"I'm Going on an Adventure!"

To blog or not to blog? That was the question. The dates were confirmed, the tickets secured, and dozens of travel-related emails from myself crowding my inbox (it's becoming a problem). Two months in New Zealand quickly approaching and I had yet to make that decision. How much fun would it be to virtually take my friends and family along on the greatest adventure of my life so far? The only problem was that, if I wanted to share anything better than iPhone pictures, it meant bringing my not-so-space-friendly laptop on a trip that I am desperately hoping will be carry-on only (more on that later). 

I was, however, won over by the idea of allowing everyone back home to share in the richness of these glorious two months of freedom right in the midst of them, instead of after the fact. Plus I think we'd all be a bit overwhelmed by the alternative, which would be unleashing hundreds of photos on Facebook at the end of the trip. 

So ultimately, I decided: to blog. Definitely, to blog. 

Now, you might be wondering something right about now. Why in the world am I going to New Zealand by myself for two months? 

Why not?

 

I mean, THIS IS AN ACTUAL REAL PLACE.

I've been dreaming of roaming those glorious islands ever since I realized that they were the closest I would ever come to roaming actual Middle Earth. I have a book trilogy which I've been sitting on for over a decade, with characters who are simply longing to have life breathed into them at last. I'm twenty-one years old, single, and not seriously tied down to anything right now--there could not possibly be a better time for me to go on an adventure. 

For much of the time that I'm in NZ, I'll be staying with a woman named Carolyn Leslie, who I've never met in person but already love. In exchange for working for a few hours five days each week (largely with her animals), I get to live in her home and share her table, which is why I'm able to do this trip now instead of six months or a year from now. This is thanks to a little website called worktotravel.com, which was created to help people who want to see the world but don't have the funds to pay for weeks or months of food and accommodation. 

In addition to experiencing daily life as a Kiwi with Carolyn, I'll be skydiving, going on a half-day horse trek in the hill country, experiencing a few of NZ's many forest parks, touring Auckland and Wellington, and, of course, visiting the Shire itself. 

With my notebook, camera, and ukelele in tow, I expect to have the time of my life.