ABC Trips, Taipei (2026)

04/08/2026

The best part of an expedition cruise? Half of it doesn't even happen on the ship.

We tendered into Klawock — a Łingít community of about seven hundred, which means when our ship rolls in, we casually bump the town's population by roughly fifty percent. It's a ten-thousand-year-old community, one of the oldest in the Northwest, and its Totem Park has 21 poles carved from red cedar, each one a family's whole story. The eerie detail: the originals were mortuary totems, with cremated remains from the families sealed inside. This is also the hometown of Elizabeth Peratrovich, who muscled the first anti-discrimination law in the entire U.S. through the Alaska legislature in 1945. Small town, giant footprint.

Then we swapped our sea legs for hiking shoes at Thompson Pass above Valdez — wildflowers, glaciers, and bashful marmots (basically alpine beavers). Forty-five minutes from the port and you forget you're on a cruise at all. This is where we learned that gorges with steep walls like this one are carved by their rivers, while the ones with gently-curved sides like this were formed by glaciers. The more you know.

And for the very last excursion of the whole trip: sea kayaking in Prince William Sound. Quiet water, glaciers all around, just us and the drip of the paddles. Okay, and also the drip of more liquid sunshine. But what a way to full-circle us right back to that first misty Zodiac just over a week ago. This place is truly poetic.

So here's the tea. We don't just film these trips — Erin and I are professional travel advisors, and this is the actual job. If Alaska's been on your hit list, ping us at abctrips.com and we'll manage the heavy lifting: finding your ideal itinerary and sailing, negotiating the smallest prices and biggest perks, and handholding all the way through disembarkation so you've got a dedicated, expert concierge in your corner — the whole shebang.

But if this video hits, go watch the full-length expedition film on our YouTube channel — it covers all ten days, full detail, start to finish. And follow the channel so you catch our upcoming adventures.

03/08/2026

They told us bald eagles are as common as pigeons here in Southeast Alaska. Zero lies detected.

It started when our Zodiac driver’s radio crackled: “possible fuzzies 300 meters over.” That’s crew lingo for when someone spots a bear. She nosed our Zodiac into a cove in the Keku Islands, and there he was — a black bear combing the rocks for clams, because the salmon run's barely started and he's running on empty. Looks like a teddy bear. Probably doesn’t cuddle like one.

Next stop, Kake. No, not a snack break — Kake’s the little island town where one of the onboard guides told me to look for the salmon hatchery and offered a bold promise — "that's where the bears will be." I matched her satellite photo up with my Google Maps, found the exact spot, and sure enough: salmon, bears, red-tailed hawks, and bald eagles stacked along the same stretch. Pivot one way, black bear. Pivot back, bald eagle in a tree. The wildlife density here is bangin’.

Then the Inian Islands — not “Indian Island,” which is farther north — this is “Inian” without a “D.” It’s a tidal choke point that pulls nutrient-rich water up from the ocean floor and turns the whole nabe into a wildlife buffet. Stellar sea lions basking, harbor seals looking super suss, and sea otters everywhere. I call them "the Yorkshire terriers of the sea" because they know how cute they are but still want you to say it. They fluff up their fur to trap air for warmth, then grab onto kelp so they don't drift off in the current. Adorbs, with a survival plan.

Here's the thing Erin always says: if you're not up for anything, you're gonna miss everything. And on this ship, HX gives every guest an excursion or two per day — so the only things that pass you by are the ones you’re watching through binoculars.

Wanna experience your own Alaska wildlife jackpot? That's basically our whole deal at abctrips.com. Guidance, planning, discounts, perks. Poke the bear and we’ll help you out.

Follow the channel so you don't miss the finale in this series: our favorite off-ship adventures, on land and on the water. And if this video hits, the full expedition film's on our YouTube channel.

02/08/2026

In my previous vid, we toured HX’s Roald Amundsen — an expedition vessel that only carries a few hundred guests. See, the mega-ships can get you to Alaska. The Amundsen and her Zodiacs — they get you into it.

First up: Misty Fjords National Monument — 2.3 million acres (or just under a million hectares) of protected wilderness that John Muir called one of the most beautiful places he'd ever seen. And Muir? My guy had seen some places. We pulled into Punch Bowl Cove with just a handful of us on the boat — cliff walls straight up like El Cap, waterfalls that flat-out refuse to quit, and mist so committed that "Misty Fjords" ends up being the understatement of the trip. You’re wondering about the rain? Nah, they call that “liquid sunshine” and it’s the key to these lush backdrops.

But it's not all gawking. One Zodiac run turned into real science — we dropped a Secchi disk, the oldest tool in oceanography, to measure water clarity, and pulled samples for salinity and temperature that feed NOAA's harmful algae bloom project. C**t’s been in online school for 6 years and this is just one of his many classrooms around the world. Learning, expedition-style.

Then Icy Bay — which, wild fact, didn't exist a hundred years ago. It was buried under a glacier that's since retreated about thirty miles, with Mount St. Elias looming overhead at eighteen thousand feet (or 5,500 meters), one of the highest peaks in North America.

And the scenery's grand finale: College Fjord, where an 1899 expedition named every glacier after East Coast U.S. universities — Harvard, Yale, the Ivy League roll call — but refused to name any of them after Princeton. Petty, but iconic. Harvard Glacier is two miles wide and still advancing, and when a chunk calves off, you hear it before you see it — like thunder rolling through your chest. That fizzing as the ice floats by? Thousand-year-old air escaping. Sailors call it "bergy seltzer” (as in “iceberg-y”).

Hooked yet? We can set you up with any of this — reach out at abctrips.com and we'll match you to the right sailing and the best discounts.

Follow so you don't miss what's next: same Zodiacs, but this time it's all about the wildlife — bears, eagles, otters, seals and sea lions — the works. And if this vid hits, the hour-long expedition film is on our YouTube channel.

01/08/2026

We somehow ended up in our ship’s biggest suite on this expedition cruise through the fjords and glaciers of Alaska. But let me back up — because the whole vessel is the real story in this vid.

This is the MS Roald Amundsen, an HX Expeditions ship, and here's the flex nobody leads with: she's the first hybrid-electric cruise ship on the planet. Max 490 guests. So instead of cramming onto a floating city of five thousand, you're on a small, quiet ship that can actually tuck into the coves the big boats only wave at from a distance.

It reads less like a cruise ship and more like a design-forward science museum that floats. Two-level observation deck right at the bow, so you can stand on the literal nose of the ship. The Explorer Lounge — biggest bar aboard, panoramic windows on every side. A science center where you get actual lectures. Sauna, pool, two hot tubs, and a running track up top for the profesh morning-jog crowd.

Now the digs. We spent our first night in an Expedition Suite — balcony, living room, wine bar, the works. Then on Day 2 we moved up to the crown jewel: the Expedition XL. Five hundred square feet (47 square meters), a real living room with a fireplace (fake flame, real vibe), two chaise lounges aimed straight out the bow so you can orca-watch in your un**es. Uh… make that, robe. The captain's bridge is literally right above us, so we basically share his view. Double rainfall showers, a soaking tub, and a closet as large as our at home.

And you won't starve. Three spots to eat, and each one's named after a piece of polar history. Aune, the main hall, is named after the Norwegian family who outfitted the old explorers — open seating, all meals included, rotating menus that nod to wherever you're sailing.

Lindstrøm, the à la carte fine-dining room, is named after the cook who actually fed those explorers — Scandinavian, gourmet, and complementary if you're staying in a suite. And Fredheim — the casual, social spot for crafty dishes between excursions — takes its name from a 1900s hunting station on Svalbard.

If Alaska's been on your radar, ping us at abctrips.com. We handle the heavy lifting... finding your ideal itinerary and sailing, negotiating the smallest prices and biggest perks, handholding all the way through disembarkation — the whole shebang.

Follow along so you don't miss the next 3 vids in this series — in the next one, we get off the ship and into the fjords. And if this video hits, check out the full-length expedition film on our YouTube channel.

31/07/2026

August 1, 2010 🍾🥂💍

We knew as soon as we sat down for happy hour 16 1/2 years ago that we were perfect for each other. Little did we know that spending our lives together would take us all over the world.

Happy 16th Anniversary!

31/07/2026

Okay, last chapter in this 4-part series, and the Galápagos saved some of its best cards for the end. First stop: Española, home to the most colorful marine iguanas in the archipelago. Their colors literally come from their diet — red algae gives them red splotches, green algae gives them turquoise, and the ones eating both look like someone flicked paint at a dragon. Locals call them Christmas iguanas. Once you see the red-and-green, you can't unsee it.

Española is also a straight-up nursery — baby sea lions everywhere, so many you have to actually watch your feet so you don't trip over one. And the bo***es keep coming: after the blue-footed and the rare red-footed earlier in the trip, here we met the Nazca b***y. No cartoon feet, but stunning. Bonus: a colony of them is called a "boobery," which is the funniest word I've learned all year.

Then the albatross put on a show. Danny said it's rare to catch them dancing, and there they were — line-dancing, clacking beaks, doing this whole synchronized courtship bit. Even if you're a self-declared bird-skeptic like me, that one gets you.

For the last dive, C**t and I picked the "Rambo" option — stronger currents, bigger swell, but the best odds at hammerheads. On the way out we spotted possible hammerheads and multiple manta rays, so hopes were sky-high. We ended up with something like six sharks, eagle rays, stingrays, sea turtles, schools of fish — an absolute banger of a dive. The one that got away? A hammerhead I should've jumped in with when I had the chance. Which just means we have to come back. Twist my arm.

We closed on North Seymour with nesting frigatebirds — the males with those wild red throat balloons — plus more blue-footed b***y babies. Final Big 15 tally: we got all but two. Not bad for one week.

And that's the pitch, honestly. C**t gave the trip a nine out of ten and said his favorite was the island "filled to the brim with iguanas." Erin's favorite part was the tortoises and mine will always be the extended underwater session with those playful sea lions. Galápagos is definitely one of our most popular experiences for solos. But if you've got kids, hear me: this is one of the great family trips on earth. Every single thing HX builds into the day works whether you're eight or eighty.

So here's the move. If you're a nature person, an animal person, an adventure person — the Galápagos needs to be at the top of your list, and HX does it right: all-inclusive, expert ranger-guides, three routes to match whatever you want to see. Tell us your dream and we'll build it. Get a quote at abctrips.com — and come find the few species that we missed.

While you’re at it, be sure to check out our upcoming hosted trips, where you can travel with us and start collecting free ABC Trips and Club7 travel merch.

30/07/2026

If you think you've seen a lizard, the Galápagos would like a word. This place is crawling with iguanas that genuinely look like someone designed dragons and then made them real — and every island has its own flavor.

On Santa Fe we tracked down the Santa Fe land iguana — one of the Big 15, and a species that lives on this island and nowhere else on Earth. Romero schooled us on the fact that they're normally a pale, buttery yellow, but these were caked in dust from digging nests and crawling across the dry ground.

Then Danny walked us onto South Plaza, where we found the iconic Galapagos Land Iguana — another member of the Big 15 that’s known for its fire-bright yellow colors. We also hit my favorite soap-opera setup of the trip. There's a spot they call the bachelor colony — dominant alpha male sea lions that got dethroned by a younger challenger. Instead of dying on the hill, they scale the cliffs, lick their wounds up top for a few days, then head out to sea for about five days to feed and rebuild before coming back to fight for new turf. A male does this a couple dozen times over his life. Kings getting humbled on a loop. There's a life lesson in there somewhere.

We also went hunting for the rarest lizard on the island — a hybrid marine-land iguana. There are only about 41 of them in existence, partly because it's rare for the two species to mix and partly because the hybrids can't reproduce. We came up empty. Chalk it up to nature keeping some secrets.

The tortoise day, though — that's the one that stays with you. We hit the Darwin Research Station's breeding center, where they've pulled giant tortoises back from the brink: survival rates jumped from around 5% in the wild to about 90% because of this program. And then there's Lonesome George. Last of his species, the Pinta Island tortoise. They spent decades trying to get him to reproduce — flew in the most genetically compatible females they could find, even tried tortoise aphrodisiacs (papaya, apparently). Nothing worked. When George died in 2012, the entire species went with him. What you see today is George himself, preserved by the Natural History Museum's team in New York. Brutal, beautiful, and a gut-check on how fragile all of this is.

Then we bused to the highlands and stood in a field of hundreds of wild giant tortoises — not a zoo, not a sanctuary, just… out there, some of them pushing 100 years and 500 pounds. Watching a creature older than your grandparents lumber past is a whole reset.

This is the kind of day HX Expeditions threads together so well — science center, breeding center, wild highlands, all in one. Want in? Get in touch at abctrips.com.

Series finale up next: Christmas iguanas, dancing albatross, and me chasing a hammerhead. Follow the channel so you don’t miss it.

29/07/2026

We showed up in the Galápagos during pupping season, which means the beaches are absolutely littered with baby sea lions — and I need you to understand these things are so cute it's almost disorienting. Three-week-olds flopping on the rocks. A one-day-old still figuring out how legs work. It's a lot.

But the Galápagos has this way of sucker-punching you with a metal fact right when you're at peak "aww." Like: when a mama sea lion goes out to feed, the other moms run a little daycare — but if she doesn't come back, they'll turn on her pup so it can't steal their milk. Nature's out here writing telenovelas. Also, moms dive 500 meters chasing fish in total darkness, reading the water with their whiskers, hauling back up so fast to dodge orcas and sharks that sometimes an eyeball literally bursts from the pressure. You'll spot one-eyed moms on the rocks. That's why.

And then — while we're melting over the babies — a shark rolls in hunting one. A bull sea lion threw himself between the shark and the pup, barking his head off, and ran it off. First time we've ever watched a hunt go down that close in the wild. Wild-wild.

Here's an HX thing worth flagging: every ship in the Galápagos is legally required to carry a licensed national-park ranger, and I'm convinced HX drew the all-star. Ours — Romero — is true Ecuadorian, schooled in the States, and honestly should have his own talk show. Man could explain a rock and make it riveting.

We also did a deep-water snorkel — "deep" being a generous eight meters — and got swarmed by sea lions who wanted to play.

This is where the Santa Cruz 2 earns her keep, by the way. She's small — maybe as few as 20 guests and never more than 90 — but that marine platform lets HX launch multiple Zodiacs with multiple guides at once. So you're not waiting in a line of 100 people but you’re also not worried about slipping off the back of one of the smaller boats in these islands. You're just… out there. That's the whole reason you pick a real expedition operation over a glorified yacht.

HX runs three Galápagos routes, and which one you want comes down to which animals you're chasing. Tell us your list — get an incredible quote at abctrips.com.

In video 3: iguanas that look like actual dragons, a colony of dethroned bachelor kings, and the saddest tortoise love story ever told. Follow so you don’t miss it.

28/07/2026

Antarctica expeditions are one of the most popular cruises in the world right now. They’re also one of the most expensive. That’s why we built Antarctica Cruise Drop — the free mobile app that pushes the biggest private deals from all the top brands, the moment they drop. We’re talking discounts from 15-75% and many with no solo supplement — so you can go to the Great White Continent — without going broke.

Download Antarctica Cruise Drop from the iOS or Android app stores.

27/07/2026

Experience 👉 learn 👉 grow

We loved the science boat on our recent Alaska expedition with HX Expeditions . It’s a great way to learn by being hands on. C**t tested the waters for plankton so they can track red tides and harmful algae blooms. Check ✔️ the Icy Bay is healthy. He also collected ice samples for a presentation onboard.

This is not just a Summer exception. C**t travels like this and learns all over the world throughout the year. He’s able to do that because of Ignite Learning Academy

ABC Trips

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