After a cross-country drive from Colorado to Michigan, a week in Michigan, followed by over 24 hours of air travel time, I am happy to report that we have made it to New Zealand! Woo Hoo! Overall getting here went pretty smoothly. However, there were a few bumps along the way. Reflecting on our journey, I kept thinking back to the NBC public announcements a few years ago: The More You Know. That tagline (whoever created that jingle is an evil mastermind) stuck with us. So here are some things we learned along the way: 1. Pack, then repack, then repack again. During the packing process, we considered how much trekking around we would be doing over the next 6 months. We originally had planned on one larger carry on and our backpacking packs. I had visions of running over people with my wheely bag (rolling bag) while bumping into them with my large backpack (flashbacks of trips to NYC came back to haunt me on this one). We managed re-packing until we only had our backpacks and laptop bags. Only having our laptop bags during the multiple airport travel was really nice and only having to manage one large bag made navigating the airport and city much easier. 2. New Zealand really does have nice customs people People had warned us about bringing hiking gear and other items into New Zealand. Because it’s an island, they have to be really careful about dirt and foods coming in to their country. We scrubbed our hiking boots and shoes just to make sure. We were also warned that if we questioned claiming something, claim it. From my understanding it’s easier for customs to say you made a big deal out of nothing as opposed to giving you a fine or explaining you have to throw something out. We didn’t have any trouble. 3. Two hours between flights is not as long as you think Flying from Grand Rapids, MI to Chicago, to LA, CA, to Auckland, New Zealand we thought around 2 hours would be a long time for layovers. Not true. Chicago’s airport worried me the most due to weather…or something (I haven’t had a great track record...
Read More
Our week in Michigan is quickly coming to an end. We leave for New Zealand in two days. Yowzers! I have to admit when we agreed to spend a week in Michigan, I was a little worried. We didn’t know how long the drive out would take and had to arrange for some extra time just in case. Since Will’s parents are going to be taking care of Tully the dog, we also thought it would be good to have a few extra days to help her transition. In truth, Michigan has been an excellent reprieve before the big trip. We’ve been rushing around, doing project after project for so long, it’s been nice to have some downtime in the peaceful, woodsy sanctuary that is Susan and Jerry’s place in Allegan, MI. Susan and Jerry have been gracious and entertaining hosts considering we’ve taken over their office and Tully is already working on claiming Jerry’s couch. Their tales of animals seen in their yard (a coyote lives in their backyard and a herd of deer that wondered by just after hunting season ended), the different birds that stop by (or flew into the window, don’t worry, the red-bellied woodpecker was fine), and history about the homestead. We have also eaten better than we have in a long time thanks to Susan’s amazing home cooking. We’ve had meals of blue gil (local fish they caught themselves), homemade pizza, sweet potato pasta. My mom sent us a treat and we got to enjoy some Maryland crab cakes before setting out. The homemade pizza is below complete with Susan’s homemade sauce. Delicious! Apparently, I couldn’t wait to start eating my pear. The Maryland crab cakes. A delightful treat from Ellen allowing us an East Coast send-off. We’ve been lucky to have warm(ish) temperatures which allowed for long walks in the woods behind Susan and Jerry’s homestead. The house was built in the early 1900s and has been in Jerry’s family since the 1930s. Will walked Tully out to “the Island.” The original house was set in these trees, but burned down. It’s also the place where he built a fort with his younger brother, Nate to escape the parents’...
Read MoreWill and I have talked about living abroad for a long time, but it always felt like a pipe dream. After getting the ok for Will to work abroad, it suddenly became a reality. Fast forward months of indecisive “let’s live there!” conversations, we made the decision to move to New Zealand and rent out our house. Holy Shit we’re moving to New Zealand! Even though it’s only 6 months, we quickly realized there’s a lot to figure out. Now what?!?! An excellent question. We looked into visas, but realized we don’t know if we’ll want to stay in New Zealand for the full 6 months. So after some research, we found out for US citizens, you don’t need a visa to stay in New Zealand as long as you’re not working (turns out we’re too old for a holiday visa anyway) and as long as you prove you have an exit ticket within the 3 months of staying. So, we’re still planning on purchasing our tickets to Australia. Good thing we have another week to figure it out. We also looked into housing. AirBnB has been our friend. Unfortunately (and fortunately) it’s summer in New Zealand and the busiest tourist time. We’ve run into a little bit of trouble finding places…but that may be because we procrastinated a bit, putting it off because we were overwhelmed and needing to concentrate on fixing up the house for the renters. Whoops…sorry Will. We also looked on Trade Me. Will describes it as Craigslist meets ebay meets VRBO. They have everything on there from rentals to holiday houses. The only problem is you have to write to the tech team and ask them to let you be registered as you need a New Zealand or Australia ISP address and local phone number. One thing we have learned through this process is that New Zealanders are ridiculously nice and we were registered right away. We found a house to rent for part of our journey through their holiday house webpage. http://www.trademe.co.nz/ Then it was back to getting ready for our renters. Will and I have worked hard to get the house ready for the renters and get our personal belongings (or...
Read More