Blog After Blog

So what is New Zealand really like? What are my lasting impressions that I will look back and recall most vividly? Well, to address most people’s uneducated assumptions, yes there are a lot of sheep and old people. Traffic being stopped due to a flock of sheep crossing a road was a common occurrence. Same with old people for that matter, they’re always in the way.

“Hey old man! Make like a sheep and get the fuck outta my way!”

I never said this, but thought it sounded pretty funny.

Other than that though there are many beautiful places to visit and spend time staring at. I’ve figured out that travel, in a way, is kinda pointless. So you went somewhere and saw something. Big deal. Where is it now? Did the place come with you? No. Some people might say, “Well it goes with me wherever I go… in my mind.” Sweet, a room full of naked chicks goes with me everywhere in my mind. It’s really just so you can tell other people you went somewhere and maybe show them some pictures of yourself there to prove it. But in the end who cares? It’s really all relative. If the coolest place I had ever been was Cleveland, Ohio and I had a great time there, to me it would be just as good as New Zealand or better. The only thing that would make me think differently would be listening to other people, which is usually a big mistake. What do other people know? Nothing.

But yeah if you get the chance to go to New Zealand I would recommend it. I did pretty much have the trip of a lifetime. It wasn’t all peaches and cream, either, but in the end it was all worth it. The early lonely days of warding off boredom and bankruptcy while waiting for employment; the days of skiing and cleaning hotel rooms; the days of packing boxes and living in a tent; then it was off to Sydney, followed by aimless travel throughout most of the unexplored corners of this island nation that has been my home for the past 6 months.

Old, but Some how new.

I haven’t been keeping up on my blogs very well, but it ain’t easy when you’re constantly on the road. I think my last blog had me working in a Christchurch warehouse. That was like a month ago. Since then I have been to Sydney, Australia, traveled extensively through the South Island of New Zealand, and left it for good for the North Island. Since my girlfriend and I arrived here we have been doing nothing but driving, trying to see all we can before we depart for the U.S. We have decided to adopt an aggressive budgeting plan so that we can have some money left for us upon our return to the states. No more eating out, no more sleeping in beds, no more wasting money. It pretty much sucks. We have $80 NZD to spend a week on food for both of us. I have been subsisting on bread, peanut butter, eggs, carrots, and a flavorless NZ cereal called Wheat-Bix. Luckily we have some booze left from our stop through the duty-free shop, but even these supplies are beginning to run low.

Pretty much in a day we will wake up from a miserable night’s sleep in our tent, break camp, drive for a few hours, spend a few minutes at our destination, drive for another two hours looking for a free campground (a.k.a. a secluded rural dirt lot), set up camp and fall asleep.

There are a few fun things about life on the road though. I get to test the limits of neglecting personal hygiene. No more washing, shaving, or cleaning. Every time I think I am living as close to the hobo life as I will get, another chance happens to come along where I get to live even cheaper and dirtier. Maybe I keep setting myself up for it.

What sucks is that I am going back to the U.S. where I have no job, no money, and no real plan. But strangely enough I do have a place to live for free for 2 months; in Jackson Hole, no less. Having a girlfriend with connections comes in handy sometimes. I think this winter I will have to clean toilets or something since the economy is gone to shit. I hear there are no jobs, especially in tourism, which is my normal business. Whatever. I’ll do what it takes to keep the dream alive. What dream is that, you may ask? Uhhh...I’ll get back to you on that.