Travel Puzzles from Around the World

Words by Dalene Heck / Photography by Pete Heck

I don’t want to brag or anything, but I am kinda a Master of Distraction.

I guess I can thank cancer for that? Not to brag yet again, but I was self-isolating before it was cool. Whether sidelined by a low immune system or just a sheer lack of energy, I got pretty good at just being with myself but not letting my darkest thoughts run away with me. Whether it was via some epic napping, binge-watching TV, or reading when my brain would allow it, I just gave my body the time it needed to get through this.

Which is really what some of us need right now. And I’ve discovered a new infallible method for diverting my attention that I thought I should share with you. Online puzzles. Even better is that I found out how to create my own travel puzzles.

I started by creating some specific Alberta puzzles for our new website. And then I had too much fun with those so I started diving into our travel archives and made even MORE puzzles.

Honestly, I’m out of control. But I’m also totally distracted from the fact that there is a deadly virus currently circling the globe. So…SUCCESS!

And because a Master must share their wisdom, here are 10 puzzles for you to do, all tested by me! One thing to note is that they are all set to medium difficulty (~100 pieces). If you’d like to make them easier or harder, click on the little puzzle piece in the bottom right corner – that will take you to the website and you can change the difficulty under the “play as” dropdown at the top right.

Our Photos Turned Into World Puzzles

Tanzania

I loaded this up on the puzzle website weeks ago, and it became a featured puzzle and has been completed over 17,000 times! It also happens to be one of my fave photos from our trip to Tanzania.

New Zealand

During our two months spent in Wanaka, New Zealand back in 2015, this tree is easily the thing we photographed most.

Portugal

Porto, Portugal, was one of our favourite spots to photograph in the whole world (when we weren’t stuffing our faces with sandwiches), and I knew I had to choose a photo from here. This was one of the most lovely puzzles to do!

Greenland

OF COURSE, I had to include a photo from our legendary kayak trip in Greenland. This was a shot from our starting point in the small town of Kulusuk.

Hawaii

There were too many photos of Moloka’i, Hawaii, so I plopped a few in a grid and was surprised at how fun this puzzle was to do.

Montenegro

This tiny country has everything, and this short hike up a mountain behind the town of Kotor gave us one of the most scenic viewpoints we’ve ever come across.

Mexico

This might be one of the harder puzzles to do as the colours are very subtle, but this quick mobile photo is one of our most memorable from Mexico because it truly captures the lovely spirit of Guanajuato and the country.

Poland

It feels like SO long since we’ve been to Poland (2014!) that going through these photos was like visiting it all over again. (And it made me hungry for pierogi!) Here is a sunset from Warsaw.

Turkey

Could a world travel puzzle post be complete without a shot of hot air balloons over Cappadocia? We didn’t think so either.

Spain

Last but certainly not least…our beloved Girona, Spain. It is our home away from home and is the single spot we’ve travelled to most in the past few years. Girona has our hearts!