My Kiwi Road Trip

Wow. Let me just start out by saying that New Zealand is hands down the most beautiful country I've ever been to. I knew that if I was gonna make it this far I was going to do everything I could do make it to New Zealand. I knew a little bit about what New Zealand had to offer and the intense natural landscapes and beauty that exists there. Also, it was a snowboarding destination that was definitely on my to do list. When I made it as far as Australia there was no doubt in my mind that NZ would be the next stop. And so it was, but after a bit of a delay...

I didn't really have any trouble getting into any countries before this on my trip, but it just so happens that NZ would be a bit more difficult than expected. I showed up to the Melbourne airport excited and ready to go, and when I went to the check in desk to get my boarding pass the woman at the desk asked me if I had an outbound flight out of NZ after my traveling there. I told her I didn't because I didn't know how long I was staying there or where I would go next, and that was the wrong answer.

She told me that I had to have an outbound flight in order to be let into NZ immigration and they weren't gonna let me on the plane. I did not accept this answer and I ran out of the terminal, hopped the fence, got on the tarmac, and jumped onto the plane.

My first glimpse of New Zealand when I finally got on that plane :)

...at least that's what I envisioned doing shortly after I got the bad news... but since that plan would've probably failed, I was forced to pay a slight change fee to get my flight to NZ changed for 2 days later. I booked a fully refundable return flight from NZ back to Melbourne, which I canceled shortly after arriving in NZ 2 days later, successfully. So yea, bit of a delay and $100 gone in fees but not a huge deal, all part of the experience...

When I finally got to Queenstown, I had some amazing contacts made through my great neighbors back home pick me up, and they let me make myself at home and use their place as a home base during my travels through New Zealand. The Bramwell family was my New Zealand family. They took great care of me and helped me with everything I needed, including figuring out where the heck I should go.

I had a rough idea of how I wanted to get around this country. I knew that hitchhiking was very common and very doable in New Zealand, but I wanted the ultimate flexibility of my own vehicle while I was there. When I heard about the options of pretty cheap camper vans to rent I had a good idea that that would be the way to go. So I did some research, booked a van, and after an EPIC powder day on my first day of snowboarding I hit the road.

Me and my good old Jucy van. We got close over the 2 weeks we had together..

I focused just on the south island for this trip since I was told that there was much more to see and do there. So, I hired the van for 2 weeks and tried to hit as many highlights as I could all around the south island. It's impossible to describe with words the things that I saw and the experiences I had on this road trip. My first recommendation would be to take a look at some of the photos I put up on Facebook, but some of the highlights include:

• Driving along the insanely stunning Milford Road all the way to Milford Sound.

• Seeing an avalanche on the other side of the majestically beautiful Lake Marian.

• Hiking up to the beyond scenic summit of Treble Cone ski field on a crystal clear day with 360 degree views of the southern alps and Lake Wanaka.

• Meeting and staying with the extremely nice and hospitable Harrington family outside Wanaka at their amazing property.

• Skydiving at Fox Glacier: Known as one of the best places to skydive in the world.

• Viewing the very bizarre and interesting pancake rocks of Punakaiki.

• Watching the sky light up a million different colors during sunset on the beach at Abel Tasman Nat'l Park.

• Getting partially attacked by an eel at a holiday park.

• Watching seal pups play in a swimming hole with the backdrop of snow covered mountains dropping down into the sea at Kaikoura.

• Meeting and staying with the amazingly kind and generous Thow family in Rangiora, just outside Christchurch.

• Seeing the brightest moon I've ever seen (and it was only a quarter moon) in the international dark sky reserve at Lake Tekapo.

An amazing shot of Lake Marian

It was great to actually have quite a bit of alone time on this road trip as well. I didn't meet many people during my trip and I was able to focus and reflect a lot on my own experiences and continue to get to know myself more. Also, I realized that I hadn't driven a car in about a year, and driving on the other side of the road was interesting, scary, and really fun at the same time.

New Zealand has been an incredible ride, and I was really surprised with how much I got through in just a couple weeks. Usually I prefer to travel at a much slower pace than how I did here, but I think it went extremely well for what it was, and New Zealand has proven to be a really magical and special place for me. 

In heaven at the top of Treble Cone Ski Field on a perfect day

There's so much more to do and see, and I'll be back here much sooner than later. New Zealand has been an overall highlight of the trip for me and I can't think of a better way to bring this trip to an end. Buuut I think one last stop to Asia is in order before I finally head home :)

Blog Post #50: One Year On the Road

So somehow I've been traveling for exactly one year now...

Alex and I one year ago, before embarking on our "European" adventure. First stop Dublin, Ireland.
If only we knew how successfully life changing this trip would be..

Wow. Time flies, doesn't it? Before I left I obviously had no idea how long I'd be gone for, but in my mind I was content with one or two years of being somewhere else in the world. I didn't know exactly where I'd end up, but had a rough idea of working somewhere in Europe for an extended period of time. In the back of my mind I had the crazy idea of being able to make this a 'round the world' trip but didn't think I was capable of planning it, let alone making it financially feasible. But somehow I've ended up in New Zealand one year later and I'm still traveling.

I think it's also important to mention that it hasn't been a year of full and complete happiness every day all the time. I've missed funerals, weddings, family holidays, and almost everyone's birthday. These have all been reality checks to me, a reminder that life still obviously continues back home and nothing is put on pause while I'm gone. To be gone for a year can mean a lot of sacrifice. I've had so many people ask me how much I miss my family and friends back home, and these are some of the main motivators for my travels to continue, so I can make it back to see them again.

Six months into the trip... passing through Dubai on the way to India.

You have to ask yourself if it's worth it, being gone for this long. For some people it might not be which is perfectly fine. One year is a long time and I don't recommend for everyone to travel for this long. But for me, it's been worth the sacrifice. The countless stories, experiences, and people that I've met in the past year have done nothing more than help me become a better and more capable person. I'm very thankful for that and this incredible opportunity that I've had to travel for this long. 

I'm not sure if I'll travel on a single trip for this long again, but I can definitely say that there's no way I can settle for one or two week vacations anymore. This past year has sort of transformed the idea of traveling for me. It's not a hobby or a fun thing to do in my free time. For me, traveling has become a lifestyle, a mentality, and I don't want that to change. Any future trips I take will probably need to be at least a month or two in order to get the experience that I want out of it, and there's plenty of places left to go.

This photo was taken 3 days ago at one of New Zealand's many ski resorts, just outside Queenstown.

I will also admit that I'm definitely surprised I've been able to keep this blog running for a year now. Believe it or not, it's actually pretty difficult to stay on top of something like this and write about the highlights of my experiences while trying to have them and plan them at the same time. But I'm really happy and proud that I've been able to keep it going, as I'm usually not great at documenting stuff properly. One year and 50 blog posts later and I'm still writing..

I want to thank everyone who's been reading the blog so far over the past year. I write this mostly for you guys so you can stay updated on what I'm doing and know that I'm still alive.

There will be more posts to come of course, as I continue my travels on the south Island of New Zealand. But I will say that after one year of traveling with not much left between here and home and not much money left in the bank, my adventure is coming to an end... more to come on that but until then, enjoy! One year in the books!

From Surviving King Kong Koala to My First AFL Game

I was about halfway through my adventures down under when I got into Sydney, and just in time for my friend Marco's 30th birthday. It was so wild showing up and seeing him again for the third time on my trip. The first time was wayyy back in early December when Alex and I were traveling through Italy and we visited Torino, the city that I studied abroad at over 4 years ago. We mainly went there so that I could revisit the city and show Alex around, but also to meet up with Marco. It was a lot of fun, and while I was there Marco invited me to come back to Torino for the holidays and spend Christmas and New Year's with him and his family. I didn't have anything else planned for the holidays so I was more than happy to accept the invitation, and about 2 weeks later after traveling through Italy and Budapest, I was back in Torino for the holidays. It was an amazing time that I documented in a separate blog post way back when, and when Marco told me that he was getting a working holiday visa to work in Australia for a year, I knew I would have to pay him a visit if I made it that far in my trip.

What's a blog post about Sydney without a picture with the Opera House?

Well, it turns out that I did make it this far and it was time to pay him a visit. So for the third time I got to hang out with Marco on my trip and we couldn't believe that we were seeing each other again, in Australia of all places!

Because Marco and his family were so kind to host me during the holidays, I really wanted to make it out to Sydney for his birthday and it just worked out perfectly. We were more or less freaking out when we first met up, and couldn't believe that things had worked out like this. But it was great to see him again and we went out a bit to celebrate.

Marco had just gotten back from doing some farm work up in Queensland but was living in Sydney for the first four months of the year, so he knew the general area and the places that I should see in the city. So each day basically consisted of us meeting up and him taking me around the city to see all of the main sites and cool places that Sydney had to offer. Sydney is a pretty cool city. It's HUGE and super diverse, too. For some reason, it actually reminds me a lot of San Francisco, and I almost forgot I was in Australia after walking around for awhile.

Highlights from Sydney obviously consisted of the opera house, which is really impressive in person, a really cool hike we did outside of Manly, a beautiful part in northeast Sydney, and some hilarious photos we got when we went up the Sydney Tower, which provides you with really good 360 degree views of the city (but not great views of the opera house). But there was one surprise we weren't quite expecting... KING KONG KOALA!!!!!!

We were standing in front of a green screen and were told to look up and wave when they took the picture.
Marco and I agreed not to smile for added effect, and when we saw the finished product we couldn't stop laughing.
KING KONG KOALA!

We gave a friendly wave to the king kong koala and kept a straight face. I think this gave him the impression that we wanted peace, but were ready to fight if he disagreed, so he let us go. All in all we survived, and Sydney was a really good time. The pleasure of reuniting with old friends continued during my visit.

I decided to keep going south and make my way to Melbourne, the last stop of my short visit to Australia. I had another friend reach out to me in Melbourne that invited me to stay at their place, so it was another good trip to make.

Alex and I met Summer in the Sahara desert during our time in Morocco and we became friends pretty quickly. Summer is great to hang out with and it was a no-brainer when she invited me to crash at her house with her roommates. Everyone was really nice and I had a really good time walking around the city and enjoying the atmosphere of Melbourne.

Highlights of Melbourne included going to my first ever Australian football game. Australian football is nothing like American football or even soccer. I don't know how to explain it other than just googling it to see it for yourself. Anyways, it's a big deal in Melbourne because it all started in this area, so everyone is a huge fan. I was told by multiple people to check out a game when I got there so I wanted to make sure that I had the chance to see one. It just so happened that there was a game going on at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) which is a massive stadium in the city.

Inside the massive MCG with no idea of what's going on.

I had no idea what was going on during the game but after a few beers it didn't really matter. It was really entertaining and really funny to watch all of the die hard fans get so into it. Everyone was dressed up in their team's colors, chanting and yelling at every play. At one point a man who had definitely been drinking earlier approached me and asked me "What do ya reckon?" I responded, "well, I'm from America and this is my first AFL game I've ever seen so I don't really know what's going on." He smiled and nodded and welcomed me and we had a brief conversation. He told me his grandfather used to play for one of the teams which may or may not have been true, but I made sure to follow him in all the chants and cheers whenever something good happened for his team. We were all rooting for the home team and I had a blast.

It was a really cool cultural experience and I'm really happy that I decided to check out a game. Australian football actually seems like a really well-rounded sport with a lot of intensity and physical contact. I would definitely recommend to anyone traveling in Victoria or Melbourne to check out a game if they get a chance.

My plan after Melbourne was to fly over to New Zealand. I knew that I wanted to explore the south island of New Zealand more than the north (there's more beautiful landscapes and outdoor things to do in the south island), so I found a relatively cheap direct flight from Melbourne to Queenstown.

After a slight delay (more on that later) I spent a total of one week in Melbourne and would be on my way to New Zealand. I couldn't believe I'd come this far on the trip, and the one year mark was quickly approaching. I would continue to be in awe of how far I've come when I arrived to Queenstown.

I've Come to a Land Down Under

Oi! It's Australia time. I can't believe I've made it this far. It's continent number 5 on the trip and number 6 for me overall (Antarctica next?). But there was one thing I needed to mentally prepare myself for before arriving to this completely new land: Prices.

Australia is obviously significantly more developed and expensive than anywhere I had been in Asia over the last few months, which means I had to plan accordingly. Especially with my ever decreasing finances. So, before I came here I told myself that this time around was going to be more of a "visiting friends" trip than an actual "sightseeing trip."

I had plenty of people to visit when I got to Australia, and this was obviously what I was looking forward to most. So I contacted a few people, made up an itinerary based around their availability, and things actually worked out perfectly: First stop would be Townsville in north Queensland.

Townsville was actually an obvious choice for me because it's where my best friend/early travel buddy Alex is from. His family and friends still live there, and because I had met some of them already back in the States a few years ago, I had even more people that I could visit during my time there.

Tom, Margie, and I atop Castle Hill. Thank you Tom and Margie for your hospitality!

I stayed with Alex's parents in the suburbs of Townsville, and I have to admit, it wasn't long after arriving in Australia that I couldn't believe where I was. They had a nice home and were amazing hosts, and I felt like I was part of the family. I was very grateful for Margie and Tom's hospitality and I got a kick out of what it felt like to be living in a suburb again. They lived on a court (which I grew up on as well), front lawns were manicured, the neighbors were friendly, and I honestly felt like I was back home in America. I had gone from Bangkok to the suburbs of a completely developed country in 24 hours and it was fair to say I was going through something of a culture shock.

I was back in the civilized world, which became more and more evident each day. It was great being here and being in a place where most things actually made sense, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss some of the chaos and exotic life of Asia (and obviously the prices as well).

But again, it was refreshing to see familiar faces, and I was really impressed with Townsville and how amazing the weather was in what they call "winter." Probably the warmest winter I've ever experienced, which is easy to see why someone might live there if they prefer warmer weather. Although I'd be hesitant to feel how hot it gets in the summer...

Another highlight was visiting the nearby Billabong animal sanctuary, where I got to see and interact with all the classic Australian animals: kangaroos, koalas, wombats, and of course crocs. I had honestly never been too intimidated by crocs before, but after seeing how big these guys were up close and watching them feed, it was terrifying. At this point I really felt like that I had made it to Australia.

Kangaroo Selfie

Townsville ended up being quite a successful introduction to Australia and at this point I was looking forward to see some more old friends. The next stop would be Brisbane to visit a friend who stayed with Alex and I on our couch for 2 months and needed to seriously return the favor...

Tom became a good friend when he was living with Alex and I on our couch in our fraternity house 3 years ago on his trip to America. It was all good fun but none of us had seen him since, and I was the first one to pay him a visit. Everything worked out when I arrived and I happily stayed on his couch for almost a week. He took me around a bit and I got a good impression of Brisbane.

Highlights were definitely catching up with life and an improvised bike ride pub crawl that we did using public city bikes. Many cities offer free bike service with various bike stations scattered all over the city where you can hire and return bikes within a certain time limit, so we took advantage of this by strategically going to pubs and bars near each station.

It was a great success, and we didn't have to pay for transportation for the entire night out. I highly recommend this activity to anyone who lives in a city that offers such services, as it's a very effective and easy way to get around while going out, provided that you're capable of riding a bicycle after a few drinks. Great idea Tom!

Tom and I setting out on the bike crawl. Safety first.

There weren't 'a lot of other crazy stories to tell from Brisbane, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. After that brief visit I would be off to Sydney to catch up with another friend for the THIRD time on my trip, just in time for his 30th birthday.