Global Travel Stories

Global Travel Stories 20 years of travel, over 80 countries, showcasing unique locations & adventures around the Globe!

We continued our exploration of Ubud after meeting up with our friend Kelly, who we knew from our time in Munich, for lu...
16/08/2026

We continued our exploration of Ubud after meeting up with our friend Kelly, who we knew from our time in Munich, for lunch. Together we visited Ubud Palace, explored the art markets for a little gift shopping and visited Saraswati Temple, also known as the Ubud Water Palace, where we were required to wear traditional Balinese gowns.

Afterwards, we committed ourselves to the Campuhan Ridge Walk. Although the walk itself was nice, the views were completely blocked by overgrown grasses. We stopped at a restaurant at the end for a drink before making our way back. We had dinner at a Balinese restaurant in Ubud town centre before saying our farewells.

The following day we made our way to Nusa Dua to meet up with family friends for drinks on the beach and dinner nearby. This was our final day in Indonesia, and what an incredible time we had. 🇮🇩

Next and final chapter of our 4 month trip, just under 2 weeks in Australia! 🇦🇺

After a Balinese dance performance at dinner, including our participation, we rested up early as we had a big day ahead....
16/08/2026

After a Balinese dance performance at dinner, including our participation, we rested up early as we had a big day ahead.

We started very early, not long after sunrise, with a walk through the nearby rice terraces, far more authentic than the tourist offerings the day before. It was a peaceful and serene experience, exactly what we hoped to find while wandering through Ubud’s famous rice terraces. 🌾🌄

Having explored Ubud’s surrounds, we decided to spend a day in the town centre, with our first stop being the famous Ubud Monkey Forest.

More impressive than the mischievous monkeys were the moss covered statues, shrines and temples surrounded by towering trees in a natural rainforest setting. It’s something you don’t see much of in Bali, with its expansive urban sprawl and agricultural land. It felt like walking through ancient ruins hidden within a mystical jungle. Such a cool atmosphere, and yes, the monkeys were cute too! 🐒🌿

As fate would have it, we arrived at the performance arena just as a play was beginning, something that only happens twice a week. More Balinese dancing, traditional music and the performance of a legendary local tale made for a very cool experience. 🇮🇩

We left around lunchtime, just as the forest was getting too busy, and headed into the town centre to meet up with an old friend and explore more of Ubud, featured in our next post!

15/08/2026

Exploring The Lord of the Rings Filming Locations of Otago 🏔️

We’re exploring some of the spectacular Lord of the Rings filming locations across Otago, New Zealand, starting with Deer Park Heights, a location transformed into Rohan for The Two Towers.

It was used for Aragorn’s fall from the cliff during the Warg attack, Gandalf’s journey towards Minas Tirith in Gondor, and the scene where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli emerge from the Paths of the Dead and look across the Bay of Belfalas towards the Corsairs of Umbar.

Next, we visited Poolburn in Central Otago, where the Three Hunters track the Uruk-hai through the gorge after Merry and Pippin are captured, as well as the location used for the fall of the Westfold.

There are plenty more Lord of the Rings filming locations to uncover, with our full length feature coming soon! 💍🏔️

Our first full day exploring the Ubud region, we set out to discover some of the best things to do around outer Ubud, st...
14/08/2026

Our first full day exploring the Ubud region, we set out to discover some of the best things to do around outer Ubud, starting with the famous Tegallalang Rice Terraces. With scenic swings, zip lines and even a zip wire bicycle, it felt more like a theme park than a working rice terrace! We opted for a scenic walk through the terraces instead, stopping for a cool drink along the way.

Next up was Ulu Petanu Waterfall, a lush gorge filled with small shrines, bridges, swimming holes and several beautiful waterfalls to explore. Afterwards, we made our way to Tirta Empul Water Temple, where we watched people taking part in the Melukat purification ritual in the temple’s sacred spring water, within a complex more than 1,000 years old.

Next, we stopped at S**a Coffee Ubud to sample different coffees and local fruit teas surrounded by beautiful rice paddies. Our final stop was Kemenuh Monkey River, a forested riverside area with a temple and free roaming, although somewhat looked after, macaques.

Sadly, we had to say farewell to Komodo, a region we absolutely loved exploring. Its unique dotted Savannah islands, tur...
14/08/2026

Sadly, we had to say farewell to Komodo, a region we absolutely loved exploring. Its unique dotted Savannah islands, turquoise reefs and stunning archipelago could be viewed from above as we flew towards the island of Bali.

After landing, we had a 2 hour drive to Ubud, famous for its iconic rice terraces. Our luxurious boutique hotel was Puri Sebali Resort, where a beautiful infinity pool overlooking rice fields was the perfect place to spend our afternoon. Our room was beautifully decorated, with delicate flowers filling the bathtub in a heart shape. We enjoyed dinner just after sunset over the rice terraces, with a delicious Balinese style banquet and mocktails to match. The perfect first evening in Ubud.

13/08/2026

Queenstown winter delivered one incredible rollercoaster ❄️🏔️

We went from barely having enough snow to some of the biggest powder days we’ve ever experienced, with everything from the first snowfall over the Remarkables Mountains to bluebird days and epic snowboarding at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.

Our winter adventures around Queenstown took us through opening day at Coronet Peak, early season snowboarding at The Remarkables, a huge powder dump, Shadow Basin and the Alta shoots, before discovering why spring snow can sometimes be the best snow of the season.

And there was plenty to experience away from the ski fields too, including the LUMA winter lights, craft beer at BeechTree, hot pot at Goku Shabu Shabu, live music at Sherwood and the famous Onsen Hot Pools.

Watch the full winter adventure on YouTube 👇
https://youtu.be/b-ZUqXJoqYQ

Batu Balong, the perfect final dive in Komodo National Park. A small rocky island above the surface, yet an entire under...
13/08/2026

Batu Balong, the perfect final dive in Komodo National Park. A small rocky island above the surface, yet an entire underwater city below, with a level of complexity and biodiversity unimaginable on land. The ocean is the world’s most important ecosystem, and if you ever get the opportunity to scuba dive, do not hesitate!

My diving story started 12 years ago in Honduras, and since then I’ve completed around 100 dives across the world. One of the main reasons we, and so many others, love to travel is to understand our world, how history, cultures and ecosystems all interact. We spend so much time focused on the world above, we often forget just how incredible and important the world below is. If you’ve ever wondered about scuba diving and you’re physically and financially able, just do it, it’ll change the way you see the world for the better!

After saying farewell to our amazing Bajak crew on La Boheme with Scuba Republic Komodo • Diving Komodo • Day trips & Liveaboards, who I cannot recommend highly enough, we returned to Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores during a religious festival. What an incredible welcome back, seeing the children and community dressed in traditional attire, singing and dancing. Komodo, what an incredible region you have been!

After a glorious sunrise aboard our dive boat La Boheme, we began our first dive of the final day with Scuba Republic Ko...
12/08/2026

After a glorious sunrise aboard our dive boat La Boheme, we began our first dive of the final day with Scuba Republic Komodo • Diving Komodo • Day trips & Liveaboards. We returned to Mawan, one of the dive sites from our first day, where we had previously heard reports of Manta Rays. Unfortunately, no Mantas for us this time, but Miranda and I were pretty happy after seeing around 20 in Nusa Penida!

What we did see was still pretty incredible, a beautiful coral garden, a moray eel and a very cool cuttlefish that was happy to hang out with us for a while.

Nothing compared to our final dive though, coming up in the next post!

Front row seats at the shark show, I felt like bait on a line! 🦈 After our morning adventures we submerged for our next ...
11/08/2026

Front row seats at the shark show, I felt like bait on a line! 🦈
After our morning adventures we submerged for our next drift dive, nothing could have prepared us for how intense it was. At almost 30m we hooked onto the side of a sloping reef wall and inflated into the current. Within moments the sharks started to arrive, I was in the lowest position and well ahead of the others, placing me dead centre of the shark highway. As 10 - 20 blacktip reef sharks, averaging 2m in length, swarmed around me, a giant grouper cruised below, much more dangerous actually!

It was a thrilling 10 minutes, with sharks coming within a metre of me, completely unfazed by my presence as they hunted through the schools of fish. Unfortunately, I had to release my position at depth after almost reaching my no decompression limit, the Bends is a far bigger risk than sharks underwater!

We drifted up through the current and over the reef, clinging onto a large rock for our safety stop. After the dive we relaxed on the upper deck of our liveaboard for a magnificent sunset, we had just enough action for one day!

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