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Mmmmnyam

When we agreed to have dinner with a young and talented producer of one of (too) many TV cooking shows on the very first night we arrived to New Zealand, I was wondering if it was a grave mistake to expect the first evening of our trip to be a stunning success. What if I fell asleep with my face in my plate? After a long wait in the bar of Prego in Ponsonby, a rather posh Auckland district, the long menus were presented. What to order? In a country populated by 30 million sheep and lambs, it would feel like a travesty to order anything but— a rack of lamb! We may know New Zealand lamb from home as we cook it quite often BUT….you know that Chinese food in America cannot be compared to Chinese food in China, right? Is it the same with Kiwi lamb???

After my rack of lamb landed in front of me, the only thing rather disappointing was its size. But the quality was there. The texture was perfect, medium rare and juicy at the core, but crusty at the bone. Even though the menu was Italian, the dinner had a decidedly Kiwi twist, supplemented by Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough region of the South Island. It looks like we will eat well here.

So what is behind the NZ lamb quality? We found out quickly and from the best source. In a lovely little place south of Dunedin called Taeira River Mouth we were hosted by a couple of retired sheep farmers. We struck gold and were actually double lucky. Firstly, the Sun, the Earth and the Moon aligned to create the Super Tide that day AND the area was hit by a major cyclone circling the Tasman Sea on the way from Queensland, coincidently hitting the South Island full force! Stan and Marion had great plans to show us their bellowed bush (read woods) and sea coast but the absolutely miserable weather of strong winds and pouring rain made it impossible. What should we do instead? You might be surprised, new friends, but we would really, really like to see a true sheep farm operation. As any resourceful Kiwi would, Stan made a few calls to his still working friends in sheep farming community and got us in. We could visit the campus of Telford University that trains young farmers in all kinds of sheep farming activities.

Stan’s friend, Alistair Ward, an old hand in all things sheep, took us under his wing. And we learned more than we ever thought we wanted to know.

Here are a few cute sheep photos where you can finish this blog.

But if you really want to know all the details, keep going. I warn you–It is a veritable treatise.

The sheep farming revenue has two basic components: the meat and the wool. While in the past the split between them could be anywhere between 50/50 to 80/20 in favor of the wool, today’s market completely changed the game. The prices for wool dropped down to NZ$2 or even NZ$1.85 per kilogram. Farmers can hardly get more than 3kilograms (6.6 lbs) of wool per sheep a year, which makes for an income of less than NZ$5 per sheep a year! That is about what you pay for a cup of coffee in any of the frequent New Zealand coffee shops. It is TERRIBLE!

To the contrary, a lamb can fetch the same farmer anywhere between NZ$120 and $150 for its meat! You do not have to be Einstein to figure out where any farmer should put his money and his effort. Still, when you have a sheep to bear you lambs, you do have to shear the sheep of its wool no matter what, because it can not walk around with a heavy sheep afro. Oh yeah, and you need a few rams as well to accomplish this goal, but one ram can easily take care of 70 sheep. This pleasant male activity is quick and efficient, and as it often happens in the real life, too, is not really a very serious factor in the whole game— of wool and meat!

Alistair, Marion and Ksenija discussing the price of wool

Shearing on the other hand is, and a national sport to boot, and I would say almost as popular as rugby. Indeed, international competitions are followed by a big crowd on par with All Black’s rugby matches on international stage, including loud screams of thousands of their fans, getting the best out of the Kiwi sheep shearing team by singing the National anthem! And they should indeed be proud of them. One of their best, a very accomplished champion Peter Fagan could shear 720 sheeps in a day of competition!!! That is a sheep every 30 seconds in a 10 hour day. No kidding,  our host Stan proved that to me in the local newspaper! I have not seen this with my own eyes, nor on TV, but Stan’s friend, Allistair,

showed us where it is done. As in any human activity with hundreds of years of practice and necessity of improvement one creates rituals, customs, and habits to set the stage for ultimate performance of champions. For shearing the sheep only the best man will do. Everybody else is just a helper (called “roustabout”, like in “stop rousting about and get to work, yer good fer nuttin!) in support of the leader who defines the speed of shearing and quality of product. Therefore the big guy gets to be paid per sheep and we were told it can be four bucks a piece, whole the roustabouts get a few miserable bucks per hour as current minimum wage in New Zealand is about ten (pronounced tin) bucks.

Shearing shed with wool

The shearing shed is a sight to behold, all made of wood. The sheep are brought up on a rather steep ramp to the second floor one by one to one of the elevated shearing stations. As the shearer shears the sheep, the wool falls and accumulates fast, so the helpers have to move the wool away quickly and stuff the 100-kilo bags, while the freshly bald sheep is pushed mercilessly through the tricky floor hatch and slides down to the first floor to make space for the next victim walking over the now deceptively innocent closed door.

Sheep slide

The quality of wool feels soft on your finger tips because of its oils (incidentally also protecting the sheep in the rain) but nothing matches the virgin wool, sheared for the first time in the life of a little lamb. This wool with a gentle twist on the top pays best, but it would never grow like that again.

Regular wool

Virgin wool

Meanwhile downstairs we can watch a fast and efficient way of selection of sheep into smaller units by weight. Mr. Ward, with nimble help of his dogs and a young technician is herding the lambs through narrow fenced corridors towards the scale. Any lamb lighter than thirty kilos is directed through the gate on its right to a smaller herd and goes back to the pasture. If the sheep weighs over 30 but less than 37.5 kilo, it goes to the left for further evaluation and less than encouraging prospects regarding its future. And those over 37.5 kilograms? Their path from the scale box goes straight to the slaughterhouse! Nothing to envy, my friends.

21,5 kg-safe for a little longer on the pasture

It is clear that while good natured Mr. Ward enjoys his presentation very much, he is, after all, a teacher at this University raising another generation of sheep farmers, the thing closest to his heart is—his DOGS!

Dogs herding the sheep

Sitting tensely at the outdoors shed in the enclosure they wait for their master’s whistle and its distinguished tone and sequence to be sure what his intentions are. The whistle’s sounds triggers immediate action as the dog starts circling the sheep, slinking close to the ground,  keeping the whole group in a tidy circle, while moving it in a desired direction. Amazing work! Suddenly a little sheep appears out of nowhere. She is panicking, she has lost her place in the world in the secure embrace of the herd. The dog quickly gets her to the circle. All is well. She is safe again, she is one of a crowd, following along, happily eating grass, no need to think or make any decisions on her own.

Aren’t you already excited for the next blog entry? It will be all on cows and milking!

What is it about New Zealand landscape that is so awe inspiring and endearing?

I find myself driving in the car, gripping the wheel and trying not to veer into the ditch when the car comes towards me on the wrong bloody side of the road.

Yet I notice that while my knuckles are turning white my mouth is still turned up a permanent grin. Yeah, sure, I love being on the road again, but it is the thrill of the ever changing landscape behind my window that makes my heart sing. There is so much extraordinary beauty and every turn in the road brings a new surprise, a new view, vista or peysage.

The waterfalls pop out of nowhere and stately, old, lone trees stand majestically in the middle of the fields. Lacy green ferns cover whole sides. “Oh, look, the sweet little lambs on the green grass with the blue sky and puffy white clouds.” “Wow, look at that turquoise lake! “The sunset, the sunset, just look at those golden clouds over the white sand and black rocks.”

There is a perfect combination of raw nature with just the slightest touch of human hand. What I find most attractive is a never before seen succession of perfectly groomed green hedges reaching to the sky, dissecting pastures in perfect lines. (I soon learn they are planted densely to protect newborn lambs and calves from the strong winds).

I have to try really hard not to stop every few minutes to take a picture. When I can’t help myself, and do, I keep turning my iPhone photo mode on panorama to try to capture the whole glorious grandeur in front of my eyes, drunk from so much spectacular beauty.

So this is it!

It was late Friday afternoon and I was going through my work routine for the last time. Getting into the elevator on the 23rd floor, zigzagging through the downtown crowd to the BART station, getting on the last train of my commuting life to make it to the Fourth Bore, our local watering hole, to sip my regular, Start of the Weekend margarita. After 47 years, retirement is here. It had to come, sooner or later. Sooner would have been better. Now is good. Commute is over, short vacationing is over, everything but real TRAVEL is over.

The last weekend was spent putting the final touches on our new AirBnB establishment, our house, that we have lived in for the last two decades. We raised our kids here, from elementary school all the way to grad school. You accumulate a lot of memories and junk over the years and you try to discard it mercilessly. On Monday afternoon, when our first AirBnB guest showed up, I have just swept the oak leaves off the steps down to our front yard for the last time. We showed him the house with the bed we have left barely six or seven hours ago, we grabbed our bags and off we went.

In front of our small village train station waiting for the ride to the airport.

Now it really starts. The First Day of 330 or maybe 694. Week 1 of 50 (or perhaps 102 if none of our girls procreate during the first year).

Each of us leaving with only a small duffle bag full of necessities for a week (you cannot pack one year worth of underwear, can you?). We think they are enough, those basics, to see us through, to be exchanged for the big pile of indulgent comforts of modern life we left behind. Even so there is plenty in those duffle bags and in two small backpacks stuffed with bottles of drinking water, iPhones, iPads, laptop, spare cables, convertors, chargers, toothbrushes, passports—things you need for the first fifteen hours of your trip to the other side of the Pacific way down in Southern Hemisphere in the middle of summer. And one way ticket to the next place. And the cream on top of it all? The feeling of freedom to be on the road again.

Truth be told, I did not want to go to New Zealand. We were there before. That before was actually 32 years ago, which is a lifetime or almost as long as our life together. That time of your life when you learn how to compromise and begin to recognize the validity of the rule no. 1: “My wife is always right!”. Hence I succumbed to my wife’s insistence, and instead of going to Bali all the way along the Pacific Rim of Asia, I got tickets on the direct flight over the water without any dry land to see until a new day shows up through the plane’s windows. It still counts as Day 1 in spite of leaving California on a chilly Monday shortly before midnight and the new day is a Wednesday! A balmy day in the Land of Kiwis and Maoris.

Coming here for the second time I try to rehash my memories of the first trip, but memories are in short supply. We only had a week then (yup, it was at the phase of our lives when we were still rushing from one place to another) so we never even stopped in Auckland. Maoris? We barely noticed them, only as carvers of simple carbon copy figurines in Rotorua. Nobody was out drinking in the bar after tea at five. They were all sitting quietly at home watching TV. Lord of the Rings movie had not been produced for another 20-25 years! What had been left in my brain were mostly colors and patterns and graphic of nature and locals.

A newly proposed flag of this country carries the fern branch you kick over EVERYWHERE in New Zealand!

And Maori warrior tattoo perhaps inspired by the ever changing pattern on the bubbling mud pool.

Another leftover was the admiration for Kiwis’ love of outdoors, camping, trekking (they call it tramping), or outright high altitude climbing. When I was a kid, reading about Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing were most exciting books and Kiwis’s ability to throw their bodies, no matter what age or shape, into the cold mountain streams was and still is quite remarkable.

Then comes the comparison of what was then and what is now. Certainly a lot has changed, but mostly for the better.

Recommendation #1

Drive Around New Zealand:

Sure, there are more cars but all of them are quite new. I don’t recall seeing a junk on the wheels the first week of driving around the North Island. And they move on pretty good roads even if there is not much in the sense of motorways or expressways, as they call them here. The government seems to size the roads to fit the traffic, so even the State Highway 1 between capital city of Wellington and Auckland, the NZ largest city, can be reduced to just a two-lane highway with occasional additional passing lanes every few miles. How can it work? I guess it comes with common decency of the general population. Kiwis, as most New Zealanders call themselves, are a very pleasant and positive variety of humans. That decency projects into their defensive style of driving. As a new addition to this country’s left side traffic I appreciate very much the absolute lack of killer instincts of locals, compared to drivers in our home countries. We were looking in disbelief at Kiwi drivers’ discipline in their compliance to drive within the speed limits, to yield to others whenever given an opportunity and let other drivers live for the rest of their useful life. We talked to some people here and it looks like speeding does not seem to be on anybody’s priority list, and traffic police tends to pardon the occasional violation only up to 4km/hour (two and half miles per hour). Therefore the violators’ ideas of having Michael Schumacher’s racing ability is dashed on the spot and indeed very short lived.

Recommendations #2

When in Rome do like the Romans do, oops ….when in NZ stay with Kiwis. When you have progressively aged and travelled as extensively as we did, you sooner or later run out of available destinations on your bucket list.

If it happens and you exhausted your bucket list and in the unfortunate event you have not, damn it, died yet, then the next best thing is to meet the local people as they can provide you with the never ending source of freshness, knowledge, entertainment and surprises as you move around. My better half, instead of wasting her time on buying airline tickets or renting cars in remote places of Southern Hemisphere, gave a lot of thought to general philosophy and intent of this couple’s travel. She discovered an organization called Servas, founded after the WW2 with the idea of overcoming the mistrust between nations and their peoples and supporting mutual understanding and friendship among them. Members of this organization welcome other members in their own homes for at least two nights (as we know a one-night stand clearly does not promote friendship and closeness amongst 2 people, as well as peoples of the world), and spend time talking, visit places and cooking (or going to the restaurants) together. Since neither my wife nor myself are very shy in social settings, we applied, we were vetted, interviewed, and finally accepted— after we promised we will behave! This easily projected even further as our travel plans were shaped by interaction with the locals. During the first week in NZ we stayed with three families and met extensively sharing food and drink, in some cases quite a lot of drinks, but we hope we still behaved. The discussions with ALL of them were quite open, lively and in some cases when we disagreed, (on such important world topic as legalization of medical marijuana) even very, very civilized. To our big surprise, we were told one of the New Zealand’s political parties is called NZ First, so America is not necessarily original in promoting a similar idea. Even though America’s current leader would probably strongly disagree, it is possible that New Zealand invented it first. Nevertheless we agreed with our hosts that controversy over which country came first with the idea to be Da First is not worthy the start of WW3 so we better open another bottle! And

plenty of excellent bottles in the sauvignon blanc or pinot noir variety they do have, even  “Spicy bubbles” for everyone. Cheers!

It was probably a huge (or as the Kiwis would say massive) mistake to start our world travels in New Zealand. The way I see it now, it can only go downhill from here.

Piha Beach on the North Island

Clean and green with the friendliest people full of big bright smiles and a constant waft of strong coffee and fabulous food this is an ideal country for travel. The sea is blue, the grass is alternatively Irish emerald or California golden, and the sheep and the cows are dotting the countryside in large numbers just as expected. There are a lot more cows than what we remember from 32 years ago, when we first visited, but there are also exponentially more and better coffee shops and restaurants. Indeed, everything functions well: from picking up a car rental and getting a massive upgrade, to grabbing stacks of maps and tourist brochures available everywhere to the roads in good conditions plied by courteous, speed limit abiding drivers (even if everyone drives on the wrong side). The sites of interest are clearly marked, there are clean toilets on every corner, the visitor centers and museums are modern and well staffed. The vistas are jaw dropping, be it the tall mountain peaks, the lakes and sandy beaches of all hues or the vast meadows with majestic tree or two in the middle.

Sunset at Taeiri Mouth on the South Island

And then there are the people… Through the years I have measured the people and put them on the scale of my world favorites. My Number 1 friendliest people in the world started out with Turks, then went to Portuguese, then Iranians and now they have all been supplanted by the Kiwis. It is not only that they are incredibly friendly and hospitable, they have the most sunny, cheerful dispositions. Nothing is a problem and they have no complaints. They love their home country and don’t complain about the government. They welcome immigrants, they appreciate gays and lesbians. From the young man picking us up in car rental van, who loves the new (pregnant) prime minister to the barista in the coffee shop and the security officer at the airport, who helped us get our Swiss army knife back into the checked luggage-they are there for you with a big smile. Even the policeman who pulled us over for speeding through a settlement that did not look like a town to us, did not give us a ticket.

“No worries, mate!” is a common expression, always accompanied by a smile and the cutest of accents. But then we were told that the Kiwis are too nice to be honest.

You never forget your first–Our first ever Servas host Liz in Auckland

Still, I don’t mind their approach. Especially when that positive attitude spills into road signs. Instead of prohibitions and threats there are inducements and gentle reminders like Enjoy the Road not the Race, Safe Driving Speed, Take a Break—Drive Fresh or What Your Kids Want for Dinner is You.

The cheerfulness extends to brightly colored parks and playgrounds, public buildings, even warehouses. Even their money is strikingly beautiful. I particularly like the fact that the New Zealand 10 dollar bill sports the image of Kate Shepard, the country’s most prominent suffragette who worked hard to get New Zealand men to grant women the right to vote way before any other in the world.

We have experienced the Kiwi hospitality closer than most tourists. We have been hosted by local members of Servas, an international peace and understanding building organization. We have been invited to people’s homes for birthday parties, lunches and dinners, shown around their favorite places and plied with coffee, tea and stories. They have provided insight into their life and into their country. Our host Stan, a retired sheep farmer, made our wish come through and arranged a visit to a friend’s farm where we could see the shearing sheds and the real work with the sheep, the weighing of the lambs, the working of the dogs. Fascinating!

Some of those generous hosts were recent or long ago immigrants, all having one thing in common—loving New Zealand and not ever wanting to leave. We are tempted to stay ourselves.

Have you ever considered staying on in a country you visited? Which one and why?

“What do you pack for a year?” Funny, this is the most common question I get when talking to people about getting ready for our trip. This, of course, is the easiest one of all to answer. You don’t. Pack for a year. You couldn’t and you don’t need to. For there are, surprise, surprise, laundry facilities everywhere around the world. Even if only in your sink. So a week’s worth of clothes is about all you need. Plus some other essentials, of course. But of the packing conundrum at another time with all the details you could possibly want to know. 

There are a lot more pressing and complicated questions to answer and things to do. 

1. Retire 😉

2. Your Home

Even if your home is paid off, you likely do not want it sitting empty for a year. For us it was a question of rent or Airbnb? We thought renting our home for a year to one family would have been easier and possibly more lucrative, but when it didn’t quite work out for us we decided to go the Airbnb. As long as it pays the mortgage! We have had a previous two month summer experience Airbnbing our house which was quite positive. Largely because we hired a managment company that took care of the booking, communication with guests, and most importantly cleaning. We are also lucky to have wonderful neighbors and friends that we can count on to step in in a time of chrisis. Having to prepare the house for guests was a wonderful if painful and drawn out impetus to get rid of a lot of our junk and fix up every thing on a long ignored list. 

 We were nervous about filling up the calendar, but within the last week before our departure we had 5 substantial advance bookings and the first guests arrived a few hours before we went to the airport.

3. Family Trust and Finances

I don’t have to preach about the importance of establishing a Family Trust. Going on a long trip and leaving the kids behind was a good inspiration to revisit and update our trust, and also to have another conversation about the important question of the Advanced Health Care Directive and in the circumstances also the fact that if we were to die in a foreign land we would not want to go through the trouble of being shipped back. It is never an easy conversation…

As is the question of budgets. We didn’t really think of a travel budget, we never did on our shorter travels, though of course we are budget concious and travel prety inexpensively using miles and points whenever possible. It was my mom who pushed the issue so we set an arbitrary number of $250 a day for a couple. We found an app developed by some young travellers and we will try to keep track of our expenses anddo a reality check once in a while. And hope the stock market doesn’t crash.

4. Auto Payments and Cards 

With very few exceptions you can pay everything online and with automatic payments. We decided to pay the other bills ahead of time, too, including property taxes. We keep more than one bank account just in case there is an issue. We also have a few credit and ATM cards. Look for credit cards that have no foreign exchange fees and ATM cards that don’t charge for withdrawal abroad. It is surprising in how many places you still need cash and they are not necessarily Banana republics. We had an embarrassing moment when we invited a friend to dinner in Munich, Germany and the restaurant would not take a credit card.

Do call your cards before the departure and tell them when and where you will travel. Then make sure you take snapshots of your cards, boths sides, so you know what number to call if there is a problem, or which cards exactly did you have in the wallet you lost.

5. Cell Phone Calling Plan

Talking about calling, things are looking up for travellers in the cell phone department. With many ways of communication (Skype, Face Time, Whatsup) not that many phone calls need to be made. Still, the data charges can easily be ratcheted up. We switched from AT&T to T Mobile (they made it incredibly difficult so don’t try to do it at the last minute) and have been very happy with their free texting and data service everywhere around the world. Godsend when getting directions on Google maps. Even though the cell phones are now unlocked we don’t find the need to buy local SIM cards as we rarely need to make a phone call.

6. Car

We donated our trusty old van and were ready to donate our even older Camry when our insurance guy told us we would loose our multiple insurance discount if we only insured our house. Turns out it is cheaper to deem your car non operational at DMV, park it in your driveway, and pay a minimum premium. Now I know why people keep so many old clunkers on their properties.

7. Travel Health Insurance and Evacuation 

This is likely the most challenging thing to figure out, especially if you are a retired American. Your Medicare will cover emergency medical services only for 3 months of travel. Our solution for Mirek was buying additional MedJet Medical Evacuation for a year. Should anything happen he will be evacuated to the nearest “civilized” hospital and then back home. For Ksenija who does not yet qualify for Medicare insurance we cancelled her American Kaiser Insurance and bought her very reasonably priced medical care and evacuation insurance with the True Traveller insurance (valid for EU citizens only). US citizens should look at Global Nomads insurance. God forbid you are over 60 or have preexsisting conditions! Do realize in order to be able to sign up for health insurance without penalty upon your return you will have to prove that you had a qualifying life event (such as travelling out of the country for a year). You will also have to prove you had health insurance while away or you will pay penality on taxes. This is so far all theoretical knowledge for us gleaned from much research on line and talking to people. 

8. Medications

Good luck getting a year’s supply. Start early, colude with your doctor, hoard the meds, and badger the insurance.

9. Mail

We did not want to saddle our kids or friends with checking our mail, so we signed up with Virtual Mail. (Thank you Kent for telling us about it). It is a service that you can forward your USPS mail too, they scan the envelopes for a monthly fee and through your online account you can tell them which envelope to open and scan for an additional fee. It all takes a while to get going, so start early.

10. Luggage

There are some perpetual (young) nomads out there who manage to travel with only a small carry on backpack. We could not reduce our travelling possesion that far (I blame it on my prescription snorkling mask and Mirek’s meds.) Still we have quite a small rolling duffel each at an average of 13 kilos/30 lbs and a small personal backpack. We have two packing systems: Mirek prefers using good old Ziplock bags and I am trying out a new packing cube system. Still, to my dismay, I am finding that the old rules apply; no matter how neatly you organize and pack everything, the second day on the road you clothes magically expand and it is hard to zip all the pockets.

11. Business travel cards

Instead of scribbling our contact information on pieces of scrap paper we are now handing out our professional travellers business cards with our photo on the front. Our contact info, our blog and some websites of organzations I volunteer with are on the back. (Thank you, Naya for the idea.) I know I have plenty of names on papers and even in my iphone Contacts of people I have met, but have no idea any more of who they are. In pre travel exuberance I had 200 printed through online service MOO. They are so cute and people love them.

12. Passport and driving license

Make sure your passport is valid for the year and then some. Most countries want to see at least a 6 months validity and that is by the time you leave, not the time of entry or applyong for a visa. While my hisband was fine with plenty of extra virgin pages I found that my California driving licence will expire before the end of our travel year and that you can not review your license earlier than 3 months before expiration. I went and got a AAA international licence and hope I can fudge my way if needed. (Though I was told that it is not valid without your regular licence). 

13. Blog

Since some of you asked about setting up the blog (you, Rob!) let me share with you that ours is through WorldPress.com. It is free but if you want your own .com domain name, you do have to  pay for hosting. There are other platforms, too, but this one seems to be the most widely used. It took a few hours and help from my kids to get it ready to go. The first hour was spent debating the title!

14. Protest at the Women’s March

As a last act of civil discourse we enthusiastically participated in the anniversay Women’s March in San Francisco.

Please, please keep the home fires burning while we are away!

  
Is a year long enough to get to all the destinations beckoning? How long is long enough? Just like with money, enough is always a little more. 

When we first started talking about taking a year to travel we had this indulgent idea that we would fly to Bali, rent a cozy bungalow with a thatched roof (banana panckakes breakfast included) and let inspiration strike on a whim or in a conversation with some other travelers. We’d do some hopping around the neighboring islands and countries, coming back to rest and relax in the shade of a coconut tree, feet dangling in the pleasant plunge pool in front of our new home. A year seemed a pretty long time. 

What were we thinking? We should have known better and we should have known ourselves better. We have never been lounge by the pool or lie on the beach kind of people. We are up at dawn for the sunrise at the temple and on to the local market, and then to the village at the top of the mountain and then the waterfall beyond. Besides, we enjoy planing the trip nearly as much as going on the trip. Ah, the fun Sunday mornings spent in bed doing research, each on our own computer or ipad, sharing destinations, pictures, airline tickets, blogs, Best of and Top 10s. So many places to go, so many clicks to take you down the internet road to new exciting destinations. Suddenly the question is not where to go, but where not to go.

While talking to friends about our ever expanding plans we batted around some fun ideas of thematic travel. One friend said she would have liked to spend 12 months around the world, each in a different city. One couple said they would plan their travel itinerary around their passions: his for cooking and taking lessons at cooking schools, hers for ziplining. Another couple said theirs would anchor on chocolate (for him) and wine (for her). There were birders and scuba divers, shoppers and yoga fiends. Some had a long bucket list and some a childhood longing for a faraway place.
While just a short while before the begining of our trip we were adamant we will start with just a one way ticket (to New Zealand), thinking we will ad on destinations as we go, we quickly started threading those destinations like beads on a necklace. We are so close, let´s add another. North Island led to South island led to nearby Tasmania, and up to Great Barrier Reef, and over to Darwin since it is closest to Bali. Which is close to East Timor, which is close to the little island of… Then it became a matter of chasing good weather—Europe is wonderful in late spring and summer, how about we drive through the Balkans, into Albania and Bulgaria and Romania, and since we are all the way there we should push to Moldova. It’s a new country, we gotta check it out, right? And fall would be great in Georgia for the wine harvest, but let’s stop in Istanbul on the way back, and that is really close to Egypt and that to Israel and Lebanon. Except that you can’t cross from one to another. Well, we’ll figure it out!

Suddenly a year is nearly filled up and we are already looking into the next year. There is this folk festival in Nagaland every February I always wanted to see. And that is close to the Darjeeling tea plantations,and that is right next to… No wonder quite a few people who started with a year of travel become permanent global nomads.

If you had a year of travel before you, where would you go? What is one place you always dreamed of going? What is top 3 on your Bucket List? Places or experiences? What passion would you indulge? Learn a new language or skill? Bungee jump or kayak? Trek or baloon? Swim with the dolphins, ride a camel?

We’d love to hear from you and get inspired. Leave a comment bellow.

We said we will do it, and now we are.

You said you will live vicariously through our travels, and now you can. We used to write long emails from our travel adventures to our girls and those were forwarded to extended family and friends and soon friends of friends. To make it easier for everyone we will try the medium of a blog. Try is the operational word. For us, old people born in the past century, it is a steep technological learning curve, so if a picture is upside down, or something else is amiss, be forgiving. You will need to sign up to be on our list, so scroll down to the bottom of this blog and you will see in the right hand corner a square with a + sign and the words Follow. Click on that and write in your email. If all else fails ask you kids or grandkids to help you. 

Just coming up with a good blog name was a protracted excercise in frustration.  There are a million other travel blogs with the name nomad, journey, road and adventure. At the end we returned to the original purpose of our travel missives. They were letters to our daugthers, who often thought themselves or were asked: Were in the world are your crazy parents traveling this time?

So where in the world will this year long journey take us? We don’t quite know yet, but for now we are starting with a one way ticket to New Zealand. 

It is good to have an interesting destination (and aren’t they all?), but we have been to over 100 countries around the world so the purpose of our trip is really not to add more countries or tick off the boxes on the 100 Places to see Before you Die list.

What are we trying to do or accomplish? What is the guiding principle of our romp? What is the golden thread or idea that brings us to the next destination, that makes us seek the next experience? As seasoned travellers who want to go deeper than the crimson sunset over the sandy beach, the highest mountain or the oldest temple we know one thing for sure: It is the people that make traveling more than just a series of picture perfect moments. It is the human connection, be it a wordless exchange of a smile in a rural market, a poltical discussion with a taxi driver or a long conversation over dinner with a fellow traveller that make travel most intersting and satisfying.

And lastly, travel is also a discovery of places within. With time to think and experience, free on the road, we gain new insights into our own soul and still, after 35 years of traveling together, into each other and us as a couple.

As the saying goes: It is for us to find out and for you to know. When you read our words next…