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The 18-Latitude Travel Challenge:

Experience the 18 latitude slices that
lie within a unique longitude slice

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This is a more challenging adventure travel goal and possibly might take longer to accomplish. Experience all 18 of the 10-degree slices of latitude---but do this within the same 10-degree slice of longitude.

To the best of my knowledge, there is only one part of the Earth where one can do this, since it cannot be done within longitude slices containing lots of ocean and no land. I have checked each 10-degree-wide section of longitude and, in only one such slice, is there a significant presence of land for visiting each of the 18 slices of latitude. This is Longitude Slice 70-80W which is marked on the globe, at right.

This travel adventure has the feature that, within longitude 70-80W, all 18 adjacent latitude slices have plenty of land to visit, without having to skip "empty" latitude slices consisting only of ocean. By staying within 70-80W and visiting each slice of latitude, you are making the most of the "spine" of land stretching from 80-90N to 90S. And it certainly will expose you to the physical face of our Planet, with its attendant geological, climatic, and natural extremes---all within the same narrow sector of longitude!

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To achieve the 18-Latitude Travel Challenge, here is a suggested
itinerary (based, partly, on my own travel experiences). Let's run
through it from north to south, although each of the latitudes can be
visited in any sequence or time frame that suits you.

Show up in the northern half of Canada's Ellesmere Island---the
western half of Quttinirpaaq National Park would do quite nicely (Slice
80-90N). Now proceed as follows: Pond Inlet, Baffin Island (70-80N);
Cape Dorset, Baffin Island (60-70N); Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay
(50-60N); Quebec City, Quebec (40-50N); Cape Hatteras, North

Carolina (30-40N); Camaguey, Cuba (20-30N); Cartagena,
Colombia (10-20N); Merida, Venezuela (0-10N); Francisco de
Orellana, Peru, where the Amazon River begins (0-10S); Abra La
Raya mountain pass, near Sicuani, Peru (10-20S); Antofagasta,
Chile (20-30S); Portillo, Chile (30-40S); Puerto Aisen, Chile
(40-50S); Punta Arenas, Chile (50-60S); the northern tip of
Alexander Island, off Palmer Land, Antarctic Peninsula (60-70S);
Smyley Island, off the English Coast of Palmer Land (70-80S);
Amundsen-Scott research station, Geographic South Pole (80-90S).

Thus, the 18-Latitude Travel Challenge is a way of experiencing all 18 of the Earth's physical slices, while staying within the single meridian slice of 70-80W.

In my own case, to complete this task, I still face several years of adventure planning, effort, and persistence. Above all, persistence.

The highest latitudes are always the hardest to get to---and only the tiniest fraction of humanity will gladly suffer, in order to get there. And that's why it is an adventure. It's not everyone's frozen cup of tea.