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What Happens When A Small-Town Family Visits The "World's Largest"... Whatever!

Archive for South America

World’s Longest Highway; Cycling from Alaska to Argentina

When I tell you that today’s post is about bicycling the world’s longest highway, you will be correct in assuming I’m not talking about me and my brood. This month’s guest post is from Nancy Sathre-Vogel of Family on Bikes, who – along with her husband and two sons – traversed the western hemisphere on bicycles! Their unforgettable 17,300-mile journey took them three years (I’m tired just typing those words). Her twin sons, now 13, are Guinness World Record holders as the youngest people to cycle the length of the Americas.

The End of the World!

Almost unbelievable, right?! Here’s what Nancy told us about their journey:

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

We cycled the length of the Pan American Highway – the longest road in the world. It stretches from the northern edge of Alaska all the way down to the tip of South America. As far as being coerced??? Ummm… you can’t really coerce someone to pedal a bike 17,000 miles!

WHY did you go there, exactly?

Now THAT is a good question. Because we’re crazy, perhaps? Or because it’s there? Or maybe it was because we wanted time together as a family before the kids grew up and flew the coop and no longer wanted to travel with ol’ ma and pa.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

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Go BIG Goes Global: Pineapples, Walls, Rain Forests, and More!

First, a big thank you to everyone who helped get the Go BIG or Go Home blog to the #1 ranking in the “Reader’s Choice” category of Travel Blogs for Families on Babble.com! We’ve fallen slightly to the #2 position, which isn’t as BIG a position as we would like. We would appreciate your vote if you haven’t yet had a chance to show your love with a click on the thumbs-up icon!

Pineapple

Erica in front of the World's Largest Pineapple!

There are a few reasons why the “Go BIG” family doesn’t do a lot of international travel. So we leave the finding of the BIG stuff to helpful guest contributors, and live vicariously through them!

Like Erica and Cassi, the enthusiastic bloggers at Nonstop World Travel. They get to explore far and wide, free from the burden of having to locate rectangular chicken nuggets for crabby youngsters. Sigh.

In this month’s guest post, these insatiable travelers tell us about the BIG things they’ve seen in some intriguingly remote locales.

Where we went, and who was coerced into going:

We’ve gone to a few of the biggest and baddest places around the globe, but our favorites would definitely be…

●     The world’s largest Pineapple in Nambour, Australia,

●     The Great Wall of China — the world’s largest man-made structure

●     The Amazon — the world’s largest rain forest and highest flux river

●     El Gigante — Easter Island’s and the world’s largest Moai

No coercing was necessary; although, the Pineapple may have gotten cut if it hadn’t been en route down the coast of Australia.  Thankfully, we got to thoroughly enjoy the giant tropical fruit.

WHY did you go there, exactly?

If there’s an opportunity to travel, we’ll take it.  The idea of traveling to the Amazon was co-opted from a cousin who ended up backing out on the adventure, and the Great Wall was an add-on to a wonderfully free grad school trip to a conference in Suzhou.

We also have a serious love for the quirky corners of the world, so Easter Island had been on the short list for a while.  When we found the time to head down to South America, there was no resisting temptation.  Next thing we knew, we were face to face with El Gigante and the rest of the Moai. Similarly, when we found the world’s largest pineapple as a spec on Australia’s map, we had to pay it a visit.

Okay, what was so cool about it?

Amazon rain forest Read the rest of this entry »

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