Last Words from the US of A

To get to New Zealand, I am going through five airports over a span 39 hours. I am currently on hour 14 at LAX, my third airport. I’m not sure what will be worse, my 9 hour layover in LA or the 13 hour flight to Auckland. Needless to say, I splurged on my first travel expense of $7.99 wi-fi to make the layover go more smoothly.
I decided to go to New Zealand a few months back when my Aunt invited me over and graciously offered to pay for my ticket. After graduating in May I have been living and working at home for 7 months (with the exception of a 40 day cross-country road trip). The road trip, and this New Zealand adventure are both efforts to explore the world and get all that fun-exploration-stuff out of my system before I enter the real world. I like to think what I am doing is entering the real world (but lets leave that debate for another time.)
I am going to New Zealand on a working holiday visa, which allows me to work for up to a year. I have yet to make my ticket home, but I am guessing it won’t be for an entire 12 months. My mom has made it clear that that is too long to be away from home (right mom?). While I have my Aunt as a home base, I am visiting predominantly as a WWOOFer. WWOOF (willing workers on organic farms) is a world-wide program that allows travelers to stay with host families and provide their labor in exchange for free room and board. It’s described on the website (http://www.wwoof.co.nz/) as providing, “experiences in sustainable living from large organic farms to family gardens, organic orchards and vineyards, biodynamics, permaculture, urban organics, alternative building/energy etc. WWOOF also provides an intercultural eco-experience that promotes understanding and tolerance.”
There are over 1000 hosts in NZ, and they can range from large-scale dairy farms, to urban families with a small garden patch, to wellness retreat centers needing help, B&B’s, hostels, and cafes. It is a win-win situation for both sides- the host getting help for free and the WWOOFer receiving a cheap way to travel and the opportunity to truly immerse themselves in the local lifestyle and culture. It’s also a great way to meet people from all over the world who are also WWOOFing.
So the plan is to spend the first few weeks living with my Aunt in Wanganui on the North Island, and then to set off WWOOFing. I don’t know where I’m going, and to be honest I don’t have much of a plan. You can only contact a WWOOF host a few weeks ahead of time, so this leaves my journey very open-ended and gives me a fly by the seat of my pants experience that both excites and terrifies me at the same time. By the request of many friends and family, I am going to do my best to keep this blog. I can’t promise how much I’ll write, but I am sure I will be able to update from time to time writing about my first experience milking a cow or herding sheep, meeting Frodo, and traveling in one the most beautiful countries in the world.
My flight for Auckland takes off at midnight for me east coast time, so it feels very emblematic of the new year and the new life that I am about to enter. I feel happy as a clam, and am so excited to embark on this adventure of a lifetime. Hopefully through this blog I can carry you all with me on this adventure, and if anything you'll get to see some pretty pictures.
See you on Middle Earth!
Phoebe