Finding yourself surrounded by Black bears in the middle of the wilderness is probably a nightmare for most. Especially considering our car was parked 3 miles away and we were on foot! But instead of running scared, we crouched down in the grass, pulled out our camera’s, and began shooting.

A 40 minute ferry ride from Playa Del Carmen will land you on Mexico’s biggest island – Cozumel. This island is one of the world’s premier destinations for scuba diving enthusiasts because of it’s large, brightly colored reefs. Scuba diving and snorkeling here guarantees you’ll see all kinds of sea life, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world. Not a diver? No problem – you can snorkel, or take a snuba tour!

The 2013 Burma season has kicked off and is already in full swing! Tourists will be roaming the streets looking to try new undiscovered street food, viewing ancient temples and riding some of the most horrible bus routes ever encountered by man!

The days will be hot and sweaty and with frequent blackouts; the heat is something that is difficult to escape unless you plan your Myanmar trip around the one event which is sure to keep you cool on those Hot Burmese days: The Thingyan Festival (April 13th to 16th).

As the doctor prepared my knees for an injection on a cool spring day in Colorado, he looked at me skeptically when I told him I needed to be able to run from elephants and climb trees to escape charging rhinos.

He was probably thinking he needed to transfer me to a psychiatrist to address my fanciful delusions after he fixed up my knees. But that’s what the application form said when I applied to the Walking With African Wildlife volunteer expedition in South Africa through Earthwatch International. “I need this kind of mobility,” I told him.

Vietnam has a passion for cycling. Though it’s a developing country, Vietnam is relatively safe and its roads are for the most part in good shape, making it an ideal region to experience by bike.

Tucked away far to the north of Norway next to Greenland there lies a spit of land and ice in the Arctic Ocean. When I visited this archipelago, Svalbard, I expected to find a barren land of tundra, research stations, polar bears, arctic foxes, and ice floes. And in part, I was right.

It’s easy to turn a blind eye to what lies beyond the Gran Canaria coast. With golden beaches and azure skies, the sun on your face and breeze in your hair, 2.2 million tourists flock to Spain’s Canary Islands each year for the ultimate sand-in-your-toes experience.

Before you visit Antarctica you have an idea of what it might be like. It might be cold there. The landscape is likely to be white. You might see penguins. There’s a high probability that you might see snow. It can get windy. You might even get sea sick. Well forget all that, the only way to find out is to head there for yourself and see what the white continent is really like! So I did.

Willpower and endurance are the two most important qualities you must possess to be successful in reaching the summit. You need to be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other even though you might be extremely deprived of oxygen and energy. You need to be able to convince yourself that you CAN do this even as others around you might be failing. You need to believe in yourself, and you’ll be halfway there! If you can do that – persevere in both physically and emotionally demanding conditions – I guarantee you will reach the top, and some of the most spectacular views you have seen in your life will be waiting for you. As they say, the hardest journeys are the most worthwhile!

We couldn’t visit Arizona without making a stop in White Tank National Park and hiking off the beaten path through the desert. Hiking amongst road runners, hundreds of saguaros, mountain lions (which we didn’t see thank God!) and Coyote’s had a very looney tunes feel to it!!!

The Road to Hana – Maui. Hawaii’s version of Australia’s Great Ocean Road; an absolute must. Make sure you have car insurance though; it’s a road which is wide enough for one and a half cars, with cars (and semi trucks and petrol tankers!!) coming from both ways – editing the video blog together this week!

While in Maui we spent a day driving the Road to Hana. Along the way we stumbled across the Ka’eleku Cave – better known as the Maui Lava Tube.

Apologies for the shaky camera…don’t think I’ll be vlogging from an i-pod again!!

My heart was beating like a sledgehammer, though I still jumped. I dived into thin air from an 85m bridge into one of the most beautiful valley’s I had ever seen.

3 Irishmen, a South African and an Australian go Canyoning in the Swiss Alps…not the start to a joke, just my Thursday in Kandersteg. We caught a train to Interlaken to hit the canyons.

The first thing we noticed when we got to gunshot creek…one of the many challenges of the telegraph track…was the large tree in the middle of the creek which had been turned into a shrine with car parts claimed by the passing. Number plates, signs, alternators, car door frames, you name it were nailed to the tree!

This morning we took on the telegraph track. For the first 3 hours we managed 3k. Yes, for those mathematicians out there that’s 1k an hour! We spent half an hour walking and clearing out a huge river crossing which had extremely large drop offs. Jacintas legs turned to clay in the process!