A Brief Introduction

Incase you haven't heard and this blog has caught you by surprise, Brody and I are taking an extended trip to the south pacific. It was a tough decision to leave our jobs, home, and puppy, but traveling has been in the back of our minds for the last few years. Since graduating from college, we've watched many of our best friends travel the globe while we were so crudely thrown into the real world and forced to suffer though mid-western summers, winters, fast food restaurants, and rabid Ohio State fans. We quickly realized that our hearts belonged outside the corn-filled Miami Valley, and en route back to our beloved Rocky Mountains, we thought we’d take a 5 month detour through New Zealand, Australia, and South East Asia.

The opportunity to travel often passes by many people, so we thought we would grab hold while we could. We have no mortgage, no car payments, and no kids, so it seems like the perfect time. We’ve both done some traveling, but never anything to this extent. Thankfully, New Zealand and Australia seem like good starter countries for the beginner backpacker. Maybe someday we can graduate to Herbie and Kristina’s level of commitment (these are two friends of ours who have already done the touristy backpacker scene, and they’re now in Pisco, Peru helping clean up the aftermath of a huge earthquake that leveled the city in August 2007. Here is their travelblog if you’re interested in hearing about their experiences: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/hancocjb/jandksworld/tpod.html).

Don't judge us quite yet. Our travels aren't entirely selfish, as we do have good intentions to contribute to the communities in which we will be living. We are just operating on a completely different level than Herbie and Kristina.

We have Working Holiday visas, which is a great program New Zealand offers to travelers under the age of 30. Basically, we can stay there up to a year and do temporary, seasonal-type work for the country - heard sheep, pick apples, tend bar at wineries, etc. These visas will give us a chance to get involved with the people of New Zealand and their culture and help pad our wallets so we aren't too incredibly broke when we return to the states.

After a few months in New Zealand, we hope to head north to Australia for about a month, where I hope I can catch the World's Masters swim meet in Perth in April. The possibility of this will largely depend on whether or not I can stay in swimming shape, but I figured if I was in Australia during the time of the meet, I might as well try to get there.

After Australia, we will be on to SE Asia. We have no concrete plan, so I'm not sure how long or when we will be in each country before moving on. We will, however, be back by Memorial Day 2008 so I can see Bradley graduate!

As for the details of our departure, we are officially out of the country on December 17. We have a 4 day stop-over in Fiji before actually arriving in Auckland, New Zealand. Yes, this means we will miss Christmas, but tickets nearly double after the holidays. I'm a little sad about this - for those of you who really know me, you can attest to my freakish love for Christmas. However, when I think about being on a beach in Fiji, I feel a little bit better. Once we get to New Zealand, we aren't 100% sure what we're going to do - but as Brody keeps saying, "Figuring it out will be half the fun." The thought of not having a plan (I am my mother's daughter) makes me very anxious so I try not to think about it. We are most likely spending Christmas with a friend’s parents. My friend Colin went to college with me and he is from Wellington, New Zealand. Well, he spent a lot of his childhood in the states, but he, and his accent, claim that he is a Kiwi.

I hope this is enough information to satisfy your questions for the time being. And perhaps motivate you to look into buying tickets to come visit us overseas. No one came to visit us in Ohio, so maybe New Zealand will have more appeal.