Foreign Territory.

I'm new to this.
Blogging.
....
......
I moved to New Zealand.
I moved here because I had no idea what I wanted to do after college. I'm a 22 year old Ole Miss graduate in the height of a recession (aka depression). Why not? Let's put that career stuff on hold for a while.

I feel like most of my best decisions have been spur of the moment; I think New Zealand was finalized in, at most, three hours. The synopsis of the conversation goes like this:
Anna- What are you going to do after you graduate?
Me- I don't know. I want to go back to London.
Anna- Me too, lets do it.
Me- Ok.
Anna- Let's go somewhere different . . . How about New Zealand?
Me- Sounds good to me, let's go.
We told our parents. We bought visas. We bought plane tickets. We left January 27th at 9 am from Jackson, MS.

I firmly and whole-heartedly believe that you cannot, and will not, grow as a person, or learn more about yourself until you leave home. I left not only the country, but the western and northern hemispheres as well. I am about as far away from Evansville, IN/ Oxford, MS as humanly possible.

The first thing I learned? I am not good at hostels.

Hostels are meant for backpackers. Let me paint a picture: Back-packers travel the world with the bare necessities. One large backpack that can easily be transported/carried long distances. These are they people that haunt hostels. We show up with too over-stuffed, large suitcases (matching) a piece. Me: Tory Burch shirt. Anna: Marc Jacobs sunglasses. What we say upon arrival? "Can you check our luggage please." Response this warranted: [Stare....] "You do that yourself." Second thing we ask: "When is breakfast served?"....

After checking our own luggage into a small corridor in the hostel we set out to explore the city. (Our plane landed at 5:30 am NZ time and you cannot check into the hostel until 1 pm.) Down in the Viaduct we find a 4 hr whale/dolphin watching boat tour. It leaves in 15 min (8 am) so we buy a ticket and board. No time for sun-screen. Never mind it is summer in New Zealand and that pesky hole in the ozone layer is relatively close by. Never mind that is was winter in the states when I left. And never mind that I have not seen a tanning salon or a beach in ages.
The tour was amazing. Guide was funny, we saw heaps of dolphins (no whales), a shark, and a penguin. Not to mention the scenery. New Zealand truly is a place you have to see for yourself, descriptions do it no justice. After 4 hrs on the boat, I am the most sun-burned I've been in my whole life. I'm talking tomato red and swollen ankles and cheeks.

Second thing I learn: Cankles are a fate worse than death.





What I'm listening to: 'Song Writes Itself ' - Pela