I want to take this time to stress how important it is to have the beginning (and only the beginning) of your trip mapped out.
- Who has the time NAY POWER to predict and plan for everything the future holds?!? Plus it is indeed half the fun not having everything planned
- You are most likely doing something extraordinary by even leaving your couch, so don’t freak yourself out more than you need to
- Sure you can have hotels, motels, and hostels lined up – but you will spend more than you intend if you don’t take the time to get something more long-term
With that in mind, my friend Kris and I are embarking on this crazy journey to NZ. You may remember Kris from my trip to Amsterdam. He is a great travel company who encouraged me to choose New Zealand over Australia. I agreed it would be best to enter the same country so at least we have moral support nearby. We have no contacts there. We have no idea what to expect. We don’t even have the first clue as to what we will be doing once we get off the plane and into a hostel.
What we do know is:
- We were unsure of travelling a lone right away even though we knew we wanted to split up after getting the feel of the land – come to think of it, any country is dangerous so just make sure you have a life-line or someone to talk to when you feel stressed (skype is so helpful)
- http://www.wwoof.org/ is a cool website that allows you to work on a farm roughly four hours a day in exchange for food and accommodation.
- Two weeks before leaving you send out 3-5 messages to potential hosts, write their names/address/phone in a super duper cool ‘travel book’ (a notepad people) and call/email these contacts day one – this way you can chill in a hostel, and explore the city while waiting on replies
Another option to look into if farming is not your thing would be to rent a flat for a short lease. Time to pack for any last minute things.
2 thoughts on “STEP 7: HQ”