Pre-departure Nerves

Hey all,

Just want to say thanks for following. I'll try my hardest to stay in touch over the next year with my adventures and all. Right now, I have checked all off my list of things to do (call the credit cards, get dr's appointments out of the way, get spare glasses, get all my plane tickets/visas, etc), and I am just sitting, waiting, fidgeting until I can go. I've got two more weeks until I fly off to Chicago for ten days to spend time with the extended family before I fly out of O'Hare. I managed to score a one-way flight for $690 dollars to Auckland, with a $40 flight to Wellington from there. That's pretty frickin cheap for mid-spring, I think.

Now to fill you all in on why I am going to New Zealand, and what it's expected to be like. My reasoning is simple: I couldn't find a job I could be happy with, and saw that as an opportunity, in my post-graduate life, to explore the world I have so desperately been trying to see. I have been so confined until the last two or three years to travel to just Europe and within the US/Canada. Nearly three years ago, I traveled way outside of my comfort zone to Mexico City, which was lovely. Now, I want to go somewhere unexpected and rare. I know I am lucky to have traveled out of the US at all, but once you go places, you want more. Or at least I do. I want to experience things. That's what makes me feel whole- when I am pushing my boundaries and trying new things. Also, New Zealand had a free work visa for a year, which only took me about four days to hear back about. That helped. Understandably, I wanted to go back to Scotland, but dealing with visas for the UK is long and expensive. So that's why New Zealand.

Now, don't worry. I won't be all alone. I've got friends that I'm going with. Kate, Alexa, and Silvana are all friends of mine from AU, so I won't be in a city on the other side of the world by myself. Now about Wellington. It's on the southern tip of the North Island, and it's the capital of New Zealand. They use New Zealand dollars there, which are about $1.23:$1, NZ to US. So yay for us! The climate is between 68F (high) in summer to like 54F (high) in winter. So obviously not much change in temperatures. It will be quite windy, from what I hear, so that will be the main problem weather wise. It does rain a bit, but nothing I'm not used to from Edinburgh, right? I'll be living in a flat with other Kiwis, and working with other Kiwis, so I'll get right into the native population, which is exactly the kind of thing I like to do. I also plan on exploring the beautiful scenery, made famous by Lord of the Rings! Expect pictures soon, but so you know, this is what Wellington is like.