Liz Carlson
Liz Carlson is the writer and photographer behind Young Adventuress, sharing solo travel stories from her New Zealand base and working as a polar expedition guide.
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Liz’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Book
Lonely PlanetOverview
- Known as
- Young Adventuress
- From
- Virginia, United States
- Based in
- Wānaka, New Zealand
- Started
- Young Adventuress, 2010
- Work
- Travel writer, photographer, author and polar expedition guide
Mini bio
How it started.
Raised in a small town in Virginia, Liz found a path into travel through studying and teaching in Spain. She began Young Adventuress in 2010, sharing the practical details and mishaps of living abroad that she wished someone had explained to her.
Making it her work.
In August 2012, she decided to turn the blog into a full-time job. She describes taking her first media trip to Turkey six months later and leaving her office job two months after that. Solo female travel, personal stories and photography became the foundation of her work.
A home and a wider horizon.
Wānaka became her base in New Zealand. Her interests also grew into NODE, a houseplant business in Lyttelton, and her first book, Houseplants and Design, published in November 2022.
Life at sea.
After hosting an Antarctic group in 2022, Liz pursued her ambition to guide polar expeditions. In 2023 she announced she was joining Adventure Canada’s expedition team, working with photography, writing and guiding. Her current official biographies describe work in both the Arctic and Antarctica, alongside conservation and travel storytelling.
Creditschronological, newest first
Books
- 2025Lonely Planet New ZealandCo-author
- 2022Houseplants and Design: A New Zealand GuideAuthor and photographer
Travel writing and photography
- 2025A guide to stargazing in New ZealandWriter and photographer
- 2025North Island vs South IslandCo-writer, South Island section
- 2025Central Otago: The Rural Southern New Zealand Region Where Sheep Outnumber PeopleWriter
- 2010Young AdventuressFounder, writer and photographer
Awards
Quotes
I always dreamed of seeing the world and doing big things.Liz Carlson, The Good Times by Intrepid
In an interview about growing up in rural Virginia and finding her way into travel and expedition guiding.
Trivia
- She once expected to pursue graduate study and become a medieval history professor.
- Her interest in visiting Svalbard was partly inspired by Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials books.
- Her conservation work includes helping protect kiwi and kākāpō and coordinating rescues of stranded whales and dolphins.
- Her houseplant collection helped inspire both NODE and her first book.
Find Liz
Follow her travel stories, photographs and life at sea.
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