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  • Start Here
  • Book Reviews
    • Fiction
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    • The Americas
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  • Plane Travel

    My Love for Laos Restored by Looms and Rice

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    A month ago, I read about Living Land Farm in a Lonely Planet Guidebook and immediately clocked it as something I wanted to do. I’d been looking forward to it for several weeks and it lived up to my expectations. At Living Land Farm I learned how to... Grow, harvest, and prepare RICE.

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    Dueling Volcanoes and Fire Power in Tongariro National Park

    February 6, 2024

    Waitomo, NZ: Finding Little Lights in the Dark

    September 11, 2023

    Tongariro Alpine Crossing – A Love Affair with a Volcano

    April 6, 2024
  • Maddie standing sideways with an umbrella over her shoulder framed by the curved archway of a wall in the old imperial palace of Hue
    Plane Travel

    Death by Starfruit & Other Things I Never Considered

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    June 22 I’m laying in my hostel dorm bed. I’m on the bottom bunk. My shower towel is draped over the bar by my face like a curtain closing me off from the rest of the room. This is good, because I feel like I’m unraveling. I feel like I can’t relax my limbs. My neck is tight. My heart isn’t racing, but it’s pulsing, quick and steady. I hate it. I hate that I am afraid. And I hate that this isn’t a fear I can face head on, like my fear of heights. I can’t jump off a bridge.  Because this is a fear that has no solidity,…

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    Arthur’s Pass: My Favorite Alpine Region of New Zealand

    December 6, 2023

    A Hidden Paradise in Whiritoa, New Zealand

    September 3, 2023
    fall trees in yellow and red mixed with green and a purple sky dotted with clouds

    I love ME…I mean Maine!

    October 6, 2022
  • Plane Travel

    High Heat and Home Visits in Hanoi, Vietnam

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    In Hanoi, I walked. And I sweated. Walking at all meant wiping my upper lip, wiping my forehead, feeling water prickle at my hairline, feeling sweat stick my shirt to my back, running down my neck and into the collar of my shirt.

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    A Chateau and a Vineyard…I Must Be in France

    January 22, 2020

    Kunkels in Kaikoura: the End of the Line

    March 19, 2024

    Ducking Ropes and Slippery Slopes in Piha

    August 10, 2023
  • Plane Travel

    Singapore Kaleidoscope

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    May 20-22

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    Spoiled in the Sand: Adventures in Abel Tasman National Park

    March 14, 2024

    The North of the South: Picton to Golden Bay

    October 2, 2023

    My Love for Laos Restored by Looms and Rice

    July 20, 2024
  • Guides

    Cooking in Communal Kitchens: Cheap, Yummy Hostel Dinners

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    When I arrived in New Zealand, my observations of the people around me led me to understand that hostel cooking is basically like college cooking: ramen, pesto pasta, frozen pizzas, and microwave meals. But I didn't just want cheap and easy. The most important factor is yummy!

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    NZ Working Holiday Visa: Buying a Car in New Zealand

    July 31, 2023

    Easy, Yummy Hostel Dinners: Almost Instant Pizza

    December 15, 2023

    Highway to Heidelberg: a Must-See Stop on the Way Through Germany

    May 22, 2022
  • Plane Travel

    A Backpacker’s Life, Introvert Style

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    How, you might wonder, does someone who loves spending weeks at home just reading and writing, deal with the constant change of location? How does an introverted, large-group adverse, anti-heavy-drinking, control-loving, homebody juggle her dichotomous desire to cheaply travel and explore the rest of the world? I'm here to give you the answer: small routines and big organization skills.

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    A Week in Wanaka Getting High

    December 8, 2023

    Haere Rā: Farewell, New Zealand

    April 14, 2024
    the walls of Troy

    To Breach the Walls of Troy

    March 25, 2019
  • Guides

    Easy, Yummy Hostel Dinners: One Pot Veggie Risotto

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    When I arrived in New Zealand, my observations of the people around me led me to understand that hostel cooking is basically college cooking: ramen, pesto pasta, frozen pizzas, and microwave meals. But I didn't just want cheap and easy. The most important factor is yummy! After six months these are my go-to hostel dinners. This One Pot Veggie Risotto is super easy and so yummy, but it does take about a half an hour, so it's one of the longer recipes on here. But so much reward for just a little work.

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    Easy, Yummy Hostel Dinners: Almost Instant Pizza

    December 15, 2023

    Cooking in Communal Kitchens: Cheap, Yummy Hostel Dinners

    January 18, 2024

    Highway to Heidelberg: a Must-See Stop on the Way Through Germany

    May 22, 2022
  • Guides

    Easy, Yummy Hostel Dinners: Almost Instant Pizza

    / No Comments

    When I arrived in New Zealand, my observations of the people around me led me to understand that hostel cooking is basically college cooking: ramen, pesto pasta, frozen pizzas, and microwave meals. But I didn't just want cheap and easy. The most important factor is yummy! Pizza isn't usually my go to, but since so many people around me were cooking up frozen pizzas in the hostel ovens, I started to get a craving. But not for frozen pizza. I wanted a yummy pizza that didn't taste like cardboard.

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    Highway to Heidelberg: a Must-See Stop on the Way Through Germany

    May 22, 2022

    Three Actual Trip Itineraries I’ve Done in New Zealand

    April 7, 2024

    NZ Working Holiday Visa: Buying a Car in New Zealand

    July 31, 2023
  • Plane Travel

    The North of the South: Picton to Golden Bay

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    Crossing the Cook Strait between the North Island and the South Island felt like embarking on a completely new adventure. Perhaps it was the high expectations. Afterall, nearly every person I've spoken to, kiwi and traveler alike, told me the South Island was the best island, that it would blow my mind, that it was far more beautiful. All of these expectations bubbled in the back of my mind like a boiling pot even as I tried to suppress them. High expectations often lead to disappointment.

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    Peace, Love, and Turtles – Gili Air, Indonesia

    May 7, 2024

    The History of Geneva, as told by a Church

    February 9, 2020

    Photos from New Zealand Christmas and New Year

    January 13, 2024
  • Plane Travel

    The Lone Mussel: My Moana Moment

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    I'm wandering along the beach in Whiritoa. There's no particular hurry and I feel the sand shift beneath my feet. The soft sound of the waves, sussurating in a steady rhythm, creeping up the sand and retreating with gentle movement...and leaving something behind... Disney-princess style.

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    Singapore Kaleidoscope

    May 26, 2024

    I Would Drive 500 Miles…Just to Hike 20 More

    October 16, 2023

    Over the Edge: Reflections on Selfies, Hand Prints, and Solo Travel

    July 27, 2023
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Traveler, Reader, Writer

Hi! My name is Maddie. I am a traveler, reader, and writer. Pages to Planes is where I catalogue stories of my (history-obsessed) adventures and write reviews of my favorite books. Welcome!

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