Many people have asked how we are able to travel so much...one month it's New Zealand, and another month it's Canada. The key is to plan ahead - and to use a couple of trip planning strategies that we've really nailed down. And yes, I'm a bit of a detailed planner - so much that people say I should plan trips for a living - so here are my tips on how to travel on a budget!
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Top: Lake Louise, Left: Johnston Canyon, Right: Sunwapta Falls
Canada and America share many things:

1. Borders
2. Sports organizations.
3. And recently, I discovered, a birthday! (Well almost...)

We decided to fly into Canada for its 150th birthday  (July 1st) since they made all national parks free this year! How cool is that?! We ordered our passes and set out on a great northern adventure. The plan was to fly in to Calgary on Wednesday, rent a camper van, drive into Jasper and work our way back through Yoho and Banff and back to Calgary on Tuesday in time to get back for work on Wednesday.
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Of course, even the best laid plans can be thrown off. In short, we dealt with cancelled and delayed flights, road closures and changing reservations, but eventually, late Thursday night (about 1am) we pulled in to our campground in Jasper in an SUV. While we mostly just traveled on Thursday, we did pull out at a relatively unpopulated lake in between Banff and Jasper to snag an awesome photo as the light was fading!

We had to change and improvise some plans but we had an amazing trip! Here are some tips and hiking guides we put together after spending a week in the Canadian Rockies!

No trip to California is complete without visiting LA. From the hidden gems to the popular sites, check out our hipster guide to LA for things to see, places to photograph, and food to eat!

What better way to celebrate our one year anniversary than to visit Middle Earth? As an avid Lord of the Rings fan, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to ride on horses to Isengard and drink ale at The Green Dragon. Though a short trip, it was certainly a wonderful adventure to remember.
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Here was our itinerary! Packed with a lot of driving - I would suggest extending the trip to two weeks if you can! We definitely ran out of time, and especially with the shorter winter days, found ourselves rushing from place to place. In the South Island, we rented our campervan from Britz, which was surprisingly great! There were mixed reviews online so we were skeptical, but we had no problems with the van, and it was quite spacious and well stocked. In Auckland, we rented a Toyota Yaris from GoRentals, which also worked out pretty well.

Day 1:

• See the blue waters of Lake Pukaki* [2.5 hr drive from Queenstown Airport]
• Stargaze at Church of the Good Shepard [45 min drive]

Day 2:

• Ride on a helicopter and hike on Franz Josef Glacier* [6 hr drive]

Day 3:

• See the blue waters rush through the canyon at the Blue Pools Track of Haast Pass [2.5 hr drive]
• Wonder at amazement at the surrounding waterfalls of Milford Sound [6 hr drive] 

Day 4:

• Ride horses through the river at Dart Stables in Glenorchy [5 hr drive]
• Fly back to Auckland Airport [45 min drive]

Day 5:​

• Take a quick stop at Owharoa Falls [1.5 hr drive]
• Climb through cave slots, wade in knee deep water, and finally marvel at the galaxy of glowworms at the Glowing Adventures Waitomo Caves Tour [2 hr drive]

Day 6:

• Drink ale and cider at the Green Dragon Inn at Hobbiton [1.5 hr drive]
• Drive back to Auckland Airport [2.5 hr drive]

* These were on our itinerary but we didn't make it! Unfortunately we either ran out of time or ran into poor weather conditions.