Jane's Niveus Travel

10/13/2026

We just arrived in Yangshuo, and I can’t get over how beautiful it is here! It almost doesn’t look real. This was the view along the river in front of our hotel as the sun was going down. ❤️

10/11/2026

I wasn’t expecting to be so charmed by Beijing!

We’re staying in one of the hutongs, the narrow lanes that wind through the city’s old courtyard neighborhoods.

There are so many adorable pedestrian streets, quirky little shops selling stuff like vintage tarot cards, silk wraps, and jade hairpins.

Then there are the sweet little bridges over lakes lined with weeping willows. I could happily spend days just wandering around here!

I also love seeing the girls (and a few men too!), walking around in traditional Chinese clothing, with their hair and makeup beautifully done. They look magnificent! (Then you notice the sneakers!)

It’s my first time in China, and Beijing has been such a great surprise.

Shichahai UnexpectedChina NiveusTravel

09/18/2026

09/17/2026

Day one of the Sagsai Eagle Festival in western Mongolia. What an amazing experience!

Today we watched 75 eagle hunters of all ages call their eagles down from a nearby mountaintop, competing to see whose eagle reached them fastest.

Our guide is from Sagsai, knows the hunters, and teaches their children English in the village school. She took us up the mountain to sit with them and ask questions, and has even arranged an afternoon of horseback riding with a teenage eagle huntress from the village.

Having someone introduce us to her own community makes all the difference. Good local guides are everything!

09/04/2026

I think the World Nomad Games is the most spectacular organized event I’ve ever attended.

The atmosphere, athleticism, nomadic culture, and the complete uniqueness of it all were absolutely extraordinary. Plus the stunning backdrop of the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

There is truly nothing else like it.

AdventureTravel VisitKyrgyzstan TravelWithKids

07/12/2026

Northern California has some surprises, and one of my favorites is the Jubilee Railroad Wilderness Lodge.

It's in a spring-fed valley where retired cabooses, hauled onto the land in 1968, have been quietly restored into places you can actually sleep.

Dinner is served inside a row of vintage railcars, and a creek runs through the whole thing. The Pacific Crest Trail is two miles up the road.

It's beautiful, and is the kind of place I keep on my short list.

Designed, not booked.

06/23/2026

In most of Africa, being a "guide" is a job. In Zimbabwe being a walking guide is a profession that takes the better part of a decade to earn.

The qualification is the most demanding of its kind on the continent.

It starts with written examinations across ecology, botany, ornithology, fi****ms and law, and the study for those alone tends to run a full year.

Then comes the part that sets Zimbabwe apart: a minimum apprenticeship of several years walking under a fully licensed professional, every approach logged and signed off, before a candidate may even sit the final test.

The final examination is a full week in the bush, with the trainee running their own camp while examiners pose as guests, judging everything from bushcraft and botany to hosting, safety and the steadiness of their hands.

Start to finish, becoming a walking guide in Zimbabwe averages around eight years. This is several times over the requirements in any other country.

The result is a tiny fraternity. Only a couple of hundred people have ever held the full professional walking licence.

When you are on foot in Hwange or Mana Pools with one of them, you are not with someone who passed a course. You are with someone who spent eight years earning the right to stand between you and a lion, and make it feel like the most natural thing in the world.

Do not miss a walking safari in Zimbabwe.

06/16/2026

Watching a baby hippo lead his mom into the water is adorable.