En Route to New Zealand: the Land of the Kiwi's

So I'm off to New Zealand!!! --finally!!!  I was able to get a pretty "affordable" one-way ticket, becasuse I had 2 very long layovers, one in L.A. (save me), and one in Honolulu, HI--yaayyy.
I certainly had a few bumps along the way, was a bit frustrating but that is life, and you need to be very flexible when traveling, am I right?

Honolulu, Hawaii beach

I was using a pretty worn out backpack as my small one, for my electronics, snacks, journal etc. It finally decided to rip in the top..ope. I used good old duck tape to temporarily fix it. I was grateful I was flying tyhrouh the small airport in my area, Minneapolis- St Paul (MSP airport), I used to work there...ugh. The best thing working there were some cool co workers, hanging out in a book store (was one of my several jobs there), and all the many registered therapy dogs. It was a very easy small airport to get through security, the other location was so big by the time you got to the table to unpack for security you had to hurry to get it all out, then repack it ...phew. I arrived to L.A. late at night, sadlay my rain guard of my locvely NEW (Bday gift) 35 L gregory backpack, had somehow come off between it being loaded into the plane and off of it...maybe it was too full...idk.and got a taxi to my hostel, man I should've looked at reviews clolser. The hostel was  hot mess, and just eh. I was happy to leave late morning the next day. Then I was off to Honolulu...yaay!

I arrived to Honolulu a bit later that night, and got settled in my hostel, the beds were creaky..cringe. And the rooms didn't have the best air circulation, and being  a midwetern Minnesotan girl, it was a bit hot for me. The next morning I took a cold shower and went walking to the beach...which took 5 minutes--it was glorious!! Can't wait to travel and or live on warm islands agagin "cough" Thailand. I grabbed a delicious Soon I was off to the airport, for one final time on this way of the journey to the land of the hobbits, ie New Zealand!!! I landed in Auckland, after another about 8 hour flight, I was actually grateful I choose to do a 3 part trip, so I was less cooped up in a plane and I could walk around alot more.

I'm not a lover of coffee, but when in Rome, coffee is huge in NZ!
At a cute cafe by below park

I finally land in Auckland, was dissapointed to find out that was NOT the airport where there is a huge hanging art piece of golum catching fish...that is in Wellington..shoot. I got my bags, and went through the lovely and well planned out Immigration of New Zealand. Sadly didn't get a stamp in my passport, though I =now know there is a town here that is independent in the country that can stamp bkfastthem (papamamoa...?). I scanned my passport at a computer, they got my picture or something, and I went through that...bags after..my bad. Then I had to walk through with my declaration card, any international traveler is well aware of this. So you have to declare liquor, so much ciaaraeetes, plant or animal materiatls...new zealand having a delicate eco system which has been sadly ravaged my lots of invasive, and not always accidentally introducted animals (possum ugh), has killed lots of the birds here...alot with other predators (more on that later...). In the end they looked at my bags for some things they thought were honey, I did my research ahead of time and was  a bit annoyed that one lady assumed I was dumb and had it ...it was witch hazel, and a coconut charcoal toothpaste (homemade), they said oh...that's fine. I had my hiking boots on which had been in American soil somewhat recently, so to be safe I showed them, and I stepped in soapy water and they washed them off...well done New Zealand!

Lovely Park in Auckland

Off I was...I almost got a taxi just for myself because I was so tired, but a lovely Kiwi gentleman (they are some of the friendliest people ever...along with Scottish people), had me join his large van for cheaper. I arrived to my hostel pretty late..a.after midmight, thank god the bigger cities hostel receptionist are open 24/7...I hadn't realized I made a sort of major mistake...I forgot about the time different and accidentally didn't re look at my date of arrival...which of course is more than the flight time...going west. So my booking had been canceled sincce I "no showed", bugger. They were able to s=till get me a room for the night, and the next am while enjoying free bkfast with hot black tea (my favorite drink ever), got me sorted fot the rest of my stay in Auckland. I waited for my phone to charge, journaled about my adventures up to the point and was off for the day.

New Zealnd, which I already knew =had pretty similar weather to the U.k., to me it is the idea of a southern hemisphere U.K., rightly so...weather is similar, lots of british immigrated people, pubs, and town names...Dunedin anyone? (Gaelic name for my favorite Scottish city-- Edinburgh!!). I packed a sweatshirt, scarf, and my raincoat...along with a charger, converter just in case. I grabbed smoe NZ cash, and got a replacement backpack first of all....phew,. important to have good working gear. I didn't do alot on the first day...
though i had a facebook made friend, from the group Girls Love Travel (GLT), say she would show me around part of the area )love kiwi's). I walked around found the cutest side street righy by the hostel...Vulcan street, very popular. Not at ton i liked about Auckland, just  a large gray city without alot of personality...ask any new zealander NOT living in Auckland --ha.

Cute boutique I gor some grear clothes at
Vulcan Street, Auckland, NZ

I enjoyed some shopping for fun. Made pals with a canadian who lives tehre...she was the shop lady who was heloing me. Invested in some nice things...a super pretty light green dress, slits up the side so it does cover my knees...so i jyust need to cover my chest and shoulders at temples in asia and the like :) also got a cute white t shirt, adorable but so hard to keep clean...they had no other colors..saying wild and free...portion of the proceeds went to...helping women? Was starving, I need to eat about every 3 hours...shrug. I got a nice lunch of salad at an adorable french cafe...just up the street. I know it was  good genuine french place...a french guy was working there, I know because he spoke french to a c=ute french family :) he asked, while he was ringiing up my bill, what I was doing the rest of the day...took me a while AFTER to realize that he was probably fliritng /hitting on me...oops.  haaaa

BBQ DUCK Cafe - Auckland, NZ

Found Queen street ghe main shopping street in Auckland...all the super expensive stores haaa. Not my style but I got a laugh out of it. Found some gorgeous New Zealand wool and possum mix sweaters, need to still invest in a good one..they are way warmer =than just merino wool by itself.

Later I was still hungry, salad fills me up if there is alot of protein on it. I found a great little asian restaurant . Called duck bbq? check... Love great asian places to eat, any type of asian, ususally fabulous food, great people working there, and inexpensive! I got meat bao buns, a great soup, and spring rolls, sooo yummy.

Next blog post: evening with a friend, and further Auckland adventures

Inspirational Women: great reads about brave women

Let's talk about women travelers. I have, for a majority of my life, been obsessed with traveling and when we got the Sunday paper, always collected the Travel section. I was so excited to learn about exotic places, different cultures, foods, art and more. I hadn't even been on a plan until we, my sister and I, were about 11 or 12, we took a small trip to San Francisco...pretty cool place.  I fell in the ocean, when we were going for a photo op...I always have fun awkward stories to tell of my travels, makes talking about my trips that more interesting and fun.

Years ago, I heard about the book "Eat, Pray, Love",  an autobiography by Elizabeth Gilbert, which is a lovely true story about a lady who isn't happy, leaves her partner and wants to travel. So she sets off on a year adventure, 4 months in Italy, India and Bali, Indonesia. The movie is quite good too. A while later I found a book "Tales of a Female Nomad", by Rita Golden Gelman... a great book about a lady's travels, not having a permanent home, staying with locals all over, and her incredible experiences. Before I giver my list of favorite ones I've read, I want to explain more about why I love some of them.

Girl stop apologizing... great book, by the author who also wrote "Girl, wash your face". Fabulous read, and appropriately titled book, about empowering women to go after their dreams, despite societal expectations.

What I was doing while you were breeding... this is a hilarious compilation of the author's travels and intimate relations with men, and all the other adventures in between. Great quick read for those of you wanting an honest travel single women book.

Very similarly, is the book No one told you this is about the author's life, she is single, 40 and can do what she pleases-- very good read.


So I have compiled a list of fabulous books about Women Travelers, and general books about empowered women, non fiction, and fiction.

Non Fiction:
- Eat, pray, love  By: Elizabeth Gilbert

- What i was doing while you were breeding  by: Kristin Newman

-Tales of a Female Nomad  By: Rita Golden Gelman

-girl who drovce through India in a small yellow car? *couldn't find title


-Bodie on the Road  By: Belinda Jones.

-No one told you this  by: Glynnis MacNicol

-Seducing and killing nazis  By: Sophie Poldermans

-Girl stop apologizing  By: Rachel Harris

Fiction:

.-resistance women  By: Jennifer Chiaverini

- the nightingale  By: Kristina Hannah

Preparing to Move Abroad

(So let's talk about moving abroad. Years ago, in 2010, I had studied abroad in the bonny country of Caledonia (ie Scotland). I am glad I could get a working visa there, by a certain age, because I really need to go back, it;s great there!

Great online example of
Moving Abroad Checklist
https://meetthewards.com/checklistformovingabroad/

So what to start with prepping for moving abroad...finding information from other lovely people who have done the same is a good starting point, including my awesome sister who taught English in Korea for 3 years.

Certain aspects of this were easier for me, I didn't have a car, house, partner, pets. You can still do it if you do though, you'll just have to prioritize and focus.

So for moving abroad I focused on what should be done, chronologically.

I started with some simple things, such as making COLOR copies of important paperwork, such as passport, birth certificate etc, having those on hand, and saving them electronically. That way if something happens to my passport, as long as a I have a good color copy, in case of an emergency that'll help.

Next I made sure I had everything I needed to apply for my working holiday visa. For New Zealand specifically see here, , https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas , otherwise, you can google immigration _insert country name here__. After that, I started working tons, saving for the trip, and paying off lots of school loans (thank you failed American education system). Overall I hit a majority of my goals very well before I was off to New Zealand--which was a relief--because traveling with lots of loans was a scary thought to me.

Working on Preping for the Move... tea, scone and passport with paperwork

*Side note: I think I forgot to mention, but another major reason why I wanted to move abroad, in general, was to have a better way of life. A majority of countries, even 3rd world ones, have free excellent universal health care, free education (including university), good public spaces and transportation, paid required parental leave, better work life balance...to name a few.

Besides these major above points, I have listed a lot of the things I went through on my list, and further sources and examples are at the bottom.

List...

.Final Doctor's appointments

-travel clinic, need shots?

-make copies (color for IDs) of: passport, visa, shots, Rx letter from dr, traveler's insurance (have with you, online and with family back home).

-Passport, when does it expire? needs to be good for at least 6 months after you plan to leave a country
-research visa options: I was doing a working holiday visa

-what do I want to keep?

-Sell/donate the rest
-Final Doctor, Dentist and eye appointments

-8 weeks prior...apply for working holiday visa (age limit)

-6 weeks prior give part time job notice

Awesome Gregory 35L pack
that I got for my Birthday

-book travelers insurance (thanks www.worldnomads.com )

-4 weeks prior 1 month notice for moving out

-4 weeks prior, give 2 weeks notice to primary job

-mail forwarded

-book accommodation in first city, Auckland , NZ.

-practice packing...it's trickier when you're going somewhere with lots of weather extremes, vs SE Asia, where it is almost always nice and warm

-get up to a 3 month supply on all needed prescriptions

Other Great Sources:
- great checklist of what to do, and what to pack

https://www.tourleader.nz/new-zealand-travel-planner/new-zealand-travel-checklist

-helpful check list from the New Zealand immigration website itself
https://www.new-zealand-immigration.com/migrate-to-new-zealand/immigrating-to-new-zealand/moving-checklist/

-http://www.workingin-australia.com/move/moving-checklist#.UyJ0SvmwJcQ
used this as an idea, but only could find the Australia one again

Coming Up...
My Adventures in New Zealand

The Traveling Herbalist

So it has certainly been a long time since I've written.

Lots has happened. I was working multiple jobs at a time, to pay off a lot of school loans (yay American school system--you fail), and save for my major trip. I am currently on a working holiday visa in the gorgeous country of -- New Zealand! I have already been here almost 6 months, and am absolutely loving it! The people are super friendly, the food is amazing, delicious local wine and cider, and every landscape is stupid pretty. I was just about to start another hostel job, in Fox glacier, in the south island, when the lovely NZ prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced a lockdown starting on Wednesday, March 25th, 2020. At the time this was announced, it was Monday and my boss and I were trying to figure out how many hours I could get, since the borders were closed , or what to do. Even thought they were listed as an essential business, and needed to stay open, they closed since the PM said businesses must close (go figure).
So currently I am doing my best to find a remote job, in customer service, as a virtual assistant or something along those lines...till than, I have a lot of free time, and figured why not write --since I love it.

Where to start...guess the beginning...

Almost 6 years ago now, I saw this incredible picture of someone on some mountain hike. I found that location was Mt Aspiring, on the south island in New Zealand. So that, plus my sister wanting to help me go in the right direction, sent me an article about a famous blog couple living and working in New Zealand. I decided to print the hike picture out, and on the sides drew lines, to represent my trip savings.

Mt Aspiring National Park Hike.

 https://youngadventuress.com/2020/01/hikes-in-mt-aspiring.html

Only thing was, my income wasn't that great. Paying off loans was hardly feasible at the time, let alone saving for a international trip to an expensive country. As luck would have it I was working at a food co op, great place, pay was ok...eventually I was laid off, budget issues (facepalm). Eventually I would learn this was a good thing. I got a job at a local gym, also not the best place to work...but I was desperate. Eventually, through a friend recommending me, I got a job at the Minneapolis airport (interesting and exhausting place to work in general).

I worked multiple jobs at a time...saved tons of money, wrote up a paid off goal sheet, time line for trip...etc. This helped me keep track of money goals; I had a lovely sheet written in black, that I'd mark off in red once I paid off a loan, credit card etc. Once I got into a good rhythm, of working, and paying things off, it felt very good to pay in full loans--oh man! Repeat this for almost 3 years. Friends, and family, including my sister asked me, "how do you do it?". Well I am very very driven to reach goals, I ate well, had not much of a life outside of work, and when I worked at the airport, they had a lot of registered therapy dogs. Instant de-stresser!

A lovely dog at my Airport

I was on very good track with saving for my New Zealand trip, and paying off loans--woot!
Through lots of more hard work, quitting one bad job at the airport, I got hired with a temp agency to work for a health insurance company--very hard job but quite rewarding --helping people. I was hired on in the spring, since I started working for them via  employment agency.
Start the countdown---T minus 6 months to New Zealand! Now it get's fun, and even a bit more challenging. Work two jobs, minimize, sell, and pack up … what I was keeping, or taking with me abroad. I've gotta say, I need to move more often again, to minimize some things I have...one reason I miss college.

This Blog's Summary:
-keep on working towards your goals, even if it takes a while
-never give up
-stay focused
-Do it even if it sounds crazy to some

Coming Up:
- prepping for living and working abroad