Arrival

10/21/16

It's been about a week, so I figure I'd better update this. 

Hello from New Zealand everyone! I made a quick post on Facebook to update people on my arrival, but that wasn't quite sufficient to describe everything that has gone into the trip and this first week here. First off I'd like to thank everyone who sent me off from home, drove me down to LA, put me up in LA, and surprised me at Disneyland. You are all the best, you made my last few weeks in the US some of the very best I have ever had. 

So I have flown internationally before with YWAM. However that time, my team leaders took care of all the travel details and I just kind of followed what they said. This time the responsibility of making arrangements, filling out paperwork, customs, and immigration, was all mine. I'm not sure I enjoyed it all that much. Adventures seems so much more adventurous when you're not worrying if your visa provisions have all been met or if your bags qualify for the free baggage policy of your airline. 

*Begins planning road trip around the entire contiguous United States because there's no issues with borders, immigration, customs, visas, passports, plane rides, baggage, foreign currency, and so on. 

Anyways, those are the sort of issues that make travel less fun... I can't help but notice how much my journey mirrors that of dear Bilbo. Adventures are never what they seem as in the stories, all the nasty bits get left out. As for now, I think I may be in that storm at the beginning of The Hobbit. I am still figuring out details that will allow me to travel the country unhindered. Been staying with a fantastic family that has helped me with all of these undesirable details. Hopefully soon I will have a car to navigate the country with. Plan is to start at the northernmost point of New Zealand and make my way south. I'll be outfitting myself with a stationwagon that will double as a home on the road: which is a very common practice here.

That's about all I have for now. Hopefully the next time I update I'll be out of the city and exploring. You don't travel to New Zealand to explore Auckland.

Until next time my friends

Good Day

Photos from Week 1

Playlist for the Week:

All We Are - OneRepublic

Arrival - Japanese Wallpaper

Fireflies - Lights & Motion

Rush Over Me feat. HALIENE - Seven Lions . Illenium . Said The Sky
10,000 Reasons - Matt Redmond