Holocene

Flying over NZ was incredible, everything was unbelievably green and lush and it looked magical from the air. My travel program had given me a voucher for the SkyBus shuttle, which I thought would take me right to my hostel (Base Backpackers Auckland). I had to switch shuttles briefly before arriving, but I made it! Check in wasn’t until about 5 hours after I got here, so I paid the fee for wifi and chilled in the common area for a while. It’s a bit large and commercial for my taste, but seems clean and the staff was friendly! 

I was planning on just staying in the hostel until I could check in, but I really wanted a cigarette (PSA kids, don’t smoke. I’m going to quit for NZ because cigs are three times the price of back home!) so I went to the little store across the street and then found a cute cafe (Remedy Coffee) with great flat whites and free wifi! 

I’m not really vibing with Auckland, but 1) I wasn’t expecting to, from what I’ve read, and 2) that could be just because it’s only my first day here and I’m not even close to settled in yet. Regardless, I’m very much looking forward to my orientation tomorrow and my new hostel in two nights.

Orientation: I’m here through Greenheart Travel, who partners with IEP for their New Zealand program. I have my orientation program tomorrow at 10, and I’ll make sure to write a post directly after since they’ll be helping me with my IRD number and getting a phone. 

Next hostel: Bamber House! I’m booked for 5 nights here, and am meeting a girl from France who I’ll be WWOOFing and traveling with for a while. It seems a lot smaller and more community oriented than Base so I’m very excited. 

LA is pretty rad. I was a little nervous at first because the city looked so huge, but having my friend here as my guide is great. Everyone is very chill and non-judgmental and it’s a very relaxing attitude. I guess there’s something to be said for basically constant summer. And no fewer than three people have given me the ‘you’re one hour away from snowboarding, and one hour away from the beach!’ line :)

So far in LA I have:

- Woken up at 2 am and 7 am, and it’s quieter outside at 7.

- Gone to a little cafe called Birdie’s that made my heart happy <3

- Santa Monica for the day! The pier was touristy and awesome and the ferris wheel was out of this world!

- Also a little place called Bruno’s in Santa Monica has the best Gnocchi Pesto I’ve ever tasted.

-  I put my feet in the Pacific ocean!!!

Longer LA post (with pictures) to come, but this has been f*cking awesome so far. ✌ 

I leave for New Zealand in 15 days!!! I’m not even nervous - just terrified. I figured I should finally head over here and get this blog going, maybe indulge and talk about myself for a little bit. If you’re looking for details about prep and visas for NZ, they’ll be coming up in my next post. 

I keep getting asked why I picked New Zealand. I really wish I had a better answer, but honestly? It was easy to get a Visa that allows me to work at will, but mostly I just got an idea in my head a while back that i wanted to see where Lord Of The Rings was filmed and kind of just ran with it. I started saying that’s where I wanted to go next, let things happen, and it worked out. I know that sounds a little wishy washy and like I didn’t put very much effort into it, but it’s not because I wasn’t willing to. Sometimes, things work out for the best on their own and I want to take advantage of this situation.

I’m feeling a but more nervous for this trip than I anticipated. The anxiety due to being away from my family, my home, everyone I know - that, I can deal with. What’s really scaring me is that my trip to Spain wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be. (I spent three months in Spain in early 2016, you can read a bit about it over at @thatfernwehfeeling if you’d like!) It’s taken a while to admit this to myself. I had a wonderful time there, and don’t regret going! The people I lived with were incredible, I met a friend for life, I saw some incredible things and art and culture and met so many new friends from all around the world.

But for some reason, it didn’t make me feel that good inside. I can’t figure out what it was, but I think it comes down to the extroverted, overly social culture that Madrid has. It just isn’t for me - I don’t like to go out to clubs or parties every weekend, and I like quiet nights in more often than not. My host family didn’t understand this, and neither did most of Madrid. Again, it was a great experience, but I could never feel at home there.

I’m scared now that I’ve built up New Zealand in my head, and that it can never live up to my own expectations. Or, it’s every bit as wonderful as I expect, but it isn’t right for me - or I’m not right for it. From what I’ve seen and read online, this won’t be the case, but I can’t stop that little voice in my head that’s scared shitless.

SO, I guess the only thing to do is to just go for it! I have a mini vacation in LA for four days, basically an extended layover between flights since I’m on the East Coast. I’ll be seeing a friend I haven’t seen since high school graduation, over two years. I think that’s decreasing my stress level a good amount, and hopefully seeing her will help even more. Fingers crossed!

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