new zealand

One of the most beautiful roads in the world spans seventy-five miles and takes you from Te Anau to Milford Sound in New Zealand. This path, also known as State Highway 94, weaves through the Fiordland National Park in southwest New Zealand. As you drive along this winding road, you can take in the impressive natural landscapes of rain-forested mountains, towering waterfalls, and glassy lakes. Though the drive only takes two hours, there are plenty of stops along the way that make this one of the most scenic and exciting highways in the world.

Whether it’s science fiction, fantasy, or even science fantasy, movies that take place off of this earth capture the imaginations of filmmakers and viewers alike. Fortunately, you don’t need a spaceship to experience the places in some of these movies. Natural landscapes across the world serve as stand-ins for otherworldly scenes in popular movies. So if you’ve ever wanted to travel to Mars or Middle-earth, you can have your own adventure by traveling to these film locations that are “out-of-this-world.”

Tabwenikai Kiatonga emigrated to New Zealand because of climate change. Here, he carves a canoe like the ones he had as a kid; he’s trying to keep his Kirabati traditions alive. (Ryan Turner)Pacific islanders are experiencing the effects of global warming and becoming climate change refugees.

It was my junior year, and school spirit drenched the sky on another cold night of football—I thought it was going to be a dull wait. But then the team came out, tearing off their helmets, their faces already glowing with sweat and their arms clenching. They lined up on the 30-yard line, facing the crowd in the stands. Then the team squatted with all knees and legs at the same angle.

In the recent film adaption of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins asks Gandalf the Gray to promise they will return alive from their dangerous quest. Gandalf’s response? “No. And if you do, you will not be the same.”

This spring, pack away your parachute, hang up your harness, and bind up your bungee, because the world of extreme sports can now offer you much more than the same old activities of jumping out of planes, hanging from cliffs, or diving off bridges with just a cord attached to you. Though this sport has been around for nearly 10 years, it is relatively new to the United States. The name? Globe-riding.

When we landed in LAX after 12 months and 28 countries, my wife, Sara, and I looked back and couldn’t believe our trip had cost each of us only around $900 a month—a little over $10,000 a person! It was cheaper to be traveling for that entire year than it would have been to stay home.