Janel's Journey

January - May 2024

My world tour Read more

Currently traveling

21footprints
5countries
93days
331photos
27videos
42.6kkilometers
36.5kkilometers

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Traveler Janel's Journey
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- Jan 31, 2024, 6:00pm
- 🌧 12 °C
- Altitude: 78 m
- United States California San Francisco County Nob Hill Lutheran Church of the Holy Chapel 37.793517, -122.42248637°47’37” N 122°25’21” W
Day 1
San Francisco
January 31 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 12 °C
Quick layover to have dinner with my bff 🫂
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- Feb 2, 2024, 4:57pm
- 🌬 19 °C
- Altitude: 12 m
- New Zealand Canterbury Christchurch City Sumner Cave Rock -43.566752, 172.75918843°34’0” S 172°45’33” E
Day 3–5
Christchurch
February 2 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 19 °C
Explored Sumner Beach, Christchurch's street art and botanical garden. Tried fish & chips, venison tataki, which were both excellent. Had a NZ prosecco by the beach. Tried a local craft beer at the Riverside Market. My view at my airbnb at sunrise was amazing!Read more
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- Feb 4, 2024
- 🌬 18 °C
- Altitude: 725 m
- New Zealand Canterbury Mackenzie District Lake Tekapo -44.003695, 170.478144°0’13” S 170°28’41” E
Day 5
Lake Tepako
February 4 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 18 °C
Cowan Hill walkway. Great views. Amazing stargazing 🌟
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- Feb 5, 2024
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 1,049 m
- New Zealand Canterbury Mackenzie District Mount Cook Sebastopol -43.747726, 170.09772743°44’52” S 170°5’52” E
Day 6–8
Mount Cook
February 5 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
First day at Mount Cook, climbed the stairway to heaven to Sealy Tarns, >2200 steps, 3.2km, 3 hours.

The second day, I enjoyed another hike, Hooker Valley Track (10km, 3 hours), where it ended at Hooker Lake with glaciers.

Last day at Mount Cook, I squeezed in one last hike, Red Tarns, 2 hours, only ~1243 steps up this time 😄 cloudier on this day but still beautiful!

I've been told there's a hole in the ozone layer in this part of the world, so the UV rays are extra strong here. I applied sunscreen all over, but I forgot my hands! Now both of my hands are burnt.Read more
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- Feb 7, 2024
- ⛅ 20 °C
- Altitude: 368 m
- New Zealand Otago Queenstown-Lakes District Arthurs Point -44.987373, 168.67156644°59’15” S 168°40’18” E
Day 8–13
Queenstown
February 7 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Beautiful Queenstown! It's such a fun and adventurous place.

I explored the town and enjoyed the lake, the park, the hikes, the kiwi park, the wine tour, the partying, and the food. There's a lot to see and do of all varieties. It's an interesting vibe as it's completely made up of tourists and outsiders. It makes it fun but also sterile.

Made good friends and memories here. I enjoyed Queenstown overall and would love to see it in the winter as a ski town one day. I would also like to try their other wine tour where one tasting is under a cave. Or maybe come back to bungee jump, which is where it started from apparently!Read more
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- Feb 11, 2024
- ⛅ 14 °C
- Altitude: 211 m
- New Zealand Southland Southland District Te Anau -45.41449, 167.71748945°24’52” S 167°43’3” E
Day 12–14
Te Anau
February 11 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Checked out the lake, cave worms, Fiordland National Park, and Milford Sound
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- Feb 16, 2024, 10:53am
- ⛅ 28 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Thailand Ban Lo Phlu Ko Khai Nok 7.891494, 98.5135767°53’29” N 98°30’49” E
Day 17–20
Phuket
February 16 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Entered into this country in the most chaotic, heat blazing, touristic part of Thailand, patong beach. It was interesting but definitely not my favorite place. Luckily, I have a couple of friends who live in Phuket, so it was a good time overall.

I went on a day trip to Koh Phi Phi island and saw Maya Bay. It was super touristy, so it was a little hard to enjoy the beaches, but I'll admit Maya Bay is gorgeous, the best sand I've ever stepped on. It was like walking on butter. The engine on our boat pooped out at one point, though, and some people were freaking out lol. We snorkled, which was nice, but one girl right behind me who didn't know how to swim was screaming bloody murder as if she was already drowning even though she had a lifevest and floating device on her. Met a nice Australian couple, though.

Met Dada and his friends/clients, Michael from Australia, Dillon from Edmonton, and Steve from Australia. It was fun because without them, I would have never been on this street. It was fun to experience bangla road with them, right up until my interview, lol.

The next day, I went up north a bit to stay 1 night in bangtao beach. It was a bit calmer and the beach there was nice, even though I got stung by a jellyfish. I saw my friend, Catherine, and I got to take a muay thai class, which was a really good experience. The coaches were great, and it was a cool gym to check out. That night, I watched the fights that the gym held, and I was asked to be a ring girl for them! I got free merchandise and an event out of it.Read more
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- Feb 18, 2024
- ⛅ 32 °C
- Altitude: Sea level
- Thailand Ban Hua Hin Ko La Pu Le 7.682368, 99.0900697°40’57” N 99°5’24” E
Day 19–21
Koh Lanta
February 18 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Took a ferry to Koh Lanta, which is a much more calm island in Thailand. It's also more noticeably Muslim, which is interesting. The sunsets here were beautiful. Beaches were nice and quiet. It was so nice to relax here right after crazy Phuket. I had a beach day for the first day. The next day, I joined some girls on an island tour where we hired a taxi to drive us for the full day. We went to the national park, which had a hike through the rainforest, a nice beach, and a cool lighthouse viewpoint. We then went to old town for lunch on the water. After that the driver took us to see a mangrove forest then nui beach for sunset.Read more
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- Feb 20, 2024
- ⛅ 31 °C
- Altitude: 20 m
- Thailand Changwat Krabi Ban Thung Hat Ao Nang 8.032103, 98.822558°1’56” N 98°49’21” E
Day 21–23
Ao Nang / Railay
February 20 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
I took a really convenient van that picked me up from my hostel to my next destination hostel. Ao Nang in Krabi is gorgeous but very touristy also. It felt like the brit's Cancun, a lot of English people just here to party. I did a trivia night and went out with the hostel. Tried Thai McDonald's.

The beaches were really nice, though. I went to Ao Nang beach, Railay beach, and Phra Nang beach / cave. Checked out the Ao Nang night market.Read more
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- Feb 22, 2024
- ⛅ 32 °C
- Altitude: 75 m
- Thailand Changwat Surat Thani Ban Bang Pru Khao Sok National Park 8.91486, 98.5278158°54’53” N 98°31’40” E
Day 23–25
Khao Sok
February 22 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Khao Sok National Park was stunning. A definite highlight. I did a 2 day, 1 night tour where we did a short jungle trek, rode a bamboo raft to check out the coral cave, then swam and relaxed by the lake. We also went on an evening and morning safari, and we saw wild elephants both times.Read more
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