honored Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand as a World Heritage Area. Panorama stitched from 3 overlapping photos. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)
Sunrise brightens Mount Sefton (left) and Aoraki / Mount Cook (right) in Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, South Island, New Zealand. In 1990, UNESCO honored Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand as a World Heritage Area. Panorama stitched from 3 overlapping photos.

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More natural wonders worldwide

Sharp spires of the Geisler/Odle Group soar above a hiker on green Alpe di Seceda, above St. Christina and Ortisei, in South Tyrol, the Dolomites, Italy, Europe. The beautiful ski resort of Selva di Val Gardena (German: Wolkenstein in Gröden; Ladin: Sëlva Gherdëine) makes a great hiking base in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (South Tyrol) region of Italy. For our favorite hike in the Dolomiti, start from Selva with the first morning bus to Ortisei, take the Seceda lift, admire great views up at the cross on the edge of Val di Funes (Villnöss), then walk 12 miles (2000 feet up, 5000 feet down) via the steep pass Furcela Forces De Sieles (Forcella Forces de Sielles) to beautiful Vallunga (trail #2 to 16), finishing where you started in Selva. The hike traverses the Geisler/Odle and Puez Groups from verdant pastures to alpine wonders, all preserved in a vast Nature Park: Parco Naturale Puez-Odle (German: Naturpark Puez-Geisler; Ladin: Parch Natural Pöz-Odles). UNESCO honored the Dolomites as a natural World Heritage Site in 2009. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)
My wife Carol and I enjoy escaping urban areas to athletically explore natural wonders. We especially love the mystery and beauty mountains. Below are some highlights from each continent we’ve visited.

The “favorite” links in this article are a subset of my complete SITE MAP: INDEX of PhotoSeek contents.

Europe

Trains and lifts make the majestic Alps the world’s easiest mountains to visit with public transportation.

  • Visit spectacular Switzerland for an ideal mountain vacation in one of the world’s safest and most democratic countries. Admirably, the Swiss love nature, preserve diverse cultural traditions in four official languages, and exemplify progressive values.
  • The stunning Dolomites of Italy make a perfect hiking trip combined with romantic Venice, via its convenient airport. The Dolomiti range may be the world’s most impressive concentration of knife-shaped peaks served with ski resort lifts convenient for summer hikers. You can easily day hike (staying in comfortable three-star hotels reached by rental car or bus), or trek long distances from hut to hut (sleeping in rifugio dormitories), or climb exciting via ferrata routes.

On hiking trips in 2011 and 1981, the beautiful fjords, mountains, and people of Norway touched my heart deeply. Foreign language poses no barrier for kindred spirits (plus most Norwegians speak English). Experience natural wonders, charm, culture, and history within the world’s most democratic country.

While Greece is well worth visiting (especially romantic Santorini Island and the rugged northern mountains of Zagori), the exotic Republic of Turkey offers more variety, the friendliest people, and spans 9000 years of history.

Asia

The magnificent Himalaya in Nepal impresses you with diverse human cultures living on the flanks of soaring summits. Due to the country’s relatively poor health conditions, wash hands frequently and be careful what you eat.

North America

A hiker chimneys up the narrow walls of Zebra Slot Canyon, in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah, USA. Directions to unmarked trailhead for Zebra and Tunnel Slot Canyons: From Escalante town, drive 6 miles east on Highway 12, turn right on Hole-in-the-Rock Road, drive 7.8 miles to the third cattle guard and park on west side of road. Hike east on well-trodden but unmarked path, 5 miles round trip to Zebra Slot, plus an optional 3 miles round trip to Tunnel Slot (750 feet gain over 8 miles), using map from GSENM Visitor Center or canyoneeringusa.com. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)

Canada:

  • The Canadian Rockies rival any mountains in the world for breathtaking natural beauty, easily reached on paved highways, great for bicycling.

United States of America:

  • Big and brawny, the USA has an abundance of world-class natural wonders. The West is best:
  • Utah has the world’s best concentration of slot canyons, natural arches, and colorful desert canyon country favored with mostly sunny weather, great in Spring and Fall. As of 2020, Utah has attracted me to visit 19 times, more than any other area in the world! Extend your visit to nearby wonders in Arizona (such as Grand Canyon of the Colorado River) in Southwest USA.
  • Washington (my home base) is one of the most ecologically and scenically diverse states in the USA.
  • Yellowstone (Wyoming) has the world’s best concentration of geysers and geothermal features.
  • Montana‘s Glacier National Park is a hiking paradise on the wildly spectacular Rocky spine of North America.
  • Hawaii offers some of the best hiking in the world, with striking natural beauty attracting me six times (as of 2017).
  • Alaska hosts the rugged margins of American culture in a superlative, wild landscape.

South America

:Golden sunrise light hits lenticular (lens-shaped, UFO-like) clouds capping Nevado Yerupaja Grande (6635 m or 21,770 ft), Peru's second highest peak. Seen from Incahuain / Jahuacocha campground on Day 9 of 9 days trekking around the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Andes Mountains, one day's walk from LLamac village, Peru, South America. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)

The Andes (PeruEcuador, Chile, Argentina) rival the size of the Himalaya, and their slopes thrive with colorful traditional cultures such as the Quechua people, the direct descendants of the Inca.

Ecuador offers incredible variety, from the Andes Highlands to the Galapagos Islands, a wondrous adventure for children and adults. Families and wildlife lovers should put the wonderful Galapagos Islands at the top of their dream travel list. This fabulous eco-adventure attracted me thrice as a warm escape from Seattle’s wet winter and early spring (April 8-27, 2009; February 21-March 3, 1994; and January 12-26, 1986).

Argentina and Chile are beautiful and varied, making a great reverse-season escape to summer (January-March) away from the Northern Hemisphere’s winter. Buenos Aires, “the Paris of the South,” attracts we lovers of Tango music and dancing. The wild beauty of Cerro Fitz Roy and Torres del Paine brought me back for a repeat visit in 2020, which added a driving loop from Bariloche to Tronador volcano to the new Patagonia National Park. Argentina is much bigger than New Zealand, requiring more travel time between sights, from Mendoza wine region and Iguassu Falls (both not yet seen) to Patagonia.

Antarctica

Pristine Antarctica is remote, very cold, yet alluring − best seen in combination with a trip to Patagonia (southern Chile or Argentina), where you board a ship from the port of Ushuaia, on the Island of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. 10 days is the shortest cruise to the scenic Antarctic Peninsula; we cruised for 12 days. Find a ship with the fewest passengers (90-130) to increase your land excursion time. Don’t forget a prescription medicine patch to prevent motion sickness across the rough Drake Passage (5 days round trip on treacherous seas). If affordable, extend your voyage (22 days) to spectacular South Georgia Island to see vast colonies of Emperor Penguins.

Australia/New Zealand

A Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinus) is shown at Bonorong Wildlife Park, Briggs Road, Brighton, Tasmania, Australia. Wombats are burrowing grass eaters, and can be thought of as the marsupial ecological equivalent of a bear. Wombats are found in forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of southeast Australia including Tasmania, plus an isolated group in Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland. The three living species of wombats are marsupial mammals in the Vombatidae family. They dig extensive burrow systems with rodent-like front teeth and powerful claws. Their unusual backwards-facing pouch avoids gathering dirt onto its young. Although mainly crepuscular and nocturnal, wombats also venture out to feed on cool or overcast days. Wombats are herbivores, mostly eating grasses, sedges, herbs, bark and roots. Published on Australian geocaching coin 2010, displayed in support of Wilder Foundation 2009, 2010, and exhibited at Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal 2007. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)

Big countries such as Australia require many extra transit days via ground transportation to reach the highlights. Save time by coordinating multiple internal flights with rental cars and practical campervan rentals. Carol and I escaped Seattle’s winter for 7.5 weeks exploring some great forest parks in southern Australian summer, January 26-March 18, 2004. We most enjoyed Australia’s exotic animals and plants. We returned in 2023 to see a total solar eclipse and explore northern regions including Cairns, Kimberley, Darwin, and Kakadu plus Indonesia (Komodo dragons and Kelimutu).

In a nutshell, New Zealand has been our favorite country to visit outside of the USA. Five visits to New Zealand satisfied my curiosity.

After our most recent visit to New Zealand in 2019, I was most excited about returning to hikes in the European Alps. After a solo trip in 2023 to Bavaria, Tyrol, and the Dolomites filled some missing corners — my seventh extensive adventure in the Alps — I felt comfortably sated.  

My inner drive for travel still yearns to see what’s over the far horizon and around the next corner. In February 2024, I’ll visit Africa for the first time, climbing Mounts Meru and Kenya and enjoying safari adventures in Tanzania and Kenya. 

When we’re not flying abroad, North America inspires many RV trips, especially in the West. In November 2023, we’ll sell the 4.5-year-old RV and switch to renting one as needed — to save on maintenance, storage, time, and money. Many fun rentable camping vehicles exist in Seattle and worldwide. Yearly tax, licensing and insurance on our owned recreational vehicle could pay for 11 days of an equivalent RV rental. In fact, an owned RV needs to be used about 10+ weeks per year to break even costwise.

International travel opens our outlook on a diverse world of wonders and human commonalities. I find that most people worldwide enjoy hosting guests and employing the Golden Rule, the ethic of reciprocity — to treat others as oneself wants to be treated.

Tom Dempsey, creator of PhotoSeek.com
Seattle, Washington, USA
August 29, 2023

More New Zealand images

South Pacific Ocean waves released the spherical Moeraki Boulders onto Koekohe Beach, between Moeraki and Hampden on the Otago coast, South Island, New Zealand. These ancient concretions grew 2 meters (6 feet) in diameter over 4 to 5.5 million years from marine mud (Moeraki Formation mudstone) near the surface of the Paleocene sea floor. After the concretions formed, large cracks (septaria) formed and filled with brown calcite, yellow calcite, and small amounts of dolomite and quartz when a drop in sea level allowed fresh groundwater to flow through the enclosing mudstone. (© Carol Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)
South Pacific Ocean waves released the spherical Moeraki Boulders onto Koekohe Beach, between Moeraki and Hampden on the Otago coast, South Island, New Zealand. These ancient concretions grew 2 meters (6 feet) in diameter over 4 to 5.5 million years from marine mud (Moeraki Formation mudstone) near the surface of the Paleocene sea floor. After the concretions formed, large cracks (septaria) formed and filled with brown calcite, yellow calcite, and small amounts of dolomite and quartz when a drop in sea level allowed fresh groundwater to flow through the enclosing mudstone. (© Carol Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)

Trees frame Lake Waikaremoana along the Panekiri Bluff trail in Te Urewera National Park, North Island, New Zealand. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)
Trees frame Lake Waikaremoana along the Panekiri Bluff trail in Te Urewera National Park, North Island, New Zealand. Published in “Light Travel: Photography on the Go” by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.

Trampers hike the Tongariro Crossing beneath Mount Ngauruhoe (2291 metres or 7516 feet elevation), which last erupted in 1975 in Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand. In 1990 and 1993, UNESCO honored Tongariro National Park as a World Heritage Area and Cultural Landscape. Tongariro National Park served as a location for fictional Mordor and Mount Doom in the "Lord of the rings" Motion Pictures. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)
Trampers hike the Tongariro Crossing beneath Mount Ngauruhoe (2291 metres or 7516 feet elevation), which last erupted in 1975 in Tongariro National Park, North Island, New Zealand. In 1990 and 1993, UNESCO honored Tongariro National Park as a World Heritage Area and Cultural Landscape. Tongariro National Park served as a location for fictional Mordor and Mount Doom in the “Lord of the Rings” Motion Pictures. Published in “Light Travel: Photography on the Go” by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010.

A tramper hikes on sandy Mutton Cove Beach, along the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand. Book huts using the Great Walk reservation system. (© Tom Dempsey / Photoseek.com)
Tramper Carol hikes on sandy Mutton Cove Beach, along the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand. Book huts using the Great Walk reservation system. (© Tom Dempsey / Photoseek.com)

Sunrise illuminates the curious tors and tarns (crags and ponds) on Hump Ridge, a track (trail) for trampers (hikers and trekkers) in Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand. In 1990, UNESCO honored Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand as a World Heritage Area. Published in "Light Travel: Photography on the Go" book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. Panorama stitched from 5 overlapping images. (© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com)
Sunrise illuminates the curious tors and tarns (crags and ponds) on Hump Ridge, a track (trail) for trampers (hikers and trekkers) in Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand. In 1990, UNESCO honored Te Wahipounamu – South West New Zealand as a World Heritage Area. Published in “Light Travel: Photography on the Go” book by Tom Dempsey 2009, 2010. Panorama stitched from 5 overlapping images.

Recommended guidebooks for New Zealand

Search for latest “New Zealand travel” books at Amazon.com.

We optimize our valuable travel time with good guides:

The following beautiful, glossy books excite your trip-planning and make handsome souvenirs (but are heavier per page than books listed above):

Regarding smartphones — with great power comes great responsibility (as says the Greek “Sword of Damocles” anecdote, and more recently, Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man). Sadly, monetized social media has often enabled extreme memes to shout-down both civility and reality itself. To my relief, Canadian psychologist Steven Pinker restores our faith in the triumph of public good in his important books:

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (2018)

Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters (2021)

1 thought on “What is PhotoSeek’s favorite country to visit?”

  1. Hi Tom,
    I completely agree on New Zealand being the favorite place – mine, too. Went there in 2017 and among other things did the Routeburn Track (first time I almost ran out of camera cards despite carrying 4 x 64G :). Your photos are stunning and make me want to go back, especially with the current weather here in Seattle!

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