Already then...dust off the keyboard, shake out the cobwebs from the brain, and clip those fingernails. It's time to get blogging again.
Most of you probably (because I haven't shut up about it all year) know I'm heading back to New Zealand on July 26th. This time on a holiday working visa for just under a year (I hope). Why? For several reasons.
For one, I want to see my friends who live there before I let them drift out of my life. Something I've come to realize over the last few years is that it is the people you are with that help create the adventures and good memories. It is not just about where you are or what you are doing. For at least the past four years I have been caught up in the mindset that I just have to go places and do things to feel happy, worthy, and accomplished. As a result, I've lost or forgotten a lot of important friendships/relationships, or dampened opportunities to create new and genuine ones. I want this trip to be a balance of rekindling friendships and checking off things on my "To Do List" that I didn't finish last time (which is of course reason number two for going).
Three, I'm getting close to the age when I should probably have a full time job with benefits (and maybe some believe I am already overdue for that, like my Dad). However, I haven't actually found a job that I'm interested in keeping for more than 6 months at a time. I'm kind of enjoying the seasonal work for the moment. I was ready to have a "quarter-life" crisis after the backpacking trip I led in November due to some extreme challenges that led me to question my education and career choice for the last six years of my life. The trip this past spring has given me hope that all is not wasted. I can be a good Outdoor Educator. Still, the idea and desire for a full time year-round job in the field has been pushed out of my reach for the moment. That being said, I know I can't let my ADD run my career choice. I'm hoping to find some more focus while I'm in New Zealand. It may even help point me in a direction for Grad school.
Four, I can only get this holiday work visa and the opportunity to stay in New Zealand for up to a year until I'm 30-years-old. That's not that far for me now. And who knows where I will be financially in two or three years. And if I do get a full time job or even get pulled into a consistent cycle of seasonal work, then taking a year off to see New Zealand will become near impossible. Best do it now while I can take the time and have the money.
Oh, and I know that I am not there yet, but the start of the trip is already setting up nicely. Recently, I was trying to stamp down my anxiety about my first month in New Zealand. I'd be travelling alone, with almost no connections on the North Island, and trying to find myself a cheap but functional car to live out of for the year. Well, two-months ago while climbing in Indian Creek, I met a woman originally from New Zealand. And on our last climb together in Estes Park, CO she offered for me to stay at her parents in Auckland while I look for a car. Since that offer she has put me in touch with her climbing and ski partners there. I take it as a sign, this trip is meant to be.
So, I know I've been terrible with keeping up with this blog on my past trips and I obviously haven't touched it in almost three years. However, this time will be different, I hope to have a new post up every 2 to 3 weeks and maybe even more frequently at times. For one, I am actually bringing a computer with me to New Zealand this time. I am not taking classes and weather tends to be bad in New Zealand so I will have plenty of time between trips to spend reading and typing. I also would like to get back into writing. Maybe try to publish some articles in the nearish future. I figure the blog will be a great place for me to start tuning up my rusty writing skills. So please, feel free to comment publicly or via email about my writing-whether it's pros or gros. All are appreciated.
I hope you enjoy this journey with me over this next year through my writing and pictures.
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